Environmental Services Overview at Community Hospital North
Paul Tarrant, Site Coordinator at Community Hospital North gives an overview explaining how Environmental Services cleans at this Indiana hospital.
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Infection Control Training for Healthcare Environmental Services
Highlighting common scenarios from hand hygiene and glove use to properly cleaning patient rooms, this video will illustrate the type of precautions that housekeeping staff should take to protect themselves and patients from germs and infections that could make them sick.
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Don’t Forget the Bacterial Threat
According to Mitchell Schwaber, MD, from the National Center for Infection Control of the Israel Ministry of Health, bacterial infection threats are not getting the attention they deserve given that the World Health Organization and public health agencies continue to focus on the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus. While methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has…
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Are “White Boards” allowed in HIPAA?
Are “White Boards”, erasable patient information boards allowed in HIPAA? White boards, erasable patient information boards, are a means of communicating certain information about patients to the healthcare providers who care for them. One use is a board that has patient safety-related information about an individual patient. This information might include fall precautions, transfer status,…
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Jim DeMint’s Sensible Health Care Plan
Senator Jim DeMint states the following on his web site – In many ways, our health care system is broken. Even people satisfied with their own care are nervous about losing it, concerned about rising costs, and frustrated by the failure of government to bring about genuine reform. But the reason Congress has so far…
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Statistically Successful Objectives
Statistically successful objectives are precursers to, or actual goals, that have a better than average probability to help your personal or professional outcomes. Or simply stated; things you should do to be better off. An objective is defined excellently by dictionary.com as ’something worked toward or striven for’. When we combine this definition with the…
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Customer Relationship Managment
Customer Relationship Management or CRM means developing a comprehensive picture of customer needs, expectations and behaviors. In the Environmental Services (ES) world, CRM means looking at the ES function as a customer intensive business function instead of a facility services cost center. And the management part implies an active rather than passive role in influencing…
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Performance Indicators
Productivity Sq Ft cleaned by housekeeper each day Labor Cost Cost of labor per Sq Ft – Separate by building Recycling The amount of solid waste diverted Absenteeism the % of unscheduled absences per year Turnover the % of personnel replaced each year Safety Number of on the job injuries per year Productivity – Floor…
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How to choose a cleaner or disinfectant
Factors that influence the choice of disinfection procedure for Environmental Surfaces: -Nature of item to be disinfected -Number of organisms present -Innate resistance of organisms -Amount of organic soil present -Type & concentration of germicide contact -Specific indications & directions for use. Consider efficacy, spectrum, versatility, ease of use, safety profile and cost. It is…
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No Problem
It doesn’t take much skill to spot a problem. The majority of us in Environmental Services can see the obstacles in front of us, yet only a select few see the opportunities. We need to understand the need to stop focusing on problems and look for opportunities to improve our operations. I have learned to…
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Star Trek
I don’t remember when I first started watching Star Trek, but I loved it from day one and have watched every episode, read the books, built the plastic models of the Enterprise NC-1701, the shuttle craft, the Klingon bird of pray and hung them from my bedroom ceiling. I also had a phaser, and learned…
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Ice Storm Tests Kentucky Hospital
ICE STORM TESTS KY HOSPITALS’ METTLE by John Commins, HealthLeaders Media, March 11, 2009 If you weren’t living in Kentucky in the last week of January, the ice storm that crippled the Bluegrass State wasn’t much more than a lead item on CNN – something regrettable that happened to somebody else. You watched the coverage….
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Improving Patient Flow
I hope there is some relief in the activity at your institution now that we have made it through another heavy viral season. Not that there really is a slow season in health care anymore, just a less busy one. So, welcome to the less busy season, when there is time to think and plan….
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Following The Six Aims
Following the ‘Six Aims’ By Tina L. Cermignano, CHESP There has been a lot of media attention about the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report “To Err is Human,” especially over outbreaks of community-based Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, we should concentrate on the second report from the IOM, “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” which provides a…
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Lean, Six Sigma Management Becoming More Popular
A new study has concluded the U.S. hospitals are beginning to embrace Lean and Six Sigma business management strategies to cut costs and boost productivity, despite there currently being little evidence as of yet that these strategies are effective. Lean management focuses on removing waste from companies and processes, while delivering added value to customers….