Maintaining proper indoor comfort conditions within hospitals, health systems, or clinics can be a difficult task. Building maintenance and operations teams need to consider individual patient rooms, communal care or waiting areas, and staff-only offices, among many other spaces. Ultimately, the top of the importance list is patient rooms and patient areas, as that’s why hospitals and healthcare systems exist in the first place.
Ensuring heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems are within proper operating capacity goes a long way toward keeping patients not only comfortable but also building occupants safe from the spread of airborne illness. Air filtration systems and larger HVAC systems must work in unison to keep indoor temperature, humidity, and air pressure at proper levels to maintain comfort and safety. Failure to do so can risk accreditation with The Joint Commission and other regulating agencies.
Fortunately, there is technology that can help hospital staff stay on top of their and ambient air conditions: OneVue Sense®.
Patients Heal Better in Comfortable Conditions
Undoubtedly, many factors play into how a patient heals within an inpatient setting. There are medical considerations like age, acuity level, and medication effectiveness. There are psychological factors such as mental health, overall well-being, and feelings of support from others. There are also environmental factors like noise levels, lighting, bed comfort, and indoor air quality.
Specifically, indoor ambient air temperature and humidity levels can have a large effect on a patient’s comfort and overall healing. A Journal of Patient Experience study found that patients felt comfortable and calm when sensory comforts, such as temperature, were familiar to them.
A key way to keep indoor air temperature familiar to patients is with a OneVue Sense Ambient Air Monitoring Solution. This mountable environmental monitoring device automatically measures ambient air temperature and humidity levels around-the-clock. Readings are viewable on the device’s LCD screen and sent to the mobile-friendly OneVue® Software platform. Facility staff can set specific parameters and receive alerts via email, text message, or phone call if conditions rise above or fall below their set threshold.
Having real-time alerts and easily accessible room comfort data empowers facility staff to make informed decisions regarding indoor comfort conditions. More easily determine to set a thermostat, turn on a fan, open a window, run a humidifier or dehumidifier, or move a patient to a different area of the building with a full set of recorded indoor temperature and humidity data points. Additionally, staff can be in different areas of the hospital and receive out-of-range alerts to let others know of areas that need action.
Limit the Spread of Infection in Hospitals
Indoor air temperature and humidity play a bigger role in limiting the spread of infection than you may think. While certainly not a replacement for proper hand hygiene, mask and PPE use, and thorough cleaning, maintaining proper indoor comfort conditions can help limit the spread of infectious airborne particles to others.
The transmission of airborne infectious particles and pathogens, such as the flu virus, tends to decrease as temperatures rise. However, keeping indoor air temperatures at 86 °F (30 °C), while optimal for limiting pathogen transmission, isn’t exactly comfortable in indoor spaces, per ASHRAE standards.
This is when the importance of maintaining proper humidity comes into play. Too low a humidity causes expelled cough droplets to evaporate more quickly and linger in the air. Too high a humidity creates excess moisture that’s a breeding ground for fungus, mold, and water-borne bacteria. When humidity levels remain between 40% and 60%, airborne particles have a harder time moving through the moist air and settle to the floor more quickly.
With OneVue Sense in your facility, staff can set temperature and humidity thresholds and receive immediate notice when an indoor comfort measurement falls below or rises above your custom range. With the guesswork gone, you’ll know exactly when to take corrective action and where to help limit the spread of infection.
OneVue Sense Indoor Air Quality Monitoring for Comfort and Safety
“Comfort” is largely subjective, and different individuals prefer different indoor temperatures and humidity levels, which can make ensuring everyone’s comfort difficult in a public environment. The ideal temperature and humidity level for a comfortable hospital setting largely depends on the area itself, the time of year, and the area’s inhabitants.
For operating rooms, endoscopy suites, and clean workrooms, cool temperature standards apply, which are 68 °F to 73 °F (20 °C to 23 °C). In individual patient rooms and delivery rooms, warmer temperature standards are the norm, around 75 °F (24 °C). For other areas of the facility, 70 °F to 75 °F (21 °C to 24 °C) is the proper operating range.
Again, OneVue Sense Ambient Air Temperature and Humidity monitoring can be a monumental help in ensuring patient comfort. With combined local and remote, on-the-go monitoring, OneVue Sense users can gain peace of mind knowing they have 24/7 access of indoor comfort conditions measured wherever you install (easily!) the monitoring sensor.
In addition to near-real-time data, users can automate scheduled or generate on-demand reports, making proof of compliance easy during audits. These same reporting features are especially helpful for other OneVue Sense solutions, namely Temperature Monitoring, which protects sensitive assets from damage caused by accidental temperature inaccuracies during storage.
Also, OneVue Sense Differential Pressure Monitoring can be a supplemental tool to indoor air monitoring, to help keep isolation rooms and OR suites properly pressurized to avoid infection spread. As your HVAC system works to cool or heat your facility, protect against unforeseen flooding and its potentially catastrophic consequences with OneVue Sense Water Leak Monitoring.
Every OneVue Sense Environmental Monitoring Solution reports into the same OneVue Software platform for maximum ease of use and maximum facility optimization. If you’re looking to solidify your hospital, health system, or clinic’s patient safety and comfort related to ambient air conditions, OneVue Sense has you covered.
Contact us today to get started.
