[John-paul]

Reflection question: Effective cleaning and disinfection practices reduce the risk of transmission of infections to health care workers and patients. What can you do at your workplace to support effective cleaning and disinfection?

[Mahnoz]

In the community setting I find myself disinfecting the nursing area with the provided wipes such as Lysol at the beginning of my shift and at the end. The one thing I will have to remember to do is to disinfect the high touch surfaces of my work environment such as the patients equipment in use, bedrails and surrounding environment. I assume the previous nurse has already done so in disinfecting everything before leaving but since there are no written directions in doing so it is not right for me to just assume. I will have to advocate to have more reminders implemented such as wiping surfaces as you go or before sitting down to document. This can contribute to a culture of safety thus reducing the risk of harm to the patient and staff members.

[Esha]

Hello Mahnoz,

I always tend to wipe down my surfaces as well before sitting down and also at the end of my shift. I feel like high-touch surfaces can never really be clean enough. Sometimes environmental surfaces will be cleaned and a staff member will be touching the surface before it even dries. I believe this is why each healthcare member should be responsible for disinfecting the equipment they utilize. I believe this would also vastly decrease common illnesses during flu season amongst staff as well.

[Rebecca]

You can never go wrong with extra cleaning. We all try to do our best but in a fact paced workplace sometimes things get missed.
Hopefully patients that see cleaning and/or sanitizing will feel that we are doing our best to keep their environment clean for their safety.

[Jessica]

We also do this at our workplace. We keep cavi wipes at the computer and phone stations.
We have multiple teams that work out of our community centre so lots of different hands touching surfaces.
By having the cavi wipes available at the work stations I find most are compliment and will
Clean before they touch the surfaces.
Jessica

[Esha]

To support effective cleaning and disinfection practices at my workplace I can adhere to the rules and policies and ensure I perform my part in cleaning. Before the beginning of my shift, I ensure to disinfect my WOW before setting up for the shift. This way, if the step had been missed by a previous staff member I can ensure to perform the task. I always ensure to clean equipment before utilizing it with other clients. I noticed that a lot of staff members forget to clean equipment in between use of patients which often goes unnoticed. At the end of my shift, I try my best to wipe down all the machines, however, that does not always end up happening due to the busyness of the unit.

[Mauei Caela]

Hi Esha, I can relate that we cannot always wipe down all the machines at the end of the shift, as we get really busy most of the time. I used to beat myself up with this because I feel bad that I could be spreading germs or giving extra work to the nurse coming in after me. In a perfect scenario, this will be a very good routine to have. I am glad you mentioned the part that if the previous staff member may have missed a step, you can be sure that you covered that part as you input it in your routine. This shows that it may be big or small, but healthcare is a team environment, and we all try to do our part the best that we can.

[Mauei Caela]

Since I have entered the hospital settings during the pandemic time, I have noticed how my fellow nurses always disinfect their stations (i.e., medwows, stethoscopes, phones, pens, watches, ID badges, etc.) before and after their shifts. I like to clean as I go, so that I can leave the disinfecting wipes at the end when all the clutter is gone. Since I work in a place where there are multiple wires from the ventilator machine, vital sign machine, emergency ambubags that are connected to oxygen in the wall, trach cart, and other patients’ items, it can be crowded and high risk for injury, especially to the staff, in each of the patient’s room. Items like the thermometer plastic cover can be invisible on the floor when not picked up right away, and may cause a slip/fall to staff who walk in the room. Being an advocate about this is a very important part of the job, as it also reduces risks for potential work-related injury.

[Mahnoz]

Hi Mauei,

Your method of cleaning as you go resonates with me as I also like to follow the same method. Having a visibly messy working area stresses me out so making it a habit to clean as you go makes such a big difference in a fast paced environment. I find not only does it reduce infection but it also helps prevent contamination. Thank you for sharing- I hope to see more nurses using this method in the workplace.

[Rebecca]

At my work place I try to be very diligent to wipe down high touch surfaces as well as the medical equipment that is shared and my own work space.
I find the difference in pre and post COVID quite interesting, before COVID patients would not think twice where they set their belongs ( I work in a clinic setting). Now almost everyone asks “is it ok if I set this here” or something similar.

[Jessica]

At my centre I know I can improve on routine disinfecting and cleaning of the some of the areas that patient’s frequent.
An area of particular waiting room where patients wait for appointments. During Covid, we cleaned chairs regularly to prevent the spread of infection.
I will also regularly disinfect equipment that is used frequently. For example, blood
Pressure cuffs. I do not always wipe in between patients.
I also use an autoclave machine at work. While I have do follow these guidelines diligently and throughly, i’m reminded of the importance of the storage of instruments and allowing proper dry time before the instruments are put into autoclave.

[Megan]

In a community setting, I always ensure we disinfect the high touched areas with the disinfecting wipes provided. Using a disinfectant cleaner once a week also to ensure the floors, toilets and sinks are all washed and cleaned as well to ensure the spreading of germs is at a minimal. Ensuring wearing masks and encouraging the use of hand sanitizer when the client’s are sick.

[Melissa]

Effective cleaning and disinfection are critical components of infection prevention, especially in busy primary care clinics where multiple patients are seen in the same spaces each day. To support effective cleaning in my work place, I can take several practical steps:

1. Best practices by consistently disinfections high tough surfaces such as exam tables, stethoscopes, and blood pressure cuffs between patients.
2. Ensure that disinfectant wipes and cleaning supplies are well stocked and easily accessible in each exam room.
3. I can also contribute is through education. Team huddles or one-on-one conversations. Sending reminders regarding cleaning sequences, contact time for disinfectants.

[Author]

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