Umgang mit Wäsche und Abfall in Alten- und Pflegeheimen

Abstract

Management of infectious diseases in nursing homes is as important as it is in hospitals. Therefore, a standardized questionnaire was used for the detailed assessment of the handling of laundry and garbage with a special focus on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 22 nursing homes in Germany. The study focused on the prevention of occupational diseases in the nursing home staff. Despite a few isolated problems, the situation of MRSA-positive patients was not as alarming as expected: guidelines for MRSA as published by KRINKO were often followed by the healthcare workers. However, general problems with managing garbage and laundry were identified. Many nursing homes lacked protective clothing and a sufficient garbage management plan. In addition, the handling of laundry was a problem in that the clothing of the patients and the working clothes of the staff were often washed at home rather than in accredited laundries. Thus, the awareness for hygienic problems needs to be raised, e.g., by expanding hygienic control for the nursing homes.

Multiresistant pathogens in geriatric nursing – infection control in residential facilities for geriatric nursing in Germany

“…In Frankfurt am Main, 85% of the surveyed facilities provided their staff with work clothes [ 16 ]. Hansen et al [ 17 ] made similar findings: in approx. 90% of the facilities, work clothes were worn and in 74% the employer provided the staff with work clothes – at least in part.…”

“…The present study has some limitations. The low response rate and the difficulties in recruiting geriatric nursing facilities that are willing to participate have also been reported by other authors [ 17 ]. It can be assumed that only “good” facilities – those with functioning infection control – responded, so that the result is distorted by selection bias.…”

“…Only 20% of the facilities exclusively washed the laundry themselves. Hansen et al [ 17 ] found similar results: 50% of the surveyed facilities had the clothes cleaned by external laundries and only 25% processed the laundry themselves. Our study found that more than 80% of the facilities had an industrial washing machine available for washing within the facility.…”

“…The experience from these studies and the results on hygiene monitoring in geriatric nursing facilities have been published and are continuously updated [ 14 ], [ 15 ], [ 16 ]. In addition, Hansen et al [ 17 ] have studied the hygienic problems of dealing with laundry and rubbish. Other studies have recorded the prevalence rates of nursing-associated infections in nursing facilities [ 6 ], [ 18 ] or deal with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) [ 12 ] and only discuss comparable questions peripherally.…”

Healthcare waste management in Germany

“…Audits of healthcare waste management and storage areas have shown different problems and demands have been concluded from them: [12][13][14] • Collection and transportation of waste has to attend to safety provisions for workers. have to be protected from weather and animals.…”