Healthcare

Healthcare-associated infections, or HAIs, are complications of healthcare and linked with high morbidity and mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 25 U.S. hospital patients is diagnosed with at least one infection related to hospital care each year. And with fast-moving bacterial infections like MRSA reaching near-epidemic levels in healthcare environments, controlling the spread of pathogens has never been more immediate.

The threat of HAIs is considered a “Winnable Battle” which the CDC defines as “public health priorities where CDC and its partners can make significant progress ending epidemics and eliminating diseases in a relatively short time period.” With the right procedures and systems in place, healthcare facilities can work to eliminate the dangerous spread of pathogens.

Hand hygiene should be top of mind

Although most healthcare facilities have strict requirements for their employees to wash their hands regularly, studies have shown staff adhere to those requirements about 40 percent of the time. Properly washing your hands – whether you’re a healthcare worker, visitor, or patient yourself – is one of the easiest and most effective ways of controlling the spread of infection.

Employ proper facility cleaning techniques

Using the proper materials and techniques for cleaning healthcare facilities is key to controlling the spread of pathogens. Microfiber, for example, is a strong, lint-free, ultra-fine fiber that is more effective than traditional cotton fiber and removes bacteria, even without chemicals. It is the one of the most effective products for cleaning and is widely accepted for use in healthcare facilities.

Make sure healthcare staff aren’t adding to the risk

Your healthcare staff interacts with patients hundreds if not thousands of times a day. Being only a glancing touch away, the risk of infection spreading from a lab coat or a nurse’s uniform to a patient is much greater than you think. Superbugs such as MRSA and CRE can live on lab coats for up to 56 days, and studies have shown pathogens were found on 20% of nurses’ uniforms at the end of their shift. It is vital for infection control that lab coats and scrubs are laundered properly and laundered often.

Morgan Healthcare is proud to be HLAC certified. But, what does that mean for customers? Here’s a quick FAQ about HLAC certification and how it benefits our customers nationwide:

What is the HLAC?

The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) is a nonprofit organization that inspects and accredits laundries that process reusable textiles for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. Their mission is to accredit laundries processing healthcare textiles based on the highest standards for patient safety and infection prevention.

What does it mean to be accredited?

HLAC accreditation, which is good for three years, means that a laundry meets HLAC Accreditation Standards. These standards have been documented, published and professionally recognized. Accreditation affirms that a laundry organization that processes healthcare linens has successfully passed an inspection of the following: its facility, policies and procedures, training programs, and its relationships with its healthcare customers.

The standards include:

• Handling soiled laundry
• Transporting linens to laundering
• Finishing/packaging clean laundry
• Customer service
• Patient safety
• OSHA-required practices (i.e. Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Control Standards)

View a PDF of the HLAC Accreditation Standards.

What are the benefits of getting certified?

The HLAC Accreditation Program boasts four main benefits to certification:

1. Patient Safety: HLAC-accredited laundries are part of the safety solution in healthcare’s effort to provide patients with the utmost in care.
2. Quality Improvement: Meeting and maintaining HLAC Accreditation Standards means a laundry has committed to a new level of excellence in the way it processes healthcare textiles.
3. Credibility/Knowledge: To the healthcare customer, a laundry’s HLAC accreditation is like a dividend validating the laundry’s expertise, believability, dependability, reliability and soundness.
4. Competitive Edge: All of the benefits of HLAC accreditation, when combined, give a laundry a genuine advantage over its competitors.

Curious to learn more? Check out https://www.hlacnet.org/ to read up on the certification and all it brings to our operation.

It is said that hospitals are no place for sick people. When you look at statistics for patients who receive infections during a hospital stay, you’ll understand why. Every year in the U.S., an estimated 1.7 million patients acquire infections while in the hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The White Coat

Some of these deaths may be attributed to the very clothes doctors wear, specifically their white coats, or lab coats. Although it has long been a symbol of the profession, doctors themselves are calling for an end to the practice of wearing them because they can carry pathogens from patient to patient as they make their rounds. Adding to the problem is that the coats do not receive professional laundering on a regular basis, sometimes going months between cleanings. Bacteria such as MRSA and CRE, known as superbugs because of their resistance to medication, can survive up to 56 days on the average white coat.

The scope of the problem goes beyond hospitals, however. Transfer of bacteria is prevalent in all types of nursing facilities and health clinics. And it’s not just the doctors who are transferring pathogens. Because they have adopted the habit of wearing lab coats that don’t receive regular cleaning, nurses and many other health care workers are spreading bacteria and viruses between patients.

Status Symbol

Some doctors have decided to forego wearing a white coat as a means of containing the problem. For others, the jacket symbolizes a type of “rank” that they have worked long and hard to be able to wear. Some also feel that their coats are no more harmful than the street clothes they wear beneath the coats. Besides being a status symbol, the coat is a handy place to stash pens, eyeglasses and tools of the trade, such as a stethoscope.

Lab coats also provide the added benefit of putting a patient’s mind at ease. A recent study showed that patient satisfaction can increase if their physician is wearing a lab coat. Lab coats projects authority, expertise, and confidence, and many patients feel more comfortable with a doctor who is dressed the part.

Additionally, healthcare workers have many colors and patterns to choose from in today’s scrubs, the standard industry clothing. Some facilities have taken to having workers wear lab coats over their scrubs to display a more uniform and professional appearance. For facilities that prefer the coats, as well as those who wish to retain the status symbol or convenience of wearing them, professional laundering services offer a solution to help contain the spread of pathogens to patients.

Industry Standards

The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) is an organization that sets hygienic standards for laundry used in healthcare settings. To become accredited, members such as hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices must meet standards that cover a range of processes, from handling and transportation to laundering and delivery of that laundry to the client. The layout of a laundry facility, employee training methods and even customer service are additional areas that come under accreditation standards, as well as compliance with OSHA requirements.

For more information on how professional laundering of lab coats can help you contain the risk of cross-infecting patients, contact Morgan Healthcare, who specialize in healthcare laundering. Ask about our Lab Coat Program and how you can benefit.