I am on the Internal Medicine ward service, so time and blogging are extremely limited.
Recently published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, (read the SHEA abstract here)daily and terminal cleaning of hospital rooms with 0.55% bleach wipes resulted in an 85% decrease in hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection over a 12-month period.
The study has limitations including a single center design with a before/after methodology. The authors focused on 2 hospital units with high rates of endemic Clostridium difficile infection so it is unknown if a hospital wide daily cleaning with bleach wipes would be cost effective.
Regardless, the intervention seems both simple and safe.
One caveat: the effectiveness of bleach wipes for the reduction of Clostridium difficile bioburden in the inanimate environment is likely technique and operator dependent. So, train your environmental services well, engage them in patient safety, and retain them.
The study has limitations including a single center design with a before/after methodology. The authors focused on 2 hospital units with high rates of endemic Clostridium difficile infection so it is unknown if a hospital wide daily cleaning with bleach wipes would be cost effective.
Regardless, the intervention seems both simple and safe.
One caveat: the effectiveness of bleach wipes for the reduction of Clostridium difficile bioburden in the inanimate environment is likely technique and operator dependent. So, train your environmental services well, engage them in patient safety, and retain them.
