Your Facility’s Environment of Care
A thorough cleaning regiment within your Environment of Care (EOC) ensures proper microbe and disease remediation for the safety of employees, and most importantly of patients. A hospital or healthcare environment is unique in the respect that it houses people with compromised health, while also housing potentially deadly diseases and microbes in proximity, and often in the same room. It’s for this reason that hospital cleaning procedures and methods must be full-proof and carried out by qualified staff who can ensure satisfactory microbial and disease remediation.
First, what is an environment of care?
An environment of care is made up of three parts:
- The building or facility, and how it’s arranged to protect staff and patients
- Equipment used to support patient care and ensure safety
- Individuals; either employees, patients or visitors that have a responsibility to minimize risk
An environment of care is the sum of all the parts that help staff establish an environment fit for the safe care of patients. In this context, an environment of care requires proper cleaning and disinfection on the part of not just cleaning staff, but visitors and other patients to safeguard the integrity of the hospital or healthcare facility. This not only includes prudent and well-trained environment service and cleaning staff, but also the participation of other staff and visitors.
By applying rigorous cleaning disinfection standards for hospital cleaning procedures and methods, the spread of MDROs, HAIs, and other organisms can be prevented, thus strengthening the environment of care for healthcare facilities and hospitals.
Focusing cleaning efforts on high-contact areas has been proven to reduce the risk of Healthcare-associated-infections being transferred to patients. The same applies to the COVID-19 virus. Extra attention to the cleaning of high-touch surfaces can lower the risk of infection or illness.