April 25, 2021
This document is a summarised version of OP-GC5-Cleaning of Patient Care Equipment. The summary has been created to be Emergency Department specific, and has been endorsed by the ED Leadership Team . Staff should review the document if they require further information.
Overview:
As shared patient equipment can act as a “vehicle by which infectious agents are transferred between patients,” it is important that proper care and cleaning of equipment is adhered to.
What does this look like in Practice
- All shared patient care equipment must be cleaned with hospital approved wipes containing detergent and disinfectant after each patient use.
- All patient care equipment should be disinfected using disinfecting wipes (ie. Clinell) upon being removed from an isolation room.
- Shared cleaned equipment (eg. bladder scanner/ECG machine/IV poles) should be clearly tagged as ‘Clean’ utilising the approved green tag. Any equipment that does not have the ‘Cleaned’ tag is to be considered unsafe and must be cleaned
- Any damaged equipment that cannot be adequately cleaned and disinfected should be placed in a clear plastic bag (where possible) before returning to the Clinical Equipment Library or engineering with a BEIMS attached.
- The schedule of cleaning patient care equipment is provided in the Table 1.
Table 1: Equipment Cleaning protocol in the Emergency Department
Equipment
|
Equipment
|
Method
|
Who is responsible?
|
Bed
|
Clean after patient discharge:
– Rails/frame
– Whole bed |
Detergent + disinfectant |
Nurse + PSA |
Bedpans and urinals
|
After patient use |
Thermal washer/sanitiser |
Nurse |
Commode
|
Clean contact points after patient use |
Detergent + disinfectant |
Nurse |
Lifting equipment (ie. hoists)
|
Clean contact points after patient use |
Detergent + Disinfectant |
Nurse |
Drips/intravenous stands/poles
|
After patient use |
Detergent + disinfectant |
Nurse + PSA |
Medical equipment (eg. pulse oximeters/stethoscopes) NOT connected to patient
|
Clean daily and between patient use |
Detergent + disinfectant |
Nurse + PSA |
Patient slide/board
|
After patient use |
Detergent + disinfectant |
Nurse + PSA |
Supporting Documentation:
Cleaning of Patient Care Equipment Procedure (OP_GC5)