Job number 1 for hospital flooring: safety. Whether it’s keeping bacteria at bay or preventing patients, staff, and visitors from slipping, the demands on flooring surfaces are tremendous. Vinyl is up to the task.
Hospital flooring options need to accommodate a range of environments. A lobby, for example, doesn’t have the same needs as a patient’s room. Vinyl flooring comes in sheets and planks, making it suitable for a full spectrum of spaces. Here’s why:
Bacteriostatic
Vinyl flooring can be found in versions that are both bacteriostatic and fungistatic, as well as pretreated to sterilize the growth of microorganisms. It’s also spill resistant, making it a quick job to clean up fluids – and negating the worry that they will seep into the floor.
It’s also easy to have the seams heat welded to seal them. This prevents spills or bacteria from finding their way in between vinyl sheets. We highly recommend heat welding over chemical bonding. The comprehensive process more completely refuses bacteria access to seams.
Beyond this, your flooring contractor can install the material flush against the wall. This essentially closes the gap between wall and floor, which would otherwise be one of the prime locations for spills and bacteria to find their way in.
Vinyl’s flexibility makes it one of the best solutions because it rejects bacteria, fungi, microorganisms, and it’s easy to seal and to flush up the wall for extra coverage.
Slips and Falls
When considering hospital flooring options, think about surfaces that can prevent slips and cushion falls. Vinyl flooring for healthcare environments is designed with enough grip that patients feel more secure walking across it.
Some patients will have trouble walking on any surface because of medical conditions, so vinyl flooring offers a somewhat soft option. For additional cushion, underlay can also be installed. This reduces the impact of a fall on the body.
Keep one thing in mind when choosing flooring: you don’t want any lips between one floor and the next. Height changes should be gradual. Many patients have trouble with walking or energy, and so don’t pick their feet up very high. Any sudden height changes between floors can be very difficult for them or pose a tripping hazard.
Comfort
Since vinyl is so soft, it reduces foot, leg, and back stress for your staff. This is an often overlooked factor when considering hospital flooring options. It’s important that a floor is both supportive and has the right amount of give.
Doctors, nurses, radiologists, patient transport, maintenance – they all walk on the floor of your hospital for hours every day. Many of them are responsible for lifting, carrying, and pushing heavy loads. A floor with a slight softness ensures they can work more effectively and that their enjoyment of work will be improved. Over time, it can even reduce employment insurance costs slightly.
Resilience to Heavy Traffic
Vinyl flooring is exceptional at withstanding heavy loads and constant traffic. Hospital flooring options need to take the constant abuse of heavy rolling loads and tens of thousands of steps a day. This is one area where quality can’t be compromised, or you’ll simply have to go through the process and pain of replacing your floor within a few short years. Vinyl supports loads while resisting wear.
Noise
One of the worst oversights a hospital might make is installing a “loud” floor. This is a floor where you can hear every footfall and that echoes every voice down the entire wing. It can profoundly interfere with a patient’s ability to sleep, which impacts their ability to recover and can significantly reduce the patient satisfaction scores they give your hospital.
Vinyl flooring can also reduce overheard conversations – key when privacy is a top concern.
Ease of Maintenance
Vinyl flooring is remarkably easy to clean and maintain. Because it wears well and resists spills, dirt, and bacteria, custodial staff won’t get bogged down in having to clean problem areas. Maintenance will also be thankful because wear layers mean that even the toughest damage won’t impact the floor itself – it will only mean the wear layer needs to be restored, which is far easier.
It may not seem like much, but think of a staff member saving five minutes a hallway on cleaning. One staff member, cleaning even just 6 hallways will save half an hour a day. That’s two and a half hours extra a week they can spend on other tasks. Over the course of a year, that’s more than 15 extra work days they can free up. These kinds of custodial and maintenance time savings can make deep impacts in giving staff the kind of extra time they need to ensure Joint Commission standards are met and exceeded.
Aesthetics
Vinyl plank flooring is the best choice for emulating wood and stone looks. This can help create relaxing communal areas such as the lobby, cafeteria, and other areas where patients, visitors, and staff congregate. The planks are each distinct and textured, so that the look is authentic.
Innovations in vinyl flooring are happening constantly. New materials and construction technologies, for example, reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by up to 40 percent. And more effective surface treatments make vinyl flooring resistant to even microscopic scratches. It’s a great choice that’s becoming even better.
Whether choosing vinyl plank flooring for communal areas or vinyl sheet flooring for patient areas, vinyl is one of the strongest flooring choices you can make among the available hospital flooring options.