Why Do You Need Antimicrobial Whiteboard Walls in Hospitals?

Ever wonder how many germs hitch a ride on your hospital’s whiteboard? Standard whiteboards are a staple in staff rooms and wards, perfect for jotting down notes, procedures, and reminders.

Though seemingly innocuous, whiteboards in hospitals can harbour bacteria for days, silently acting as potential contamination points. This can be a serious risk in fast-paced healthcare environments.

The good news? Antimicrobial whiteboard walls offer a revolutionary solution to this problem. Let’s delve into why these innovative walls are the future of active communication in healthcare establishments, promoting a cleaner, safer environment for staff and patients alike.

Why do hospitals use whiteboards?

Hospitals utilise whiteboards for a multitude of reasons, primarily focusing on communication, organisation, and patient care. Here’s a breakdown of the key applications.

Communication

In hospitals, whiteboards act as a central hub for sharing patient information, schedules, and medication plans.
Team briefings and shift handoffs are facilitated with whiteboards, ensuring smooth transitions in care.

Organisation

For staff, to-do lists and visual aids like charts noted on whiteboards in hospitals keep everyone organised and on the same page.
They are extremely useful for keeping track of discussion agendas and notes.

Patient care

Patient care also benefits – whiteboards can be used to educate patients, update families, and track recovery progress.
Hospital whiteboards can document goals, interventions, and progress for a patient’s care plan.

Problems with standard whiteboards in healthcare settings

While seemingly convenient, traditional framed whiteboards have a large set of drawbacks. And when it comes to healthcare establishments where hygiene is paramount, they can pose some serious risks. Let’s take a closer look at the vital concerns.

Hygiene concerns

Harbours germs: Traditional whiteboards may have a porous surface. Perfect for trapping germs and bacteria for a prolonged period. Plus, fixed whiteboards have framed edges that create difficult-to-clean corners. These hidden areas can become potential breeding grounds for bacteria and germs.
Cross-contamination: Hospital dry erase boards are frequently touched by several healthcare workers. It can facilitate the spread of germs between healthcare staff and patients.
Cleaning hassles: Effectively cleaning standard whiteboards in hospitals can be a challenge. Using harsh chemicals for sterilisation might damage the board surface over time.

Communication issues

Limited space: Whiteboards have limited space, which can become cluttered with information, making it difficult to find specific details quickly
Unclear surface: Marker ink can dry or smear, making the information unreadable and hindering communication clarity.
Limited visibility: Information on smaller whiteboards can be difficult to see from certain angles or a distance, especially in crowded rooms.

Other concerns

Installation hassle: Installation of whiteboards, particularly the larger ones, needs professionals. Plus, drilling the wall for hanging a board isn’t always a preferred option. Large-scale installation of whiteboards can also be quite expensive.
Finding usable space: Hospitals are full of fixtures – switches, protectors, alarms, pipes – making prime locations scarce. This can limit whiteboard installation options.
Maintenance cost: Standard hospital dry erase boards need maintenance from time to time, which quickly adds up to the overall expenses.

Why do you need antimicrobial whiteboards in hospitals?

Antimicrobial whiteboard paint can turn any wall (and desks, glass partitions, doors, and more) into a germ-free whiteboard. It brings an advanced approach to the traditional framed hospital whiteboards. They efficiently eliminate the drawbacks, preserve the benefits, and add more than a few cherries on the top.

Let’s find out how antimicrobial whiteboard paint can change the game for your healthcare establishment.

Eliminates hygiene concerns
High-quality antimicrobial whiteboard paints actively inhibit the growth of 99.9% of bacteria. When applied on a surface, it eliminates any risk of cross-contamination. Facilitating a more hygienic environment for staff and patients.

You don’t need to use harsh chemicals on these surfaces for cleaning and sterilisation. Use a microfiber cloth or your regular whiteboard eraser to keep it clean and hygienic.

Gives unlimited space for communication
Say bye to limited communication space, permanently! Traditional hospital whiteboards quickly become cluttered and difficult to read due to fading marker ink or limited space.

With antimicrobial whiteboard paint, you can turn any smooth surface, not only the walls but also the desks, doors and even the glass partitions, into effective communication platforms.

Plus, these paints facilitate complete removal of the ink once erased, without leaving stains or ghost lines, meaning you’ll always have a pristine surface to start with.

Ideal for tight spaces
If you’re not finding usable space to install a whiteboard, the antimicrobial whiteboard paint offers a great solution by allowing for a flexible writing surface.

It can be applied around the fixed objects like the switches, protectors, alarms, pipes, maximising the use of available wall space.

This translates to 100% efficiency, ensuring crucial information can be readily displayed wherever needed.

Hassle-free and easy on the pocket
Antimicrobial whiteboard paint lets you transform even a large surface into a functional whiteboard for a reasonable cost. The ones from reputed brands come with as long as a 10-year product guarantee for complete peace of mind.

To top it off, the application is simple and requires little upkeep, even in the long run. It doesn’t yellow over time or lose its antimicrobial properties as it ages.

While communication is vital in any healthcare setting, so is maintaining hygiene. With antimicrobial whiteboard paint, you can easily achieve the best of both without spending a fortune.

Why choose Smarter Surfaces antimicrobial whiteboard paint for hospitals?

Smarter Surfaces launched the World’s first antimicrobial whiteboard paint. With over a decade of experience in manufacturing smart whiteboard paints, we are the pioneers in the field.

Our antimicrobial whiteboard paint comes with proven features supported by happy customers from across the globe. What makes us stand apart from the competitors? Let’s find out.

It uses broad-spectrum antimicrobial technology to kill both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Creating a sterile collaborative platform while significantly reducing the risk of cross-contamination.
Commercial-grade performance with high chemical resistance to withstand even medical-grade cleaning. Environment-friendly, and ideal for hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes.
Easy installation, quick to dry and ideal for any smooth surfaces. Moreover, it comes with a 10-year warranty.

The takeaway

Whiteboards in hospitals and other healthcare settings have several applications. But they can quickly become a point of cross-contamination for infectious diseases. Plus, traditional hospital dry erase boards also limit communication due to inherent drawbacks like limited space and staining.

Antimicrobial whiteboard walls, on the other hand, provide a sterile, germ-free collaborative platform. You can turn any accessible smooth surface into a functional whiteboard with antimicrobial whiteboard paint, eliminating space limitations.

Get our antimicrobial whiteboard paint to facilitate collaboration in hospitals without the risk of contamination.