Housekeeper aides… keep it clean and safe

Housekeeper aides collect hazardous waste from patient rooms and wipe down everything everyone touches throughout the day and night.

They are equipped with gloves, cleaning carts, tools and disinfectants, prepared to subdue infectious diseases and create a positive atmosphere for patient care across the hospital.

Here is how a couple of VA's Environmental Management Services (EMS) employees prepare for each day.

Regina Paige-Prince (pictured above) puts on her PPE (protective personnel equipment), which includes a yellow gown, sterile gloves and an N95 mask. She is an EMS team leader who was with EMS for eight years in Washington, D.C., then transferred to South Texas VA.

She does the heavy lifting for the team by covering two floors, which include the medical intensive care unit and the progressive care unit. Cleaning contact rooms takes extraordinary attention to detail.

Hospital disinfecting robot

A contact room differs from the regular room because of the hospital disinfecting robot called Xenex. It produces UV lights across the entire germicidal spectrum inside the rooms.

It's not unusual for EMS to interact with patients while cleaning the hospital. To establish rapport with both the Veteran and their family, EMS personnel need to possess interpersonal skills. Veterans come in for all kinds of care, such as kidney treatments and heart problems, but it's a good time when they meet Paige-Prince while they're passing through.

Our Veterans have endured a great deal in life due to a variety of circumstances. At times, these experiences remain hidden until they get to VA. The impact EMS has on Veterans and employees is shown through gratitude and awareness from patients, family, nurses and doctors.

Every floor has immaculate waiting rooms available for patient families to sit in while they visit their loved ones. The "Walk of Honor" is a ceremony where people gather in the halls of the hospital to pay respect to the fallen. Paige-Prince is also a proud Veteran who stops and offers a final salute to the Veteran.

No task is too difficult for third shift supervisor Kathy Castillo. Her time at VA has given her lifelong lessons on how to lead by example as well as demonstrating how to provide better care for our Veterans.

"Being a supervisor is not a privilege."

Castillo loves listening to the Veterans "chew the fat" about their time in the military.

"I'm a working supervisor. If areas are not covered, part of being a supervisor is you got to step up and take care of it yourself. Being a supervisor is not a privilege. There's a lot more to being a supervisor than sitting behind a desk doing paperwork," Castillo shared. "Hearing the Veteran's stories and where they came from, being that listening ear for them because some people don't have visitors. Sometimes, my presence gave them time to talk to people, you know, socialize."

EMS makes a substantial difference in the functionality of VA. Fighting infectious diseases is 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so let's celebrate these hard working employees.

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