By Healthcare Facilities Today

Regardless of your work setting, the patients notice the cleanliness of their rooms and the facility. Nurses often hype on the job that is done or not done by the environmental care workers, said nurse Barbara Smith in her recent blog about the importance of environmental services (EVS).

The valuable role of these support workers to improving patient safety should not be underestimated, Smith said in her post on AdvanceWeb.com. There is growing evidence that the environment can be a vector for transmission of pathogens.

According to Hospital Compare, the current national benchmark is that 73% of patients felt that their room and bathroom were always clean. Because of the importance of room cleanliness, many facilities are implementing programs and practices that help emphasize the work of the EVS department - visual cues like a tent card with the EVS staff's name on the over bed table or a liner on the clean toilet. Staff members are being coached on checking with the patient if there's anything else the EVS team member can do.

Read the blog.