Disinfection
Electrostatic application of disinfectant
Daniel Sullivan explains how electrostatic technology offers significant benefits for environmental decontamination. A trial has shown that contamination is reduced, while beds can also be turned around much faster, but stakeholder engagement and targeted training are vital.
I spend a lot of time in my job training cleaning staff within hospitals and primary care settings. I find that it is typically an area of underinvestment – most new domestics are paired with a more experienced colleague and shadow them for a short period of time until they have memorised the techniques required. They also pick up all of their colleagues’ bad habits, misconceptions and knowledge gaps. This method of training is ineffective, not in line with recognised best educational practice and worst of all, it encourages rote thinking. Ironically, a small investment in developing these staff pays dividends in increased standards of cleanliness and smarter procurement of solutions and equipment that is efficient and effective. Proper training allows them to think creatively about their role, encouraging them to identify weaknesses or suggest improvements in their ways of working.
This in turn helps them take ownership over their roles and their area, and involves them in the cycle of continuous improvement that all sites should be engaged in. Quality training can be transformative, instilling a collective mind-set that lifts the entire organisation. Technology is a huge gateway into creating this mind-set. When introduced and applied properly, technology is empowering, innovative and effective. Technology for its own sake, however, risks providing a poor return on investment, and the clumsy introduction of technology in decontamination can often have a negative impact on standards and on staff performance. In order for technology to be successful in a decontamination setting, it must: address an identified need; consider the requirements of, and impact on, the user; be cost-effective. One of the best examples of this in practice for me in recent years has been the
electrostatic application of disinfectant. I think, as a case study, this demonstrates the best of what technology can offer the sector and the staff working within it.
What is electrostatic technology? Anyone who made it through science lessons in primary school will recall learning about magnets, and the old adage that ‘opposites attract’. What you don’t find out until further on in your education is that most particles hold a charge, positive or negative. In the case of disinfectant solutions, these usually hold a negative charge (though some water-based solutions can be neutral). Most microorganisms also hold a negative charge. So, at the most basic, microscopic level, there is some degree of repulsion – not enough to nullify the disinfectant, but still… not ideal. Electrostatic applicators come in a range
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I April 2023
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