An Audit of Acute Care Patient Room Cleaning Practices and Potential Programmatic Gaps

Abstract

Multiple studies have shown that high-touch surfaces, such as bed rails, over bed tables, and supply carts, play a role in the transmission of pathogens to susceptible patients. It was demonstrated that current cleaning practices result in high-touch surfaces being adequately disinfected less than half the time. While there are no validated standardized practices for cleaning and disinfection (CD) of patient rooms, there are recommended processes. We conducted an audit of patient room cleaning in acute care facilities to identify current gaps and developed a model for CD of a patient room.