Medical Facilities Cleaning Tips: 5 Things Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About HAI’s

Do you have a loved one that is going to be hospitalized sometime soon? Or maybe they are already in the hospital. You should be aware of the prevalence in HAI’s (hospital-acquired infections)  and take some precautions to help protect you and your loved ones in the hospital. In this article on Medical Facilities Cleaning Tips, we are going to walk through how to protect yourself when in the hospital today and how Grimebusters, Inc. can help hospitals prevent the spread of HAI’s.

More than a million infections happen each year in hospitals which is reported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Healthcare-acquired infections are more common than you think in hospital and nursing homes than you might realize. It is a major threat to the safety of patients. Unfortunately, it also leads to tens of thousands of deaths each year for Americans and these infections cause billions of dollars in expenses each year. Here are some facts that you need to know before being admitted to the hospital.

1 What type of infection are you going to get?

Approximately one in twenty-five patients has at least one infection associated with a hospital stay according to the CDC. Some of these 722,000 infections occurred in acute care units in hospitals in the year 2011. Out of these 722,000 seventy-five thousand of them died while hospitalized. The most common form of HAI that is acquired in the hospital is pneumonia. The second most prevalent is gastrointestinal illnesses, then urinary tract infections, then surgical site infections.

2 How bad is that infection?

Many germs today have developed resistance to antibiotics, thus making them harder to kill. You could be the next carrier to a drug-resistant bug and not even know it. One of the bugs out these that is resistant to anti-biotics is MRSA, and the chances that you may not have symptoms is more common than not. Any that has surgery in a hospital is at risk to MRSA infection after surgery says, Kevin Kavanagh, MD. You can help reduce the risk of getting MRSA infection by getting screened ahead of time before your surgery to see if you are at risk.

3 HAI’s don’t just affect patients that had surgery.

One of the most common ways for anyone to develop an illness is through the skin. There are many viruses today that are contracted just by touch and then absorbed into the body. Your skin is your body’s biggest defense against germs and infection. Some patients develop infections through the tubes that are placed in our arms to administer fluids and draw blood. These infections can be super serious if left unchecked, but most can be treated with antibiotics.

4 Don’t take antibiotics when you don’t need them.

Taking antibiotics to cure a virus like the flu won’t help you, it may put you at more risk of developing an infection that is resistant to antibiotics in the future. The increase in the usage of antibiotics for everything over the past 50 years has lead to what some call superbugs. These are germs that are resistant to antibiotic soaps and antibiotics. Make sure you check with your doctor before taking any medications and that you need it to fight off infection in your body.

5 Common objects in the hospital can be contaminated with disease-causing germs.

There are many areas of a hospital that get cleaned very effectively each day. But what about those spots that get overlooked all too often than not. Stethoscopes, doctor’s white coats, doctor’s ties, door knobs, glass on doors, can all carry disease-causing bacteria, says Dr. Saman. One of the best ways to stop the spread of HAI’s in hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities is to:

1. Stop wearing ties
2. clean your stethoscopes as much as you wash your hands
3. Wash your white coat on a regular basis

Other ways to prevent the spread of HAI’s in these facilities is to hire a company that specializes in Medical Facilities Cleaning. These types of companies like ours (Grimebusters) have been taught the proper procedures in dealing with germs in medical facilities. Our goal is to not just clean your facility but to disinfect and sanitize all major and minor areas to prevent the spread of HAI’s.

If you are struggling to keep your medical facility clean and germ-free give us a call for a free consultation.