Interprofessional event recognizes housekeepers’ role in health care
Over two days in late September, more than 500 East Carolina University students gathered to consider the importance of all members of the health care team — learning from those who keep living and healing spaces not just clean, but safe.
During three half-day sessions, a mix of students from the Brody School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine and the colleges of Nursing, Allied Health Sciences and Health and Human Performance watched a short film called “Keepers of the House.” In the film, housekeepers from Duke University Hospital gave testimonials about their role in patient care, and afterward, a panel of housekeepers from ECU and ECU Health Medical Center took questions from the students.
Housekeepers from ECU and ECU Health discuss their responsibilities with ECU students during an interprofessional event in late September.
Dr. Bhibha Das, a professor of kinesiology in HHP, moderated the panel discussion and led students in a question-and-answer session.
Das said it was important to center the experiences of housekeepers, whether in hospital hallways or in college classrooms, who do the invisible labor that keep workplaces and hospitals healthy.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the housekeepers who kept everyone safe, Das said, while balancing their jobs and keeping themselves and their families healthy.
“I tell my students, I didn’t miss a paycheck because I got to still come teach online, but our housekeepers had to come in to do their jobs. They couldn’t always be safe the way I could,” Das said. “Someone cleans my office, someone cleans the facilities at Minges Coliseum, but I don’t see them because they’re there at night or early in the morning or on the weekends.”
Das said she hopes that the students will take with them the lessons that they learned in kindergarten: please and thank yous, hellos and good mornings go a long way.
Longtime ECU housekeeper Linda Spell was one of the panelists who answered questions from students and guests. She’s worked in a few locations on Health Sciences campus, including Brody School of Medicine and College of Nursing, and is an advocate for the influence of bringing positive energy to other people.
ECU nursing students discuss the film “Keepers of the House” during an interprofessional event.
“I love the job,” Spell said. “It’s so rewarding. When you see somebody who is having a good day and you can put a smile on somebody’s face, you can do that job for eight hours. Maybe there’s water on the mirror in a bathroom when I walk in and I saw they wiped it off. I go out and say thank you so much for doing that. I appreciate that and taking the time for it. It is such a joy to see someone come in and appreciate what you are doing.”
After the panel portion of the first day of the event was completed, Spell stayed to walk from table to table to interact with students and colleagues who were engaged in a teambuilding activity. She said she and her peers have learned from students about teamwork and enjoying time with each other.
“I’ve really seen all of these students pull together,” Spell said. “Students helped bring that to our attention, so we pulled together. We’ll have groups and meetings and just hanging out after work after we’ve cleaned everything. That makes a connection.”
Foster Hager, a first-year occupational therapy student, said the experience is a reminder to connect with nontraditional health care workers in clinical settings.
“This will help me to incorporate them into my plans for care,” Hager said.
Dr. Chris Lysaght, a clinical professor of physical therapy and the director of interprofessional education for the College of Allied Health Sciences, said waiting until students graduate to expose them to other members of the health care team is doing them a disservice. Health care accrediting bodies recognize the importance of collaboration and have incorporated interprofessional education (IPE) requirements into pre-licensure health care programs. The CAHS developed a task force that now includes engaged faculty from BSOM, CON, HHP and SoDM, which was responsible for the second annual “Keepers of the House” IPE event.
“Our faculty and clinical partners want these types of opportunities for students to learn with, from and about each other. We were fortunate to have received support, both in terms of faculty time and financial resources, from each of the represented colleges. The success of this event was a testament to the collaborative spirit of ECU and ECU Health faculty, staff and clinicians,” Lysaght said.
Work of the Whole Team
Students from ECU’s Health Sciences and Main campuses participate in a teambuilding activity during an interprofessional education event.
Kevin Spencer, general manager of ECU Health Medical Center’s Environmental Services, said putting his peers in the spotlight was important as cleanliness is the responsibility of every member of the team.
“I hope it gives the students a better understanding of the big picture, because we’re often siloed. Whether you’ve got a thousand people in a small community hospital or 10,000 people like here at the medical center, everybody needs to play their part,” Spencer said.
Spencer lauded the students in attendance for their thoughtful questions and sincere engagement with the housekeeping panelists. One student asked how he and his teammates balance their duties with being present for the patients in their care.
“A student came up to me after the meeting and told me they had a family member that had been in a hospital before, and if it wasn’t for the housekeeper, they said, nobody really talked to them or spent time with them,” Spencer said. “We have a tremendous workload here, but we try to make the time to bond with the patient.”
Spencer said the “Keepers of the House” video was a perfect representation of the importance they play in the hospital. He acknowledged not everyone is cut out for the job because of the need to balance compassion with dedication to their professional responsibilities.
There is a difference, Spencer agreed, between keeping a space clean and ensuring it is safe for people to heal, and housekeepers are a vital part of the healing process. But that doesn’t mean that all members of the health care team don’t have a role.
“In a place with 2.4 million square feet, whether a patient has been in the space or not, it still has to be cleaned daily. Cleanliness is everyone’s responsibility,” Spencer said.