Keywords
physical environment, environmental cleaning, environmental disinfecting, healthcare, COVID-19
Document Type
Research Studies
Abstract
PROBLEM: Inadequate cleaning and disinfection practices in the healthcare setting create an environment in which infectious pathogens can linger for days or even weeks on high-touch surfaces, presenting an increased risk of infection transmission to healthcare workers and patients. PURPOSE: This project assembled a group of stakeholders to develop and implement an evidence-based intervention to improve environmental cleaning practices and protocol compliance in three diverse healthcare settings.METHOD: The National League for Nursing (NLN) Jeffries Simulation Theory was used to guide this project by providing an organized sequence for developing and implementing a simulation-based intervention to train healthcare workers on established cleaning protocols at a 451-bed regional hospital, a 1,003-bed academic medical center, and a 6-room independent nurse practitioner’s (NP) office, respectively located in the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions. INTERVENTION: Education on appropriate environmental cleaning skills for healthcare workers was accomplished through simulation-based training with debriefing for a total of two sessions per site. RESULTS: The pre-and post-implementation surveys documented a positive delta of 66.66% at the academic medical center, 37.5% at the regional hospital, and 62.5% at the NP office, for an overall average of 55.55% improvement in the participants’ confidence levels in their abilities to correctly perform environmental cleaning skills. CONCLUSION: Utilizing the NLN Jeffries Simulation Theory framework resulted in an organized and sustainable simulation-based intervention to enhance the environmental cleaning practices of healthcare workers.
Recommended Citation
Herrington, A.
(2022). Enhancing Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Practices in Diverse Healthcare Settings during the COVID19 Pandemic.
Journal of Public Health in the Deep South, 3(2), 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55533/2996-6833.1032