AHE has started this initiative to encourage professionals in the field to begin, or continue to refer to the departments and the personnel caring for the healthcare environment as environmental services professionals rather than as housekeepers, janitors and custodians. The staff and management teams responsible for maintaining the clinical environment of care require different skills and competencies from those needed in the commercial cleaning and general maintenance industry and it's time we address this critical distinction.

Please help us redefine healthcare environmental services!

We need YOU! AHE is gathering input from environmental services departments across the country to identify baseline staffing productivity standards. The results of this data gathering will be used in building staffing models and providing metrics for environmental services directors. You can be a key player in identifying and establishing these important staffing criteria for our industry.

Facility Executive
Patients’ perceptions of a hospital’s cleanliness can have a major impact on their overall care and hospital experience, according to a new study. Specifically, the data show correlations between patients’ perceptions of room cleanliness and three important categories: the risk of hospital-acquired infections; a hospital’s score on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey; and scores on the HCAHPS teamwork indicators.

Kelly Teal, Infection Control Today
With flu season around the corner and the latest Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) deadline just passed, now seems the ideal time to explore the issue of cleanliness, the topic of Question 8 of that quarterly survey.

Bob Kehoe, Health Facilities Management
Acting on its commitment to help hospitals and health systems respond to the challenges posed by community violence, the American Hospital Association offers its members valuable online resources to address everything from risk assessment to emergency response best practices.

Matt Poe, American Laundry News
When talking about asset management in a laundry operation, equipment often represents investments worth millions of dollars.

Jamie Morgan, Health Facilities Management
Although Joint Commission-accredited facilities are not required to comply with the National Fire Protection Association’s 2012 NFPA 101 and NFPA 99 codes until Jan. 9, the organization says it already has begun surveying ambulatory care, behavioral health care, critical access hospital, hospital, home care and nursing care center programs according to the recently adopted codes.

Healthcare Facilities Today
Markham Stouffville Hospital in Ontario, Canada, is using a black light to remind staff and patients of the importance of washing their hands, according to an article on the York Region website.

Anuja Vaidya, Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
Dirty linens from healthcare facilities may be a source of environmental Clostridium difficile contamination, according to a paper published in FEMS Microbiology Letters.

The findings may also aid efforts to develop an effective anti-Zika vaccine, said James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center.

Heather Punke, Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
Earlier this year, the CDC issued a warning to hospitals about an emerging, deadly yeast infection making its way across the globe. Now, local and state health departments and the CDC have identified 13 cases of Candida auris infections in the U.S.

Einav Keet, Contagion Live
Changing the way doctors prescribe antibiotics is a cornerstone in the fight against antibiotic resistance and will require new approaches to cut the number of unnecessary prescriptions. Now, a team of researchers have found that social media platforms can be a valuable tool in antibiotic stewardship programs.

Evan Roth, Forbes
Silos, egos, chest beating, throwing under the bus, misalignment and blaming each other. These descriptors top the list when I am asked to work with dysfunctional leadership teams.

Tamara Rosin, Becker's Hospital Review
Unfortunately, many successful mid-level managers flounder in new roles after being promoted up the corporate ladder.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

By John Scherberger

Make yourself indispensable and advance your career! Plan your education for 2016. Visit AHE’s brand-new 2016 ENGAGE site to learn more about educational courses, podcasts, webinars, and events.

The designation of AHE Fellow (FAHE) recognizes current AHE members for reaching the highest level of education and achievement in both the Association and in the environmental services field. Only presented to Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Professionals (CHESP), FAHE status is given to active members who have excelled in specific areas and have submitted an acceptable, original, unpublished paper on a current aspect of environmental services.