Most healthcare facilities are still using privacy curtains in shared patient rooms and to increase privacy in the emergency department, according to an article on the Contagion Live website.
These curtains are required to be touched to be moved and unlike counters or medical devices, require laundering to be cleaned.
Frequently touched with dirty hands before and after interacting with patients and/or the environment, a fabric curtain is ripe for microbial contamination.
When determining the best practice for cleaning these curtains, infection preventionists often receive pushback, with clinicians questioning just how dirty they are and if they truly pose a patient safety risk, the article said.
Extreme Weather: The Maintenance-Resilience Link
Encompass Health Lower Providence Opens in Pennsylvania
Intermountain Health Acquires Fairbourne Building for Healthcare Hub and Medical Campus Conversion
Cooling Towers at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Test Positive for Legionella
Prefabricated Wall Panels Accelerate UCF Lake Nona Medical Center Construction