How to Maintain and Collect Linens After Use in the Hospital

Hospitals require large amounts of linens for patient use. Proper collection, maintenance and laundering helps the hospital maintain the correct amount of clean linens. Linen purchases are less frequent in facilities that take care of their linen supply properly saving the hospital money. Some hospitals use laundry service companies while others have their own laundry services located within the hospital. There are several ways a hospital can maintain and collect linens after their use.

Instructions

• 1

  Use disinfecting detergent to launder hospital linens after use.

  Maintain linens by laundering when soiled. Use a disinfecting detergent to kill bacteria and prevent the spread of infection. Special laundering procedures should be followed when cleaning linen after it has been used on patients in isolation. Talk to the hospital's infection control nurse or supervisor to learn the proper techniques for laundering linens that have been exposed to infectious materials. Discard any ripped or threadbare linens to prevent it from being returned to the floor for use on patients.

• 2

  Use laundry hampers in each room to collect soiled linens.

  Use dirty linen hampers to collect soiled linens. These can be kept in each patient room or in a utility closet. Instruct hospital employees to discard soiled linen into the hampers. Make sure the hampers are clearly marked as soiled linen containers to prevent confusion. Both reusable and disposable bags can be placed into the hampers to hold the linens. Reusable bags can be laundered and used again, which helps the hospital save money. Replace reusable bags if they become damaged.

• 3

  Keep track of linen use and collection on each floor by using separate containers for soiled linen collection. Individual bins can also be used for linen storage allowing quantities to be maintained. Different colored containers can be used to keep track of linen use on each floor. Separate containers must also be used for linens used on isolation patients to prevent cross contamination. Be sure to take the correct colored containers to their designated floor if they are removed from the floor when soiled linens are collected.

• 4

  Use an even exchange linen policy with EMS companies to prevent excessive loss of linens.

  Designate specific laundry bins for use by EMS companies. Use an even exchange policy with EMS companies to ensure that excessive amounts of linens are not taken from the hospital. An even exchange policy means that the amount and type of linen taken is the exact type and amount of linen used on the patient during transport. For example, if an EMS company uses a flat sheet to lift, a blanket to cover and a pillowcase on the patient they transported to the hospital than they should only take a flat sheet, blanket and pillowcase to replace what was used.

• 5

  Place all soiled linens in a designated location for pick up if an outside laundry service is used by the hospital. This allows the laundry service to be more efficient when picking up the soiled linens and prevents the linens from building up on the floor. Advise the staff of the designated locations for linens. Maintain linen quantities by informing the linen service of the amount (approximate) of linens that have been used so that they can bring the correct amount to the facility to replace the soiled linens while they are being laundered.