Microfiber Dust Mops Have Been Proven to Remove 99

North CarolinaStateUniversity

UniversityTerryAnimalHospital Housekeeping

Infection ControlProtocol

2014

Purpose: To provide Infection Control information and guidelines for the Housekeeping Staff at the TerryAnimalHospital.

The NCSUTerryAnimalHospitalis one of the nation’s largest veterinary hospitals and is a national model for excellence in companion animal medicine.With a focus on patient care, client comfort, and staff efficiency, our housekeeping teams have a great responsibility in executing the infectious control guidelines.

The NCSU housekeeping staff plays a major role in eliminating cross contaminationat the TerryAnimalHospital. There are several procedures we use to insure that we follow the infectious control guidelines at TerryAnimalHospital in order to avoid cross contamination.

Several infection control procedures are used by the housekeeping staff such as using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), housekeeping equipment, special disinfectant chemicals and professional tools in different areas of the hospital. Listed below are a few examples of infectious control procedures used by our housekeeping staff:

We use color coded micro-fiber mops in certain areas of the hospital to helpavoid cross contamination. Examples of this are:We use blue/red 18” micro-fiber mops(wet mops) in the common areas, blue only micro-fiber mops in the cross contaminated areas, yellow/blue stripedmicro-fiber mops in restrooms only, and green fringe 18” mops in non cross contaminated areas, just to name a few. Using micro-fiber dust mops have been proven to remove 99.9% of microorganisms. Micro-fiber dust mops also remove up to 80% more dust and dirt than traditional cotton dust mops.

Equipment used in one area of the hospital can not be moved to another area. Examples of this are: The housekeeping equipment we use in the Dermatology area can not be used in the Oncology area. Each area in the hospital has its “own” housekeeping equipment and can not be moved out that area to clean any other area.

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)used to protect our employees. The PPE we use are: full coveralls,disposable shoe covers, latex gloves, and face masks.They aremostly used in our surgical operating areas. PPE is used as barriers to protect against infectious materials. Our housekeeping staffs who don’t work in contaminated areas generally were latex gloves and uniforms.

Special disinfectants that are used in our surgical areas are: Quaternary ammonium compounds (HDQ). This is used in the large animal andsmall animal surgical areas where blood and bodily fluids are exposed to our housekeeping staff and other patients; HDQ is used to help kill a number of germs that are produced by our patients. We use Oxivir TB RTU to combat Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the Norovirusand the Parvovirus in our isolation area. *** Special note: If a patient is found to have a potentially infectious respiratory infection during an examination, the animal is put into isolation. The room is closed off andthe infectious disease risk sign is placed on the examination room door. The room is then thoroughly cleaned and disinfected first by a medical technician with HDQ, and then our housekeeper is notified to clean the room again with Oxivir before the next patient enters the room. The remaining housekeeping staff use Virex II 256 and KaiBosh as hospital grade disinfectants for its daily disinfecting/cleaning of all hand-to-touch/skin contact areas.