Reducing hospital infection rates will require a range of new practices and procedures, including procedures designed to minimize infections transmitted through healthcare workers’ hands, according to a white paper on the Essex Electronics website.
One option is to install touchless switches that enable healthcare professionals to open automatic doors with the wave of a hand.
This eliminates the need for touching doorknobs, door handles or mechanical access switches which, in turn, eliminates the possibility that hands will be contaminated.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst found bacteria on doorknobs as soon as 15 minutes after the doorknobs were disinfected.