Your environmental services staff is vital in keeping your Hospital clean and reducing hospital-acquired infections. Here are three ways to improve your current EVS program.

1. Emphasize hand hygiene.
Train EVS staff in principles of hand hygiene. According to a recent Health Affairs study, infection control interventions such as hand washing resulted in patients leaving two days earlier and reduced mortality rates by two percentage points. 

2. Use Qualitative Monitoring to Assess Critical Touchpoints
Three types of qualitative monitoring are direct observation, fluorescent marking, and ATP Testing. Each plays a vital role in protecting patients from infection. Direct Observation would be seeing soiled sheets and correctly disposing of them. Fluorescent marking shows what spaces have not been fully cleaned or effective cleaning method. Lastly, ATP testing measures the number of germs in a given area. If all proper methods are utilized, you are much closer to protecting patients from any infections. 

3. Develop CTP-focused (Critical Touchpoint) training.
Understand all critical touchpoints in a given area. Define a training model incorporating critical touchpoints and subtasks in the room cleaning process. Utilize hands-on training sessions or role-playing for better retention of knowledge. Continue this training throughout an employee’s career for knowledge retention and patient safety.