Steps To Protecting Your Caregiver Facility From Illness

When you work in a facility where illnesses are easy to spread, it’s especially important to make sure your workers are safe and healthy. The caregivers remain in contact with their patients and can spread illness to others (if they get sick). Knowing this, you’ll want to put certain protocols in place to decrease the risk or spread of infection. In order to protect your caregiver facility from an illness epidemic, implement the following tips.

Put Sanitation Protocols in Place

In addition to placing sanitizing stations at each entrance of the building, it’s also wise to place sanitizing stations throughout the facility. Touchless dispensers need to release hand sanitizer. Next to the touchless dispensers, provide wipes for caregivers to wipe down carts, wheelchairs, and more.

Do Temperature Checks

A temperature is often indicative of a brewing virus or flu. This is why it’s good to set up a temperature scanning kiosk at each entrance. If a person scans a high temperature, you can allow them to stand outside for a few minutes in order to try again. Sometimes, a temperature reads higher than normal if a person is sitting in a warm car or in a rush. However, if the temperature reading is consistently high after ten minutes, then it’s a common policy that they’re not allowed to enter the building.

Require Masks and Protective Gear

Even though the mask mandates aren’t in effect in most places, small businesses and facilities still have the right to require certain mandates if they’ll keep the patients and caregivers safe. There are enough studies to show that masks help to slow the spread of infection. In some cultures, mask-wearing is pretty commonplace. In addition to wearing masks, encourage people to wear gloves as they touch patients and more. The gloves serve as another protective barrier as well.

Provide Testing Kits

Sometimes, a person might feel self-conscious because they have a cough or a sneeze that’s due to their seasonal allergies. A testing kit will help to eliminate the confusion regarding whether they have a virus or not. Keep testing kits on hand for anyone to use when they’re unsure of their status.

While some of these tips might require you to bring new personnel on board, other tips are easy to implement within 24 hours. Just be intentional about your process as it impacts the health and safety of everyone involved. As you put these systems in place, it’ll become much easier to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change. Before long, your process will operate like a well-oiled machine.