Hospitals are the place we go to get better. We put our lives in the hands of doctors and hospital staff. We don’t expect budget cuts or staffing shortages to impact our medical needs, but it does. Many times, things go smoothly, but they go wrong more often than anyone would want to admit.
Being a healthcare worker often comes with a heavy emotional toll. Many find themselves in situations where it’s difficult — or even impossible — to practice the way they were trained, or to give the level of care they know their patients and colleagues truly deserve. Whether it’s limited resources, overwhelming caseloads, or impossible decisions no one wants to make, they carry a weight that goes far beyond the job description.
It’s common to see hospitals invest in technologies like robots for surgical procedures, but expect EVS teams to use archaic methods to clean hospital spaces for the next patient. Many IP departments are understaffed or face an uphill climb, fighting for better tools or processes. Taking steps to avoid pathogen transmission shouldn’t be a matter of compromise.
It’s no surprise pathogens persist after chemical cleaning – contaminated hospital surfaces have been extensively studied. In fact, a recent study found a 145% increased risk of pathogen transmission if the prior room occupant was a carrier or had a known infection. On top of that, pathogens are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics – even some disinfectants. And if that’s not enough, there are super smart pathogens that form biofilms that help them survive and thrive in healthcare environments.
Why Pathogens Stick Around (Even After Cleaning)
We don’t talk about this enough, but here’s the reality:
People factor in.
Cleaning effectiveness depends heavily on the person doing the work. Training, workload, application and even simple fatigue can create huge variability.
Surfaces aren’t easy.
Intricate medical equipment, furniture, and porous surfaces make microbial reduction a challenge.
Time works against us.
Everyone’s under pressure to turn over rooms fast. Staff is often balancing thoroughness with urgency – doing their best under tight timelines that don’t always allow for the level of detail they’d prefer.
Reevaluating the tools being used and the time allotted for room cleaning — with input from EVS, IP, and Quality leaders — could significantly improve confidence in outcomes and help reduce pathogen transmission.
When Pathogens Persist, Hospitals Pay
Beyond the clear patient concerns, there’s also a significant financial impact. Some transmission events are no longer reimbursable, leaving hospitals to absorb the cost of extended stays, additional treatments, and lost bed days. Over time, these unrecovered expenses can chip away at already tight operating margins.
Hospitals tend to focus on revenue generation but overlook the fact that preventable transmission events could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Build A Team of Defenders
Culture Counts: Empower Your Frontline
Create a culture where training and performance feedback flows both ways — not just from leadership to frontline staff, but back up the chain too. When people feel heard, empowered, and supported, they work differently.
This article shows how a hospital took this approach and saw employee turnover go from 38% down to 12.4%. And it wasn’t just turnover that went down; they saw better outcomes across the board. Implementing employee feedback initiatives is a low-cost strategy that netted big results!
Talk to Patients About What They Don’t See
Patients judge hospitals on what they can see: a clean room, a warm smile. But what about the unseen? The behind-the-scenes efforts to reduce pathogen transmission, reduce stress, or provide quiet reassurance to a worried family.
This study shows how a hospital improved its HCAHPS scores by implementing a communication strategy that included the steps they took to reduce pathogen transmission, leading them to a 10% increase in HCAHPS scores and increased reimbursement.
Transparency builds trust – and that trust is very important.
Don’t Let the Status Quo Undermine Your Efforts
Even the best hand hygiene can be undone by contaminated surfaces. Traditional cleaning and disinfection won’t solve this issue. A recent study found that 20-40% of cross contamination events came from healthcare worker hands.
A Smarter Defense Against Pathogens
Empower your staff to identify the gaps in your current protocols. Use those insights to build better processes and improve education.
Facilities using LightStrike+ as the final step in their cleaning process achieve at least 99% fewer pathogens on treated surfaces than traditional cleaning alone. It’s the first and only hospital-grade UV solution authorized by the FDA for Whole Room Microbial Reduction. With cycles as short as two minutes, it’s fast, effective, and easy to use.
Don’t let persistent pathogens undermine your hard work or become a drag on your hospital’s pocketbook! Real progress happens when advanced tools meet a team that’s all in.
It’s time to rethink what’s possible!
