The impact of bacteria and spreadable infections in hospitals is something that all care teams and administrators take seriously. It is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that about 2 million people in the U.S. each year obtain infections from bacteria during a stay in the hospital every year. These infections have been directly linked to 19,000 deaths and indirectly contribute to another 80,000. Treating these infections costs hospitals an average of $4.5 billion a year.

Hospitals need to maintain clean environments, especially when it comes to patients rooms. There are many steps that hospital care and environmental services teams can take to keep infections from spreading.

Coordinate Care for Patients

Frequent and detailed communication is one of the best ways for care providers to limit the spread of bacteria. From cleaning patient rooms to surgical preparation, wound care and general treatment, care providers need to ensure that there is never a breakdown in communication and the delegation of duties. If any process, such as cleaning a wound, is skipped, the chances of infection increases greatly. Care teams should be constantly communicating to ensure that all best practices are being followed and that every task has been delegated and completed with care.

Care providers and hospital administrators should also stay up to date on prevention guidelines and research, ensuring that they understand all the ways in which bacteria is frequently transferred in facilities and during treatment.

Ensure Visitors Understand Preventative Practices

While hospital staff are well-versed in limiting bacteria and preventing the spread of infections, visitors often do not. When family and friends want to visit their loved ones in the hospital, care teams should make it a point to educate them on how to prevent bacteria and infections from spreading. Visitors should remember to:

• Stay home if they are ill.

• Wash hands or use hand sanitizer upon entering a patient's room.

• Refrain from touching patients unless absolutely necessary.

• Wear face masks when possible.

Use Patient Room Equipment That is Easy to Clean Clean and Disinfect

With so much cleaning and disinfecting taking place in a patient's room, it's important to have items that can withstand frequent cleanings with hospital grade cleaners. They should also be designed to discourage bacteria growth and transference. Hospital dry erase boards are no different, and preventing the spread is something that we take seriously at VividBoard. The whiteboards we create are designed to attach and lay as close to the wall as possible, preventing bacteria from growing behind them. Our glass whiteboards and the special VividShield coating on our classic dry erase boards are made from non-porous materials that limit bacterial retention and growth and are remarkably easy to clean and disinfect. They also come with a limited lifetime warranty that protects the surface from fading. The surface has been tested and approved with the following cleaners:

• Glance® SC Glass & Multi-Surface Cleaner

• Dispatch® Hospital Cleaner Disinfectant with Bleach

• CaviWipes

• Goo Gone®

• Clorox® Germicidal Wipes

• Steriplex® Wipes

Get a Free Sample

Don't allow your whiteboards to become another surface that you have to worry about. To see the quality of our products and how easy it is to clean our whiteboard surfaces, request a free whiteboard sample from VividBoard today.