If you walk into a hospital, doctor’s office or emergency care facility you will be surrounded by electronic devices at every step during your visit. Some facilities employ tablets or monitors to register your check in instead of the old paper and pen method. Once you are in an examination room you will find monitors and instruments with LCD displays to provide information to the doctors and nurses caring for you. If you are having a procedure done you will find displays in the surgical suites to monitor your vital signs and in teaching hospitals, televise the operation so students can see the procedure close up. And if you find yourself staying in the hospital you will notice that there are numerous monitors in the room to read out your vital signs and the staff is walking around with electronic tablets and mobile computer carts to review your progress and make notes in your electronic chart.
That’s a lot of devices, a lot of screens, a lot of hands and a lot of germs. The hospital requires clinicians to disinfect devices between patient visits and medical procedures in order to prevent the spread of germs. But when small devices are used it is highly unlikely that these displays are cleaned when the staff visits from patient to patient.
A study in 2013 by the National Institutes of Health found that regular tablet use leads to a “remarkable amount of microbial surface contamination,” and that standardized disinfection with isopropanol wipes “significantly reduces this microbial load.” However, the study’s authors also noted that “applying a disinfection procedure such as the one we propose may lead to losing the manufacturer’s warranty for the devices.” Or worse, the antiglare surface coating on the LCD displays can dissolve when harsh cleaning chemicals are used.
Until recently this has been a major dispute between the staff who are responsible for infection control and those who are responsible for maintaining the electronics at the facility. But there is a perfect, cost-effective solution to satisfy both sides.
NuShield’s Triple A anti-glare, anti-microbial screen protector film has been specially designed to eliminate germs and protect the display surface in health care environments. The Triple A film’s antimicrobial coating has shown a reduction rate of 99% of colon bacillus and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria over a 24 hour period in laboratory tests. The inorganic coating has an excellent antibacterial spectrum and is resistant to the harshest chemical cleaning agents used in health care facilities, even straight bleach.
The installation of the Triple A film over the display allows the staff to clean the device, with solvent, bleach, rubbing alcohol, dilute alkalis, esters, and other disinfectants to eliminate germs without harming the LCD screen and it will not dilute its antimicrobial properties. The film uses a slightly tacky adhesive instead of a traditional pressure sensitive adhesive, which allows the NuShield film to be easily applied and removed and will not trap air.