A clean and safe environment is essential for infection prevention and control.Health and patient safety requires the promotion of environmental safety to establish an area of hygiene complying with safety standards to ensure that patients are being treated in a safe environment. No doubt, patient safety is dependent on the caregiver and the environment in which the treatment is being conducted. If the environment does not look clean and safe apparently, then patients and their families could feel unsafe and insecure of the treatment. The 3 reasons how environment can be maintained to be clean and devoid of germs are as follows:
1. Keep dustbins far from patients:
The first and foremost means of transmission of germs is the piling up or heaping of trash nearby the patients. Preferably, it should be away from the patient. As these are the grounds from where most of the germs grow and spread.
2. Lessen hospital clutter and remove waste as soon as possible:
There needs to be a process of immediate cleaning up of the dustbins that are in the patient’s room or ward. Hospitals should have as less as possible of extra furniture, unnecessary decoration etc. the more the stuff is, the greater is the maintenance. Minimizing the clutter from the hospital can create an aura of wide space that can ensure cleanliness and hygiene. Maintaining a clean and un-encumbered patient room is essential to keep the patient safe. “Clean” in this case is not only about “cleaning,” but, as stated, includes removing the tings which are not required for the patient in immediate need. Patients and families will appreciate the need for keeping the room safe and will participate in order to minimize preventable risk.
3. Make sure hospital staff’s uniform is uncontaminated:
Most often, it is the people around you, who you encounter on daily basis who become a source of transmitting diseases here and there. The nursing uniform of clinical and non-clinical staff should be clean and up to the mark to present an impact of cleanliness and maintenance of hygiene. It is better that nurses adopt a medical attire that is easy to wash and easy to maintain and the material is durable enough to be cleaned again and again. For such a nursing scrub, hospital staff can check an online scrubs store that can help in getting hands to a perfect medical uniform.
If environment is not clean, patients and their families would not rely on the hospital staff and a mistrust could develop. So, better it is, to keep the staff and the environment clean and spick and span so that there is no room for any sort of doubts in their hospital staff’s performance. Moreover, from administration to the clinical and nonclinical staff, to housekeeping and helpers, the mutual accountability for patient safety should have no limit. A shared responsibility could help in setting up a safe environment for patient and even people working in the hospital, prioritizing eliminating or minimizing unnecessary and often inadvertent risks to patients, families and staff.