Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Clean Rooms for Safe Care

Making cleanliness everyone's responsibility was part of an infection control and patient safety initiative at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. Studies show that many hospital rooms are not cleaned well and that previously contaminated rooms increase the risk of transmitting infection. At Advocate Christ, environmental services and nursing staff partnered in the project that focused on using tools and training and measuring outcomes. "Changing behavior takes the right tools, time and reinforcement," says Karen L. Martin, RN, the hospital?s director of infection prevention. "And observation assists in determining where additional training is necessary." The hospital measured hygiene outcomes, operational efficiency and patient and staff satisfaction. Results include improving room cleanliness and courtesy of cleaning staff, decreasing bed turnaround times about 45 minutes, and increasing patient and staff satisfaction. For more information, contact Martin at karen.martin@advocatehealth.com.