US study finds hospital housekeepers feel underappreciated

26th of January 2021
US study finds hospital housekeepers feel underappreciated

Low status, poor levels of communication and high work demands - these are among the issues facing cleaners in the US healthcare sector according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Many cleaners feel they provide little value to the organisations in which they work. Some complain of a lack of ongoing training, while other perceived barriers to carrying out their job efficiently include high work demands, "us versus them" attitudes, interruptions, perceptions of low status and a lack of communication. And operatives are struggling to keep up with the enhanced cleaning and disinfectant measures made necessary due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study, which was conducted at Clemson University in South Carolina, concluded that advanced training on cleaning and disinfection practices could help to overcome many of these issues.

According to researchers, healthcare organisations need to demonstrate a long-term commitment to continuous improvement in disinfection outcomes. And that means providing systematic training with a particular focus on interpersonal skills. "To sustain improvements in disinfection practices, training needs to be continuous," the study states.

It adds that healthcare cleaners would feel more valued if increased efforts were to be made to train them. And staff need to be given a basic knowledge of pathogens, while the effectiveness of any training should be measured through microbial assessments of healthcare facilities before and after cleaning, according to the study authors.

"The focus should be on how these pathogens can spread in hospital environments and what procedures EVS workers can implement to prevent the spread," the study states.

 

 

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