Along with Infection Control Professionals and Nurses, Environmental Services (EVS) providers play a vital role in maintaining a safe environment for patients in hospital. In fact, making sure each area is optimally disinfected is integral to allowing patients to do what they need to do – heal. To explore this critical role further, we sat down with Katherine DS, Manager of Environmental Services. 

Q: Tell us a little bit about your background.

“A: I’m a manager, coach, and leader, working at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital for 17 years in various leadership roles, and I have twenty-five years’ experience working in Environmental Services at various healthcare organizations. 

After graduating from university having studied Child & Youth Care, I was driven by a passion for creating a safe patient environment to cultivate a robust EVS program, from its beginning at the old Oakville Trafalgar Memorial, to its transition to the new 457-bed acute care community hospital. I was inspired to create a culture ripe with innovation, as I lead a team of supervisors, scheduling assistants and 220 front-line staff through recognition, training, and mentoring.”

Q: What is a typical day like for an EVS in your facility?

A: “EVS workers play a critical role in hospital safety. Effective cleaning practices of patient rooms and public spaces aid in the prevention of transmission of communicable diseases. EVS staff clean the hospital facilities based on infection control and hospital standards. From a housekeeper's perspective, a day for EVS is acquiring all their essential cleaning equipment – which includes Clorox ready to use bleach wipes for our C-difficile cleans. Maintaining the hospital and caring for patients by doing our job each and everyday, helps to ensure the patients are comfortable and confident within a clean environment.

Q: How do you protect patients, staff, and visitors in your hospital?

A: “Daily and thorough cleaning for all spaces has always been how we protect the hospital. A slogan we use in our Staff Committee has been: "Team EVS, Your Safety in Our Hands" — that gives you an idea of how our staff take their work seriously to help ensure both patients and staff alike are protected within the hospital. 

As EVS, we are not just cleaners, we are healers and protectors of our facility. Ensuring our facility is safer through cleaning is integral to the healing journey of the patient. When the environment is clean, people feel better, and the healing journey begins. EVS protects in our most effective way — putting patient safety and cleanliness first.”

Q: What has your experience been using ready-to-use wipes compared to dilution control systems?

 A: Using wipes over a dispenser is much faster to get going and is less hassle compared to dispensing cleaning solutions. It makes your cart a bit lighter because you don't need the additional buckets, and you don't end up with as much wet linen at the end of the shift.

We use our wipes for C. difficile cleans and ER cleaning for its sporicidal qualities, and when completing shifts in those areas with high turnover, it's much less taxing to pull and use a wipe then having to replenish your cloths a few times per shift.

The two main reasons I would recommend RTU wipes would be ease of use and speed. It’s much faster to snip a bag and replace the refill in your bucket than to find a closet, refold cloths, and dispense again — and there's less to go wrong, especially when killing a hard to clean bug like C. difficile. 

For your facility, choose CloroxHealthcare®.

CloroxHealthcare® Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes (DIN: 02406225)*

Clorox Healthcare® VersaSure™ Alcohol-Free Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes (DIN 02473151)*

Clorox Healthcare®Bleach Germicidal Disinfectant Wipes (DIN: 02465671)*

*Use as directed.

See even more benefits of Clorox Healthcare® ready-to-use wipes here

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