Hygienically Clean Fits AHE Guidance
Gary Urbanski of G&K Services Inc. discusses certification programs with TRSA’s Angela Freeman during the recent AHE Expo in Tampa, FL.
Principles of continuous improvement and quantified performance excellence emblematic of TRSA’s Hygienically Clean certification were espoused in a prominent presentation on Sept. 22 at the Association for the Healthcare Environment’s (AHE’s) annual expo in Tampa, FL.
In “Bringing it to the Bedside: Recommendations into Practice for Infection Prevention,” J. Hudson Garrett Jr. called for the adoption of evidence-based practices to gauge the success of hospital environmental services (EVS, including laundry). While compliance with guidelines such as those from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is essential, quantifying success to identify the most effective techniques generates the greatest payback and fuels experimentation to achieve new heights, he said.
“We shouldn’t live for the results of an accreditation survey,” Garrett commented. He observed that dedication to evidence-based practices generally requires more time and money, but encourages challenging the status quo, the hallmark of continuous improvement. It also facilitates cooperation between EVS personnel and their counterparts in infection prevention, safety, quality control and risk management.
TRSA’s Hygienically Clean certification is founded on evidence-based practices. Under this program, laundries are inspected to ensure the use of operating procedures in line with CDC, American National Standards Institute, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation and Joint Commission guidelines. But certification is awarded only if laundered goods are tested by an independent lab to verify that they are hygienically clean.
Garrett is clinical affairs VP for PDI, Orangeburg, NY. He seeks comprehensive solutions that meet the highest standards of healthcare. Garrett holds a PhD in healthcare administration and masters’ degrees in nursing and public health. He’s served in leadership posts in the National Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Association for Vascular Access.
He urged EVS practitioners to “find out what works and what doesn’t” and share the results of experimentation with their peers. AHE’s strategy map for 2014-’16 aims to facilitate such contact, Garrett noted, expressing confidence that such approaches will enable them to contend with surprises such as Ebola, which he described as “yet another pathogen we are well equipped to handle in the United States.”
TRSA exhibited at the AHE expo, promoting the Hygienically Clean and Clean Green certifications and sharing information on linen loss and pathogen removal with visitors to the TRSA display.