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Cleaning and infection control for shared devices

Keep shared equipment clean, safe and ready between residents.

What this is: practical infection prevention and control for the virtual care equipment your team shares between residents.

Who it's for: care staff, nurses and infection control leads.

Virtual care equipment moves between residents, which makes it part of your infection prevention and control (IPC) picture. The same cart, camera and peripherals might be used with several residents in a day. Cleaning them properly between uses protects residents and staff, and supports your obligations under the Strengthened Quality Standards. The good news: virtual care also reduces infection risk overall, by cutting unnecessary physical contact and transfers.

Why this matters

Shared clinical equipment can carry infection between residents if it isn't cleaned. Older people in residential aged care are especially vulnerable. Building cleaning into your virtual care routine, the same way you would for any shared clinical device, keeps everyone safer. Contactless tools like forehead and ear thermometers also help by limiting physical contact in the first place.

Clean between every resident

Make cleaning a standard step in your consultation workflow, not an afterthought:

  • Wipe down the equipment and any peripherals used, before and after each resident.
  • Follow the manufacturer's cleaning instructions for each device. Some surfaces and sensors need specific products or methods.
  • Pay attention to anything that touched the resident or was handled during the consult: camera, stethoscope, cuff, the cart handles and screen.
  • Use your home's approved cleaning products and follow your IPC policy.
  • Let surfaces dry as directed before the next use or before storage.

During outbreaks

In an outbreak, virtual care is a real asset, it lets clinicians review residents without entering an affected area or moving the resident. Step up cleaning accordingly:

  • Follow your home's outbreak management plan and any enhanced cleaning requirements.
  • Consider dedicating equipment to an affected area for the duration where practical.
  • Use virtual care to reduce the number of people who need to physically enter the area.
  • Maintain hand hygiene before and after handling equipment, as always.

Storage and readiness

How you store the equipment matters for both infection control and reliability:

  • Store the equipment clean, in a secure, dry location.
  • Charge the cart and wireless peripherals so they're ready for the next use.
  • Keep peripherals in their proper places so nothing is lost or damaged.
  • Check equipment is clean and ready at the start of each shift.

Build it into your existing IPC processes

You don't need a separate system. Fold virtual care equipment into the infection control processes you already run:

  • Add shared virtual care devices to your cleaning schedules and checklists.
  • Include them in IPC training and audits.
  • Make sure staff know the cleaning steps as part of virtual care training.
  • Record cleaning where your processes require it.

A simple between-resident routine

A quick mental checklist for staff:

  • Hand hygiene.
  • Clean every device that was used, per the manufacturer's instructions.
  • Let it dry.
  • Return peripherals to their place.
  • Hand hygiene again before the next resident.

Need help?

This is general guidance. Always follow your home's infection prevention and control policy and the manufacturer's cleaning instructions for each device.

Visionflex acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.