Compliance Shark

"The Real Cause of Linen Allergies: Why pH Matters More Than Rinsing" In healthcare laundry, we often get calls from hospitals asking for special "no soap" packs—linens that are rinsed extra to prevent skin irritation for patients. The thinking behind this is usually that extra rinsing will help remove anything that could cause an allergic reaction. But here’s the thing: extra rinsing doesn’t really solve the problem. What’s really causing most of these skin reactions is the pH of the finished linen. When the pH is too high, it can irritate sensitive skin, and that’s often mistaken for a reaction to soap or chemicals. The ideal pH for linens should match the pH of human skin—around 5.5. If the linen’s pH is too alkaline (anything 7 or above), patients can experience discomfort or irritation. The good news? This issue is easy to fix. Raising the amount of sour in the final step will lower the pH of the final linen to match the natural pH of the skin. This will almost always eliminate the problem. It’s a simple adjustment that can save time, prevent extra steps like additional rinsing, and, most importantly, improve patient comfort. The bottom line: it’s not about rinsing more, it’s about getting the pH right. That’s the real key to avoiding linen-related skin irritations in hospitals. Compliance Shark Join thousands of healthcare pros here: https://lnkd.in/g7vEk--U What’s your experience? Comment below⬇ #HealthcareLaundry #InfectionPrevention #PHBalance #LaundryScience #PatientCare

🚀 My mission with Compliance Shark has been simple from day one: to keep our communities safe through healthcare linen compliance. 📣 I get it – keeping linen and laundry clean may seem like an unsexy, “out of sight, out of mind” problem until …it’s not. 😰 Over the years, I’ve received countless urgent phone calls from environmental services directors at hospitals of all sizes about compromised linens, gowns, fabrics, laundries, and operations. More often than not, it’s a reactive call instead of a proactive approach. 😨 “Hey Greg, we have a few thousand compromised gowns, we need replacements ASAP.” “Hey Greg, we’ve had some unexpected contamination in our linens. We’re not sure where it’s coming from, but we need help figuring it out—and fast.” 🔆 That’s why it’s great to see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its healthcare partners incorporate linen compliance into their Project Firstline training, to ensure that healthcare workers are equipped with the latest infection prevention strategies to protect both themselves and their patients. 👨🏫 I recently completed a training workshop with the National Indian Health Board, a partner in this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative, and have included some of the key takeaways. Let me know what you think. #Healthcarelinen #Laundryinspection #Infectionprevention #HAI #Laundrycompliance #Complianceshark

Did you miss our webinar about mastering compliance in commercial laundries with compliance expert Gregory Gicewicz? We've got you covered with the recording and comprehensive recap of the key insights shared during this informational session. You'll discover actionable strategies to ensure your laundry operations are compliant and ready for inspection success. Get the full recap, plus, learn about Greg's new Continuing Education Consortium course on prioritizing infection prevention and safety in laundry practices: https://hubs.la/Q02MVCqF0

🚀 Just wrapped up an incredible time at the Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) Exchange trade show in Phoenix, AZ! 🌟 It was an honor to represent Compliance Shark and showcase our consulting services designed to help hospitals reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by ensuring their linen programs are infection prevention compliant. 🏥🔬 A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth! We had some fantastic conversations about the critical role of proper linen management in maintaining a safe and healthy environment for patients and staff. Your insights and enthusiasm are what drive us to continue innovating and improving our services. For those who couldn't attend, feel free to reach out to learn more about how Compliance Shark can help your facility meet the highest standards of infection control. Together, we can make a significant impact on patient safety and healthcare quality. A special Thank you to my amazing energetic booth partners Caroline Gicewicz (daughter!), Abigail Gicewicz (Niece), and Dorothea Gicewicz (Better half!)

Pandemonium in the Sheets: The Domino Effect of Late Linen Deliveries I thought I would share a section from my upcoming book on healthcare linen infection prevention compliance. This section deals with the unforeseen infection risks of late linen deliveries. Having linen deliveries on time is critical for a hospital's operation. Late deliveries create significant chaos, more than you might imagine. While the hospital might have backup stock to cover immediate shortages, the real turmoil happens downstream in unexpected ways. Late clean linen delivery means late dirty linen pickup. This can result in the hospital running out of dirty linen bins, forcing staff to pile dirty bags on the floor. Stacks of dirty linen bags pose a severe infection risk and will undoubtedly alarm any infection preventionist or outside surveyor. To make matters worse, when the linen delivery truck finally arrives, it might not have enough bins to pick up all the dirty linen, or worse, the truck might not be able to fit all of it. Further downstream, the delayed pickup means the dirty linen drop-off at the laundry will also be late. This disrupts the production schedule and could lead to insufficient linen availability to meet customer orders the next day. On the hospital side, linen handlers work on a strict schedule that begins with unloading clean linen and ends with ordering linen for the next day, based on today’s inventory and tomorrow’s caseload. If the unloading is delayed by several hours, handlers still need to be paid, even though they have nothing to do during the delay. Once they do start unloading, it often leads to expensive overtime hours. Additionally, the delay prevents them from having an accurate and timely assessment of what to order for the next day. Missed deliveries exacerbate the chaos and make recovery more difficult. So, what actions can you take to prevent this bedlam? Ideally, your hospital chose a laundry vendor known for reliable, on-time deliveries. Regardless of your vendor, ensure you carefully define, agree on, and document the delivery windows. A typical delivery window is two to four hours. For instance, specify that all deliveries must occur between 12:00 AM and 4:00 AM. Some hospitals have tried to hold laundries to a one-hour delivery window, but based on my experience, this is unrealistic due to variables like traffic, weather, and production disruptions. Set realistic and achievable delivery windows to ensure smooth operations. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. #Healthcarelinen #linencompliance #linendelivery #infectionprevention

Are you free tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET? Stay ahead of compliance and join us for our webinar, "Mastering Compliance: Tips & Strategies for Laundry Inspection Success" with Gregory Gicewicz of Compliance Shark. This informative webinar will provide comprehensive guidance on best practices and strategies for ensuring compliant laundry operations. Save your spot: https://hubs.la/Q02xy6-m0 #CommercialLaundry #LaundryCompliance

Delve into the World of Infection Prevention with my Latest Article in American Laundry News! 📰 Are you passionate about maintaining the highest standards of infection prevention in healthcare facilities? 🏥💉 Then you won't want to miss my latest article featured in American Laundry News, where we uncover the Top 10 Infection Prevention Dangers associated with healthcare linen. In today's healthcare landscape, ensuring the cleanliness and safety of healthcare textiles is more critical than ever. From functional separation strategies to proper airflow management, our article explores the key challenges and solutions in safeguarding against cross-contamination and infection spread within healthcare environments. Join us as we dive deep into the intricacies of infection prevention, uncovering insights and best practices that are essential for healthcare professionals, laundry managers, and infection control specialists alike. Don't miss out on this valuable resource! Read our article now on American Laundry News and take the first step towards enhancing infection prevention protocols in your healthcare facility. 💼🔒 #ComplianceShark #InfectionPrevention #HealthcareLinen #InfectionControl #HealthcareSafety #ArticlePublication #AmericanLaundryNews