Privacy curtains challenge infection control efforts

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.

Read the article.