by A light meter that changes caregiver behavior
It is rare that a piece of equipment can have such an impact on human behavior. A sophisticated light meter from Hygiena reads surface cleanliness in seconds, providing the staff with a nearly instant acknowledgement of their professional level in surface cleaning. In healthcare, most of the high-touch high-risk surfaces look clean, feel clean and are odorless, but a dangerous “senseless” contamination exists. Sending a traditional surface swab to the lab does not have the same effect on the cleaning staff because of the delay in the feedback.
The light from this meter, RLUs – Relative Light Units, mimics that of the firefly, called bioluminescence. When oxygen combines with calcium, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the chemical luciferin in the presence of luciferase, a bioluminescent enzyme, light is produced. Thus, the generic name for the Hygiena system is ATP. It detects organic matter, not the presence of pathogens.
A lower tech surface cleanliness verification system called MarX will also provide feedback to motivate more consistent cleaning. It is simply an invisible UV stamp placed on key surfaces and monitored with a black light. If the X (MarX) is still there tomorrow, someone missed an important task. Of course if they got 100%, you now have grounds to celebrate.
Healthcare surfaces are contaminated regularly and must be cleaned frequently by everyone with easy-to-use clean-as-you-go systems.
