The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a technical brief recently titled "Environmental Cleaning for the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections" to help healthcare leaders selecting and implementing environmental services practices, according to an article on the Healthcare Facilities Management website.
The report addresses methods for cleaning and disinfecting patient rooms and the tools used to monitor the effectiveness of those methods.
The report also emphasized that the most effective environmental services departments not only pay attention to what is being used, but how it's being used as well.
Environmental services leaders were urged to elevate the title of front-line staff to "environmental cleaning technicians" or another similar title that reflects the technical complexity of their responsibilities.