All facilities need to be cleaned properly, but aged care facilities are particularly vulnerable. Environmental cleaning involves removing dirt and germs from hard and soft surfaces. Common surfaces in the aged care industry include curtains, beds, sinks and door handles. Aged care staff must use the best cleaning practices and the most effective disinfecting products to protect vulnerable populations. This creates a safe, clean and sanitary environment that is accessible to all residents, visitors, and aged care staff.
Basics of environmental cleaning for aged care
Proper cleaning is essential in keeping an aged care facility clean. Healthcare-related infections are more common in older adults. It could be because of their compromised immune system or other health conditions. This is why environmental cleaning standards and procedures are more stringent in aged care facilities.
Basic environmental cleaning is a simple way to prevent infection and provide a clean, hygienic environment. It is important to clean all surfaces, but it is the high-touch areas that should be cleaned first. This includes doorknobs, light switches, and other high-touch areas. Staff will need to clean surfaces regularly in order to prevent germ spread.
Environmental cleaning best practices
We now have a good understanding of the importance of cleaning your environment. Let’s talk about how we can ensure our disinfection processes are efficient.
Encourage hand hygiene
As part of hospital cleaning protocols, it is a good idea to wash your hands regularly. Handwashing is most commonly done after cleaning the room of a resident or taking off gloves. Staff safety and the prevention of germ spread during rounds is possible with hand hygiene.
Implemente a Cleaning Schedule
Residents in aged care facilities need to keep their surfaces and equipment clean at all costs. A visible sign that something is not in order is that sanitation or disinfection must be done. What if the surfaces aren’t so dirty? A Tech Cleaning platform digitizes this process. Our aged care cleaners are an intuitive, all-in-one cleaning management system that can optimize current environmental cleaning services as well as increase operational efficiency. You can find more information about cleaning checklists and schedules for aged care.
Properly store cleaning agents and restock them
Cleaning the environment doesn’t have to be limited to wiping floors and mopping surfaces. The process should begin and end with fully stocked cleaning supplies.
Single-use products such as mop pads and cloths can reduce cross-contamination risk. You can reduce cross-contamination risk by using disposable products such as cloths and mop pads.
This page provides more information about proper cleaning and storage.
Assure resident safety
Even though it might seem an afterthought to some, elderly care facilities should ensure the safety of their residents. To alert residents and visitors, place warning signs on areas that need to be mopped during environmental cleaning. Older people are more likely to slip and fall, so it is important to be aware of potential hazards when cleaning.
Environmental cleaning products
There are many types of disinfectants and detergents that can be used for cleaning the environment. It removes dirt, dust, bodily fluids, and germs. You can use it on any hard surface with warm water and the appropriate cleaning equipment. The disinfectant’s purpose is to kill germs and prevent infection from spreading. After dust and dirt have been removed, disinfectants can be used. You should also ensure that the surfaces are completely dry after cleaning.
Chemical products should be kept dry and away from patients when not in use. This is so that residents aren’t exposed to the chemicals and staff can easily identify what it is.
Cleaning equipment for the environment
The equipment you have to use cleaning solutions can make them more effective. Equipment commonly required in residential aged care include:
- Mops
- Mop pads
- Buckets
- Cloths
- Waste bins
- Waste bags
- Clean your carts
Atech Cleaning provides a range of cleaning products to ensure that aged care facilities are safe and clean for staff, residents and visitors. These cleaning products are great for this type of healthcare environment.
- HYGEN Microfibre cloths & mops are machine washable. These microfibre cloths are colour-coded and can be used to prevent cross-contamination. They also remove 99.9% bacteria using just water. This will reduce costs and minimize resident exposure. This top-of-the-line range can be washed up to 500 times.
- HYGEN Disposable Microfibre cloths. These disposable microfibre cloths go one step further in cross-contamination prevention. These disposable cloths are color-coded to help reduce infection spread in healthcare facilities. Ideal for high-risk settings.
- Spill mops and pads for general use. These disposable pads absorb liquids quickly to reduce hazards for residents. The mop pads have the ability to turn liquids into gel so dripping is not an issue.
We create customized packages depending on your needs, so you don’t have to pay for anything you don’t need. Visit Our Aged Cleaning page has more information on routine cleaning.
