Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 2nd May 2024 Issue no. 1112
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Taking infection prevention from the clinics to the casinos
With the risk of environmentally transmitted infections such as flu and MRSA, the simple act of using a pen to fill out forms has become a potential vector for infectious diseases.
Steri-Write, a revolutionary pen disinfection tool developed by Dr Brian Wind, offers a game-changing solution to this critical issue, ensuring enhanced safety for patients and the public.
The Steri-Write device, now in use in both healthcare settings and public offices, disinfects pens to reduce the spread of infections transferred on our hands. Its UV disinfection removes 99.9% of pathogens to enhance safety.
Dr Wind, a distinguished ophthalmic surgeon, envisioned creating a safer healthcare environment long before the Covid-19 pandemic. His cutting-edge pen disinfection tool utilises the power of UV light to eliminate 99.9% of germs lingering on pens, eliminating the need for questionable ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ pen cups and improving hand hygiene.
Steri-Write has rapidly gained traction in both healthcare and non-healthcare facilities across the US. The Cherokee Indian Hospital, serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina, recently implemented Steri-Write at welcome desks where patients often use shared pens to complete paperwork.
Bobbi Jo Jenkins, RN and the infection preventionist for the hospital, first saw the innovation at the APIC infection prevention conference in 2022, and knew she wanted to implement it immediately.
"We have over 14,000 members here on the boundary,” says Bobbi of her decision to adopt Steri-Write. “Our mission is to protect them and the remaining speakers of our native language.
"This was an easy decision for us after we had seen the positive results that using UV disinfection had provided us when cleaning rooms."
Bobbi says its teams adopted the technology readily, adding about 15 devices to every satellite clinic and hospital entrances where paperwork is common. Then, a few patients who worked for the tribal casino and tribal government offices saw the safety device.
"So, they took it back to the tribe and into the casino, and now they're purchasing units in other spaces where paperwork is common, like the casino's HR office," she adds. “Visitors are complimentary of the devices, which have been in place for over a year.
"They feel like we're doing our best to provide them protection and decrease the amount of germs that they're exposed to. It's kind of like going into the grocery store. You're always going to grab a cart. So, do you grab one of those wipes to clean it first, or do you just get it and pray that you don't catch something? There's so many germs spread by contact."
Dr Wind reports that he learned from the experience as well. "I didn't realise how disproportionately Native American groups are affected by Covid-19, but also by other transmissible diseases," he admits. "But I'm so glad Steri-Write can be a part of preventing infections in the Native American community."
14th December 2023