There might be a lot of great things about working in an office with others in your field, such as being able to network with others and being able to collaborate on projects. However, there is one aspect of working in an office that isn't so great -- the spreading of germs. Unfortunately, this can become an even bigger problem during flu season, when you have to be particularly careful about not getting sick.
Even though it might not seem easy to prevent germ-spreading throughout your office building, there are a few steps that you can take to keep yourself healthy and prevent the other employees from getting one another sick. Follow these tips, and you're sure to notice a difference this year during flu and cold season.
Hire a Good
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Along with straightening up the office, it's also important to ensure that the bathroom, floors and other parts of the office are sanitized. A good janitorial service will ensure that everything is nice and clean and will take care of the sanitizing for you. It will also ensure that there is ample soap, paper towels and other hand washing supplies in the restrooms.
Use Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is cheap and works well at getting rid of germs. Therefore, it is smart to stock up on a few bottles of hand sanitizer to place throughout the office. Although your employees might not think about carrying around their own personal bottles of hand sanitizer, they will be more likely to use it if it is distributed in handy places throughout the building.
Invest in Sanitizing Wipes
Germs can be spread in a host of ways, including through sharing office phones or touching the same equipment, such as the fax machine or the coffee maker. Keep sanitizing wipes on hand all throughout the office, and encourage employees to wipe down the phones, fax machines, microwaves, coffee makers and more throughout the day. Make it easy for the employees, and lead by
Before we know it the flu season will be here. Which mean a lot of runny noses and severe coughs, germs spreading from person to person. To help keep the spread of the flu down we need to practice:
All areas that are being used for healthcare activities should be cleaned with either disinfectant wipes each morning and in between patients/procedures. Equipment should be all new out of the packets and clean. For things more major such as vasectomy’s, minor surgery or family planning clinics, areas should be cleaned everywhere with a disinfectant fluid and also with wipes, gloves should always be worn as well as other PPE such as aprons and hats. All equipment should be new from the packet and only touched by the person who is using
Evidence based care- There are mask, tissue and hand sanitizers are provided at all doors and elevators to reduce germs (hand sanitizers kill 99.9% of the germs and are most useful to reduce the microbial load, thus controlling the rate of infection (Vidyashankar, Varma, & Payki, 2011).
There are two important things to do in a dental office in order to prevent cross infection. These two forms are sterilization and disinfection. According to the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration before either of these forms can be used you have to clean the instruments. This can be done either by hand or by using an ultrasonic cleaner.
The first, foremost, and easiest way to start prevention is, having the flu shot be mandatory for everyone. Flu shots are given out at health departments, local pharmacies, and many other local places. This makes it easily accessible for the community. The places are also open different hours to help accommodate as well. A lot of workplaces offer to pay for their employees to get their shot as well. They want their employees to be healthy and do not want them to miss work. Another most important way to prevent the spread of germs is through proper hand hygiene and stopping the spread of germs. It is important to wash your hands frequently and keep your hands away from your face. Health care workers live by rules and regulations on proper standard precautions. Standard precautions are the basic level of infection control that is used as a preventative way to help control the risk of bloodborne and other pathogens being transmitted to other people. Every standard precaution is applied to every patient. Health care workers can see anyone from a something as small as a cut or to as major as motor vehicle accident. Each time they see a new patient, they wash their hands and change gloves. Everything needed to protect themselves from germs, pathogens and anything harmful is at their
Norovirus is a healthcare associated infection which can cause morbidity and mortality (Weber et al. 2010, pg. 25). Norovirus is spread through ingesting food or liquids that are contaminated with norovirus and also from touching or being in contact with objects and people who are contaminated with pathogens from norovirus (Weber et al. 2010, pg. 25). According to Weber et al. 2010 (pg. 26), approximately 20%-40% of hospital acquired infections are because of cross infections through the healthcare worker’s hands. A simple and effective solution to lowering the risk of spreading Reginald’s infection around the hospital is hand hygiene by healthcare workers and even visitors within the hospital
Things that are used commonly by students and staff should be routinely disinfected to ensure the health and safety of the people using the provided materials. Bacteria is related to disease (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885) Previous studies on the surface of a high school telephone showed that the phones had an uncountable number of bacteria colonies (Yalowitz, 2003). We know that surfaces used by the public often become contaminated because of the bacteria on peoples hands. A study on the bacteria on peoples hands showed that 28% of people have fecal matter on their hands (Judah, 2010). A study done on the contamination on public doorknobs showed that over 86.7% were contaminated (Nworie, 2012). This experiment was to show us how much bacteria is on the surface of the things we use
To increase patient and hcw safety, health care workers should be mandate to get vaccination. Hcw are more at risk to get infection because of their contact with patient and then to spread it to patients, specially patients who are susceptible to the infection (CITATION). Influenza symptoms appears within 1-4 days. Before even hcw workes know that they have influenza infection and they are contagious, they may spread the infection to patient . Also, if hcw are infected, it will cause impact on their mental and physical functioning. Two randomly conducted studies have supported that mandatory influenza vaccination for hcw helped in decreasing death rate upto 44% in nursing home residents (Ottenberg, 2011). Potter et. al. identified that because of increased staff vaccination mortality rate reduced from 17% to 10% (Suillivan, 2010). The other fact which can effect patient safety due to low rate of vaccination is absenteeism of hcw during influenza epidemic.
It is a severe influenza (flu) season and the number of patients arriving with the flu are high. What are five steps for preventing the flu from spreading to “healthy” patients in the waiting room? How will you ask MA, ensure you don’t get sick from the patients? Is having a flu policy for patients a good idea?
Improving care can be tricky but necessary for the success of the organization. One way to improve the condition of the hospital is to ensure that patients are thoroughly examined to receive all necessary care during the initial hospital visit to lessen the chance of people returning to treat an ailment that could have been treated the first time. According to Rigby, Pegram, & Woodward, (2017), Hand washing can significantly reduce the spread of hospital acquired infections nonetheless, evidence suggests that many healthcare workers are not following the hand washing recommendation (p. 448). The organization must reiterate the importance of hand washing procedures to the staff but also inform them by avoiding this process is harmful to the
(Tortora, Funke, & Case, 2013, p. 414) Most hospitalized patients will be immune compromised to some extent and the hospital, by nature, is a pathogen rich environment. Ongoing efforts to minimize pathogens in the environment by all hospital employees, patients and visitors are crucial. Infection control nurses and/or committees should work continuously to identify and eradicate possible infection sources. Equipment, especially respirators and humidifiers must be kept scrupulously clean lest they become reservoirs for microbial growth. (Tortora, Funke, & Case, 2013, p. 417) Strategically placed signs warning visitors to avoid entering the hospital if they are unwell, strict compliance with standard precautions, private rooms and special ventilation systems for contagious patients are all essential in the effort to minimize contamination. Occasionally, airborne and droplet precautions are necessary, but most pathogens responsible for common HAIs are spread by direct or indirect contact. Chain of transmission is therefore the parameter over which nurses have particular influence, as nurses have the most direct, hands-on contact with
Healthcare acquired infections are a concern in healthcare facilities. Organizational changes can influence infection prevention. There are several quality and safety interventions that can assist with reducing infection transmission, such as hand washing. In general, the longer a patient remains in the hospital the sicker they become. Many of the uncomplicated admissions become complicated after an extended hospital stays. Nursing home patients are generally admitted to a facility based on overall decline in health, but soon experience community acquired infections from the facility. Implementation of infection control by involving the interdisciplinary staff members can decrease the occurrence of infection.
As per a research by Society of Human Resource Management (HRM), flu stands out to be the main reason for absence of the employees during the season of winter. The proposal presents the solution to minimize the spread of Flu among the team members.
Considering the expenses used to treat seasonal flu and the losses that companies incur, it is rational why companies want to keep their employees as healthy as possible, and they have the right to ensure that their staffs are vaccinated as a condition of employment. However, there are some exceptions, which may include religious
There are so many things that can go wrong in the medical field, and not being clean is one of the most important to me. As a patient I would only expect for the equipment to be clean and the atmosphere to be safe for me, especially when I come in to a doctor’s office or emergency room. Being a student in the medical field, I have learned only a small fraction of what is needed to be a medical assistant. Having your surroundings sanitized and clean to the FDA standards is the most important out of so many other things that needs to be done as part of your routine. The surroundings of hospitals or doctor’s offices are so filthy and packed full of so many different patients’ germs, so practicing a sanitized routine is the safest way to make