Running a nursing home is a demanding job. Not only are there many people depending on you, but you are also responsible for the upkeep of an entire building. With so much at stake, the last thing you need is a pest infestation. Here is why pest control in nursing homes is critical and how to make sure your building remains healthy and pest free.
Why Nursing Home Pest Control is Critical
If there’s one place where sanitation is needed, it’s in a nursing home. For starters, the elderly have weakened immune systems to begin with, so germ spreading creatures such as rodents, ants and cockroaches can cause serious problems. Diseases which a healthy adult can handle well enough may be much more serious for an 80-year-old man or woman. Whether it’s a rat wandering into patient’s rooms directly after dumpster diving or cockroaches crawling over sacks of rice in the dry goods storage room before they are served for dinner, nothing positive can come from pests in a nursing home. Furthermore, with so many patients, staff and family members packed so close together, a single person’s illness can turn into something much worse. Finally, keep in mind that your facility has a reputation to uphold. Not only do people trust you with their loved ones, but an infestation of bugs or rodents can turn into a public relations nightmare very quickly.
How to Keep Your Nursing Home Pest Free
While nursing homes are especially important to keep pest free, they are also incredibly vulnerable to infestations. With people coming and going so often, many pests such as bed bugs have opportunities to infiltrate a nursing home simply by latching on to a person’s coat and entering straight through the front door. Therefore, educate your staff members to check their clothes thoroughly before coming into work each day, and if a patient has been given flowers, make sure that no bugs are hiding in between the petals. Also, when food is begin delivered, look for signs of pests, such as torn packaging or insect droppings, before allowing it in the kitchen. Keep doors closed at all times when not in use and make sure that all windows are screened. Lastly, ask your patients and staff members to tell you immediately if they see any pests so you can stop any problems before they become too serious.
Nursing home pest control is not like any other form of pest control. With so much to protect and so much that can go wrong, allowing pests inside your nursing home is not an option. For more information, or to receive quality pest control services contact Presto today.
