When Clean Rooms Change Patient Outcomes
People often ask whether cleaning really changes what happens to patients. The honest answer: environmental cleaning is one part of…
Infection Control
How Healthcare Environmental Services Have Changed Over the Last 50 Years
Healthcare environmental services have evolved from labor-intensive cleaning routines into specialized, evidence-informed programs designed to reduce infection risks, protect staff,…
Hidden Frontline: Why Cleaning Is The First Step In Clinical Care
The Hidden Frontline: Why Cleaning is the First Step in Clinical Care Intervention: an action taken to prevent, treat, or…
Stop Asking ATP What Clean Is
Stop Asking ATP What Clean Is Most Environmental Services (EVS) departments that adopt an ATP (adenosine triphosphate) luminometer program start…
The Invisible Impact
What people see in a patient room is a clean environment. No visible soil. Everything in place. A perfect picture.…
Dilution is Easy Until It’s Not
Mixing stations introduce variables that many cleaning programs don’t account for. Water pressure fluctuates throughout the day and across different locations in the building. Dispensers require regular maintenance to stay calibrated. Metering tips clog. One common dilution station manufacturer states water pressure minimum of 30lbs. That explained why I had a dispenser never meet standards of 800ppm, and after I had changed it out.
The Certification Nobody Talks About
If you work in EVS leadership and have not looked into the CHESP, the CMIP, or the T-CNACC, start. Not for the credential. For what the learning does to how you see your own work.
Staff Training: The Four C’s
I have developed a full staff training on the Four C’s that we will be rolling out next week. These are four of the most dangerous drug-resistant organisms in healthcare settings, and I want to share some of the key points from that training here.
Know Your Microbial Targets: Choosing the Right Disinfectant for the Pathogen
In the first post in this series, I laid out four variables that drive smart disinfectant selection: microbial targets, contact time, chemistry, and EPA registration. Each one deserves a deeper look. This post focuses on the first and most foundational: knowing exactly which organisms you are targeting and why that determines which disinfectant belongs in your team’s hands.
Choosing the Right Disinfectant: A Guide for EVS Professionals
Choosing the right disinfectant is a critical decision for environmental services (EVS) professionals, impacting patient safety and infection control. Selection involves understanding microbial targets, proper application practices, chemical properties, and regulatory compliance.
Terminal Cleaning of the Operating Room
When you think of the word “clean,” you might picture a sparkling kitchen counter. But in a hospital operating room, “clean” is a term of microscopic precision, where the stakes are infinitely higher. For the highly trained Environmental Services (EVS) technicians responsible for this environment, cleaning is not about tidiness—it is a critical, non-negotiable component of patient safety.