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- Augmenting Cleaning With Disinfecting Technology
- 听
As effective as UV technology is at killing germs, industry experts are quick to point out that it is not a replacement for manual cleaning and disinfecting.听鈥淯V-C is a supplemental technology and not a replacement for standard manual disinfection,鈥� says Velez. 鈥淢anual cleaning and disinfecting is important to remove soils and kill pathogens on surfaces. The UV device offers an extra layer of protection by inactivating microorganisms that you may have missed during manual cleaning.鈥滼ohn Scherberger, a former environmental services (EVS) director and current owner of Healthcare Risk Mitigation, Spartanburg, South Carolina, describes UV technology as the capstone of terminal cleaning.听鈥淭his is the icing on the cake,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 mercury or xenon, neither one removes dirt, oil, skin cells, or dust where bacteria thrives. EVS staff does the best job possible, and then UV is used to destroy a large amount of bacteria that remains. Administrators need to look at this technology as augmenting EVS staff, not replacing them.鈥漇uch is the case at听听where UV technology has contributed to a 27 percent reduction in multi-drug resistant organisms since its implementation six years ago.鈥淲e made this technology part of our routine cleaning strategy,鈥� says Roy Chemaly, director of infection control, who first introduced UV technology to MD Anderson. 鈥淚 want to make sure we provide a safe environment for our patients when they鈥檙e admitted. We do so by providing great housekeeping and UV light to decontaminate high-risk areas and reduce the amount of bacteria to almost zero.鈥滻nitially, MD Anderson purchased two Xenex machines for use in isolation rooms after discharge. Today, the hospital has seven machines and has expanded usage to all operating rooms and intensive care units, with plans to also include IV rooms in pharmacies.听Although UV equipment requires approximately 10 to 20 minutes to set up and complete its cycles, the end result is a long-term savings of time, money, and 鈥� most importantly 鈥� lives.听鈥淔or the frontline worker, it鈥檚 an impact on their time, but imagine how much more work it would be if someone caught C.diff,鈥� says English. 鈥淯ltimately, it鈥檚 a time saver for the whole hospital.鈥漇cherberger finds that hospitals implementing UV disinfection technology are receptive to allowing staff extra time to process a room.听鈥淯sing UV disinfection has caused the realization that workers can鈥檛 sufficiently process a room to the hygienically clean and safe state currently expected in 12 or 13 minutes,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you take a UV machine into a room, you鈥檝e increased the amount of time needed to turn over that room. But that鈥檚 just another step in providing a safer patient care environment.鈥滱t MD Anderson, UV technology is used to disinfect about 30 operating rooms, which requires extra staffing on the night shift.听鈥淚t takes 30 minutes per room to do UV cleaning and curtain changes, so I听 had to devote two of my employees strictly to those tasks,鈥� says Babette Beene, environmental services manager at MD Anderson.听But this is the exception, not the rule: On shifts that require less use of UV technology, one employee is responsible for both the terminal cleaning and UV disinfection. In total, approximately 20 frontline staff are trained to operate the machines, in addition to all supervisors and managers, says Beene.
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