By: Steve Berg, Vice President of Sales for Senior Living, Government, & Laundry for Encompass Group, LLC.
Though many understand the impact linens have on resident comfort, be sure your team also recognizes the impact of linens on resident safety. Here are three ways to ensure your laundry process is helping to prevent infection.
Improve infection control during linen handling
Controlling the spread of infection and superbug outbreaks can be a matter of life and death in the healthcare industry. Should your senior living facility encounter a linen-related infection control issue, you don’t want your linen handling protocol to be the culprit.
Here are three steps your facility’s environmental service (EVS) director should evaluate when assessing your linen handling procedure:
1. Washing and drying: The combination of mechanical, thermal, and chemical factors is what effectively cleans and removes microbes from soiled laundry during the washing process. The scrubbing action of the water and the machine agitate microorganisms while laundry soaps, detergents, and bleach (when necessary) help remove and lift away the pathogens from the linens. Using hot water at a temperature of 160°F (71°C) for a minimum of 25 minutes is commonly recommended for hot-water washing; this method provides an effective means of destroying the microorganisms. The fabric will dictate dryer temperatures and cycle times.
Commercial laundering can be harsh on linens. Look for stain-resistant products that rarely require re-washing, and materials that reduce standard drying times compared to traditional linens.
2. Sorting and folding: After they are washed and dried, cleaned and dried linens are often pressed, folded, and packaged for transport back to resident floors. Though pressing and folding reduces wrinkles and creases in cotton linens, it can be a time-intensive step in the laundry cycle.
3. Transporting and storing: Simplify this part of the process. Look for products that do not require ironing or folding, eliminating the need for a flat work ironer, small piece folder, and related staff activities. Easily identifiable products reduce sorting time and improve efficiencies when separating for transportation and storing.
When combined, incorporating these increased efficiencies will improve resident care and safety — always top-of-mind for senior living facilities — while reducing linen processing costs.
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About the author: Steve Berg, Vice President of Sales for Senior Living, Government, & Laundry for Encompass Group, LLC. He can be reached at steve.berg@encompassgroup.net. Call today at 1-800-245-4636 to discuss how the Encompass Group Comfort Bed System can help you (and your residents) through proper linen handling at your facility.
