Best Cleaning Practices for Medical Professions
There are not many places of work which require such strict regulation of hygiene than a medical practice. A once-over with the vacuum and a bit of a wipe might be enough for the office, but when it comes to treatment rooms, everything needs to be sanitized.
Because of this, there is a best cleaning practice, and this piece will tell you exactly what you need to do to attain the safe standards of hygiene in a medical practice.
Why Do Medical Practices have Strict Cleaning Regimes?
Medical practices will often have small procedures done ‘in-house’ which can be invasive. These include but are not limited to; blood tests, vaccines, and pap smears. On top of that, patients will come in with cuts, infections, and other problems, which will only be made worse if there is any chance of bacteria entering a wound.
Another issue of medical practices is that people will visit with contagious diseases and infections, which is why it is important that the surfaces are all immaculately cleaned in between every patient and at the end of the day.
Wear Gloves Correctly
Those who wear gloves incorrectly risk spreading bacteria, which can be fatal for those in a vulnerable position. Gloves need to be switched between every task, every patient, and every room to avoid any kind of cross-contamination. Hands also need to be washed after the removal of gloves every time.
Focus on Areas Which are High Touch
In every medical practice, there are areas that get handled much more than others. These will include the reception areas, seating areas, main doors, toilets, and entrance. The more people that have touched these areas, the more bacteria can gather, which can then be spread.
It is important that you have high-grade equipment to clean all surfaces, wipe down anything, and also keep hands sterilized in between any tasks. So, make sure to buy from a reputable vendor such as medical-supermarket.com, which offers medical-grade cleaning products and other essentials.
Dispose of Contaminated Materials Safely
Working in a medical practice will pretty much guarantee you will need to dispose of contaminated materials, and it is of the utmost importance that it is done correctly. Failure to do so can result in contamination in other areas, which could reek all kinds of havoc.
Work from Clean to Dirty Areas
Often when cleaning, people want to start with the dirtiest places first, but that is a common hygiene mistake! For example, starting from the toilet, which is exposed to lots of bacteria and traffic throughout the day, moving onto a cleaner area only risks the bacteria from the toilet being transferred to the cleaner areas. It is extremely easy to spread disease when using cloths, sponges, rags, and other porous materials, so starting with the cleanest spots helps minimize this risk.
Avoid Cross-Contamination
Cross-contamination is also something else to consider when moving from room to room. It is one thing to move from, say, a toilet to the sink with the same cloth, but don’t use a cloth in the bathroom and then move onto the reception area without switching them out!
