How Often Should Your Facility Staff Clean Their Keyboard and Mouse?

According to the CDC, MRSA is a "serious threat" in healthcare facilities and can cause severe problems including pneumonia, infections, sepsis, and death. Regular, periodic cleaning of a facility's high-contact surfaces, such as computer keyboards and mice, remains one of the most effective ways to main sanitary facility environments and protect high-risk patients of the risks of MRSA.

MRSA Sanitization Best Practices: Cleaning Frequency and MRSA Contact Transmission

MRSA can survive on a contaminated surface for weeks, warns the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And contact transmission is one of the most common ways for MRSA to spread from patient to patient, and from a facility's commonly touched surfaces to a person's open wound or cut. 

Healthcare professionals and facility staff should practice MRSA-reducing hygienic practices, such as always washing their hands (or using an alcohol-based sanitizer containing 60 percent alcohol or more) before and after coming in contact with a patient.

High-touch surfaces should also be sanitized regularly. A study published in the BMC Infectious Diseases peer-reviewed journal noted that wiping or spot-sanitizing a facility's high-touch surfaces was more effective than whole room cleaning. In terms of cleaning frequency, sanitizing such surfaces three times an hour led to a 57percent reduction in MRSA exposure. 

But high-touch surfaces don't just include counters, doorknobs, bathrooms and similar areas of a facility. It also includes the computer equipment that's becoming ubiquitous in various medical settings.  

Moisture-Sensitive Electronic Equipment (And Staff Busyness) Create Difficulty With Maintaining Cleaning Compliance

Thanks to an increasing reliance on electronic-based patient records, keyboards and mice are more and more prevalent in busy hospital environments. But the CDC points out that such equipment is often difficult to clean and sanitize, often because they aren't waterproof (or even water-resistant).

Plus, many facility staff are already very busy. Hectic schedules makes it all too easy to forget to follow a regular keyboard cleaning schedule. 

A research study by the University College of London Hospital noted that while the average facility's keyboard was touched 15.7 times an hour, often with ungloved hands,  staff rarely cleaned such surfaces regularly. 

That's where the use of Medigenic keyboards comes into play. The hospital study's researchers tested Medigenic keyboards against traditional keyboards, and found that cleaning frequency and cleaning schedule compliance increased significantly with the Medigenic system. 

The premise is simple. All Medigenic keyboards:

• Are medical grade and washable, with a silicone cover that's both easy to clean and also compatible with hospital-grade disinfectants
• Have fully waterproof keyboard housing, so facility staff can even rinse it under running water
• Include a built-in cleaning alert system that beeps at set cleaning intervals: The device can sense when the keyboard has been wiped down/sanitized, and the alert alarm turns off

The University College of London Hospital study noted that compared to traditional keyboards, cleaning compliance of a Medigenic easy-to-clean keyboard (which also encompasses an easy-to-clean computer mouse) roughly tripled thanks to the ease of sanitization and the patented alert reminders. These results are significant not only for MRSA rates and patient mortality, but also overall hygiene and sanitization in a medical setting. 

Contact us today for more information on the Medigenic Infection Control Keyboard and how it can help in the fight against HAI’s while forming habits that save lives.