By Elisa Miller, Assistant Editor

Environmental services (EVS) staff are crucial in healthcare facilities as the frontline of infection control. They are continuously exposed to pathogens, bacteria, and viruses to provide safe, healthy, and comfortable spaces to patients and other healthcare staff. The Cambridge University Press published a 2018 study that showed hospital patients have a six times greater risk of being infected by pathogens from previous occupants of their room without EVS.  

Yet, they are often overlooked and underappreciated. Studies, including one in 2012 from the American Journal of Infection Control, have shown that EVS staff’s performance is impacted by their feelings and experiences. Not only do these workers deserve respect and recognition, but facilities may be inadvertently suffering without it.  

Researchers further investigated this in early 2025, surveying EVS staff to “understand how [they] felt proud, connected, and not connected to their hospital-based clinical teams.” They utilized the photovoice technique where participants are asked to express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions through photos and vignettes.  

The study describes, “Participants were asked to work individually to capture images in response to one or more prompts and discuss their findings collaboratively throughout the process. This method allowed for recording and reflecting areas of growth and promoting critical dialogue about important issues.”  

The Results 

The results are broken down into three categories: proud, connected to the clinical team, and not connected to the clinical team.  

Related Content: Study Outlines Hand Hygiene Guidelines for EVS Staff

Pride 

There was a strong sense of pride throughout all the employees, particularly in maintaining a clean space within their assigned area. They were also proud of developing meaningful relationships with the community and helping others.  

Their work inspired feelings of gratitude and motivation. But when asked how to continue those feelings of pride and gratitude, the participants expressed the need to receive more acknowledgement for their efforts. Additionally, they reported feeling proud of supporting others in the facility and desired to earn that same support in return.  

Connected to the Clinical Team 

EVS staff did have moments of feeling connected to clinical team members. They explained that these occurred when people were friendly, kind, and appreciative. Communication was also deemed key. One participant described his appreciation for clinical staff that called to tell him when they finished early at the end of the day to give him time to prepare for the following day.  

Being connected to the clinical team made EVS feel united working as one team. It also brought feelings of happiness. To maintain that connection, the participants said they wanted more support from clinical staff by providing extra assistance or going beyond their regular duties during busy periods. Additionally, they said they wanted to have friendlier relationships with the clinical community.  

Not Connected to the Clinical Team 

The EVS participants revealed they did not feel connected to the clinical team when they did not follow EVS rules or procedures. They reported feeling invisible, as their efforts were unacknowledged, while they, themselves, were often directly ignored. This led to an overall feeling of disrespect, with one employee claiming EVS being merely seen as janitors.  

The solution? They believe it’s communication. From coordinating tasks to a simple greeting, talking and working together was the key factor for EVS teams to feel connected to the clinical community.  

Elisa Miller is an assistant editor for CleanLink.com, Contracting Profits, Facility Cleaning Decisions, and Sanitary Maintenance.