Sometimes missed and under appreciated as a potential source of contamination is the standard hospital mattress.
This article aims to answer some of the most common questions we get asked regarding support surfaces and what steps you can take, if they become damaged or fail to perform.
Hospital mattresses can be damaged through daily wear and tear, ageing, tears or cuts made by sharp objects or chemical damage from disinfectants and regular cleaning. Therefore it’s not uncommon to have damaged mattresses throughout your facility. The solution is making sure the damaged surfaces are replaced/ fixed immediately to prevent the potential spread of infection.
Failing to prevent the spread of HAI’s and pathogens in damaged surfaces are among the leading threats to your patients safety. When mattresses become contaminated by skin cells that could possibly be covered with microscopic organisms such as bodily fluids, urine or faeces, or organisms transmitted via poor hand hygiene, this can result in infectious outbreaks.
Furthermore, when a mattress is damaged, it becomes far more difficult to clean and it loses its original physical and chemical properties designed to combat fluid penetration and bacterial growth.
Implementing routine inspections of your hospital mattresses is said to contribute greatly to controlling mattress-associated infections. This is due to the early identification of damaged surfaces allowing them to either be replaced or repaired quickly before they become problematic.
However, you might be thinking that the costs are simply too high to replace every single mattress, especially those with minor or early-stage damage. Plus, there are additional costs such as, disposal of the mattress, the cost of writing off equipment prematurely and the time spent waiting for a new one to arrive.
There is a solution to all of these common problems, mattress repair patches have become increasingly more popular. Their ability to provide a quick solution to managing potential infections seen in damaged mattresses is a much more convenient and economical way to resolve damaged surfaces than replacing them. Repair patches are manufactured from medical-grade, waterproof and chemical-resistant materials designed to restore a support surface back to a hygienic state. If you’re looking for a solution to completely prevent your mattresses from damage then regular internal training is often required on how to properly care for your mattresses. You may also like to refer to your suppliers guidelines on how to clean and maintain the mattresses correctly to ensure they are being cared for in a way which will not void any warranties.
If your facility has a solid routine in place for inspecting mattresses then early identification will be hugely beneficial to preventing outbreaks within your facility. Knowing when a mattress has surpassed the point of a quick solution such as the CleanPatch is also crucial. There are four suggested key signs to look out for when your mattress is ready to be replaced;
Each support surface's lifespan differs depending on the make and model. The same can be said about manufacturers warranties, as some can be as low as one year or as high as ten years. As mattresses age, undergo daily wear and tear and are rigorously cleaned, the material can start to deteriorate overtime. Catching this damage early and restoring or replacing mattresses to an intact and hygienic state can preserve high performance, cleanability and lifetime use.
So, your facility has recognised the importance of a routine program to inspect damaged mattresses and have found that some are ready to be replaced or brought back to an intact state. Replacing your mattresses should be easy and stress free, let us show you how.
You can view a range of unique Australian Made mattresses here.
Or, are you looking for an alternative to discarding or replacing your mattresses that is more economical?
You can view the range of CleanPatch repair patches here.
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