Where There’s Stain, Smear, and Ghost, there’s Bacteria

Healthcare professionals go to great lengths to ensure that their facilities are as sanitary as possible. The challenge is a serious one. For example, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 25 patients are affected by a hospital-acquired infection.

Hospital acquired infections, or HAI, are most often transferred from ‘hand-touch’ sites found on frequently used objects within the hospital room. Nurses and doctors are trained to wash their hands before various tasks, but is writing on the ‘whiteboard’ one of them? Do you wash your hands before using the ‘whiteboard’?

Because of the porosity seen with typical whiteboard offerings, bacteria can become stuck, in a porous surface – put simply, if remnant marker ink, chalk or paint is staining the surface, imagine the amount of bacteria that is hiding.

Even worse, with the transient nature of healthcare staff, moving from room to room to deliver instruction, post an announcement or just to deliver cheer, the whiteboard can become a major conduit for bacteria.

Industry experts are increasingly proactive in advising against the purchase of non-porous materials for healthcare settings. The Prevention of Infectious Disease Advisory Committee (PIDAC) advises a simple approach:

“If you can’t clean it, don’t buy it.”

Whiteboards are clear examples of surfaces that can’t be truly cleaned.

Glass on the other hand is ultra-cleanable.

It’s not porous, so it does not harbor bacteria. It cleans easily, never leaving remnant material or bacteria. The sanitation advantages of Glassboards effectively disqualify traditional whiteboards in healthcare settings.

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