Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used in cleaning verification, in hospitals and other facilities, and on this site. Each term has its own link you can share.
Terms
- Acceptance criteria
The standard your facility sets for a monitoring result to pass: for example, every fluorescent mark removed, or an ATP reading at or below the threshold set for that meter model.
- ATP testing
A check that measures adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule found in living cells and organic residue, on a swabbed surface. A meter reports the result in relative light units (RLU).
- Audit trail
The time-stamped history of a record: who did what, and when. In an append-only audit trail, entries are added and never edited or deleted, so a failure and its fix both stay visible.
- C. difficile
Clostridioides difficile, often shortened to C. diff: a bacterium that forms spores. A room flagged for it is cleaned with a sporicidal product whose label has directions against its spores, with the extra PPE and steps the facility sets. EPA lists such products on its List K.
- Checkout clean
In a hotel, the full clean of a guest room after the guest checks out, before the room is sold again.
- Cleaning checklist
The steps, products and checks a facility approves for cleaning a type of room or area. A hospital usually calls it its protocol. Each record shows which version of the checklist applied that day.
- Cleaning verification
Proof that a clean was done to the facility's cleaning checklist: the steps, the products and contact times, who approved the work, and what any spot check found. It shows the work and the check, not only that a box was ticked.
- Contact time
How long a disinfectant must stay on a surface to work, as set out in the directions on its label. EPA's guidance is that the surface should stay visibly wet for the whole time. Also called dwell time.
- Disinfectant
A product that destroys or inactivates bacteria, fungi and viruses on surfaces, though not necessarily bacterial spores, in EPA's definition. Its label gives the directions for use, including its contact time and the PPE it requires.
- EPA registration number
The number the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assigns to a registered pesticide product, a category that includes disinfectants. It appears on the label as "EPA Reg. No." and identifies exactly which product a record refers to.
- EVS
Environmental services: the hospital team that cleans patient rooms and other areas, led by an EVS director or manager.
- Exception
A record that a step could not be done as written, with the reason, such as broken equipment or no product. It keeps the problem visible instead of leaving a skipped step.
- Fluorescent marker
A gel or powder, invisible in normal light, dabbed on surfaces before cleaning. Under a UV light afterward, a removed mark shows that the surface was wiped.
- High-touch surfaces
Surfaces that hands touch often in a patient room, such as bed rails, call buttons, overbed tables, light switches, door handles and bathroom fixtures.
- Infection prevention
The hospital team that runs the infection prevention program. In a cleaning monitoring program, an independent team such as this one runs the spot tests.
- Isolation precautions
Extra measures, such as gowns and gloves, for a room whose patient has or may have an infection that can spread. A room's isolation status can change which cleaning protocol applies.
- Move-out clean
In senior living, the full clean of a resident's room after they move out, before a new resident moves in.
- PPE
Personal protective equipment, such as gloves, gowns and eye protection. The cleaning protocol and the product label set what each task needs.
- Proof of cleaning
A record of what was cleaned, when, how and by whom, and who checked it. A signed sheet records that someone said the work was done; proof of cleaning records the work itself.
- Protocol version
The numbered edition of a facility's cleaning protocol. A defensible record names the version in force when the work was done, so it is read against the right steps.
- RLU
Relative light unit: the number an ATP meter reports. Each meter brand has its own scale, so a pass or fail threshold belongs to one meter model.
- Rework
Cleaning a step or a room again after a supervisor or a test finds it needs another look. A defensible record keeps the first attempt, the reason and the fix.
- Spot check
An in-person check of a sample of cleans by someone other than the person who did the work, such as a supervisor or a facility manager. It may include a fluorescent marker or an ATP test.
- Spot test
An objective check, such as a fluorescent marker or an ATP test, run on a sample of cleaned rooms by someone outside the cleaning team.
- Terminal cleaning
The full cleaning and disinfection of a patient room after the patient leaves, before the room is used again. Daily cleaning, by contrast, happens while a patient is in the room.
- Verification record
Proof that a room was cleaned to the facility's protocol: which steps were done, with which product and contact time, who approved the room, and what any monitoring test found.
General information, not clinical advice. Your facility's protocol and your product labels govern how rooms are cleaned.