Custom lanyards in hospitals: Are they suitable?

Any hospital will tell you that there is a vast amount of equipment that they need but cannot afford.

However, one useful little tool that fits into most budgets is the custom lanyard. It is quickly becoming a feature in all sorts of settings, and hospitals are now embracing them as an easy solution to a lot of problems. So, what problems can they solve and how can they lend themselves to a hospital environment?

What are custom lanyards?

We have all seen a lanyard hanging around someone’s neck at some point or another. It’s that handy piece of material which usually has something useful on the end, like an identity card. They have been used in many businesses, schools and large events for a long time, and they are now becoming a regular feature in hospitals too.

They are customisable because the colour and design on the material can be changed to almost anything, and you can even choose what you hang from the end of them. This means that they can play a huge role in brand awareness and team unity, as well as playing a crucial part in safety and security as well.

Easy to identify

When it comes to customising a lanyard, the real beauty of it is that it can be any colour or design that you want. This means that they often turn out to be extremely eye-catching and distinctive, which is good news on a number of levels.

Different colours can be assigned to different departments or different levels of seniority, meaning that it is easy to identify someone even from a distance. In a hospital it is imperative that key staff can be found in a moments notice, so having bright and distinguishing markers makes this much easier to achieve.

Versatility

Healthcare lanyards are a versatile thing, despite its apparent simplicity. We typically associate them with holding identity badges, but different attachments can be fitted to make them work for the staff within the hospital. This means that they can not only hold identity and access cards, but also watches, keys, face masks and even little bottles of hand sanitiser, so that hospital staff have their most essential tools close to hand at all times, with no danger of forgetting them or losing them.

These lanyards often also come with a breakaway feature which means that important items can be unbuckled from a lanyard quickly in the case of an emergency. It also prevents the lanyard and its wearer from becoming trapped if it is snagged or grabbed.

Security

Security is of paramount importance in a hospital setting, both for the patients and the staff. A custom lanyard makes it easy to spot whether someone is an employee of the hospital or not, meaning it is easier to ensure that people are only in the places that they are meant to be.

As these medical lanyards can carry identity cards, access cards and key fobs, it makes it easier to put different access restrictions around the hospital. This limits who can reach vulnerable patients or baby units, as well as keeping things such as medicine and equipment stores well off out of reach for all but approved members of staff. With all of their security access attached to their lanyard, it is much harder for staff to lose or mislay anything that could fall into the wrong hands.

As a lanyard often has a tough and durable holder for the badges and cards that it holds, it means that those important items can remain protected in what is often a difficult environment, ensuring that they last longer and the costs are kept down.

Lanyards can also be made to accommodate the many visitors and contractors that can be found in a hospital at any given time. It shows that they are on site for meetings, maintenance or inspections, and allows both staff and patients to know who they are dealing with and where those people should be.

Brand identity

You might think that all hospitals in the UK are the same, but brand identity can be just as important for hospitals as it is for any other business, and not just the private sector. Many trusts and hospitals are proud of their brand and who they work for and want to show what they are a part of.

Whilst things such as uniforms all take on a similar style, custom lanyards for hospitals can show anything they like, so this is a great chance to show off who they are. It can play a large role in staff morale and unity and a lanyard customised with the hospital or trust branding can help to instil a sense of pride in everyone who wears it.

Consistency

Within each department of a hospital, there might be different colours and styles of uniforms or scrubs to help identify different roles, so why not do the same with lanyards too?

Colour coded lanyards that are used consistently across a hospital can make it much easier for a patient, family member or a member of staff to identify the person that they need or know who is approaching them, just by the colour of their lanyard.

This can apply to every cleaner, porter, nurse, consultant surgeon, administrative assistant or manager in the entire hospital. This consistent approach can be a great help to everyone, but especially to those who might be partially sighted, have learning difficulties, do not speak English or have additional needs, as it is much easier to see and comprehend than a written name badge.

A lanyard might not be the first tool that you think about when you consider the needs of a hospital, but it is very important.

Hospitals are massive places with hundreds and sometimes even thousands of employees passing through its doors every day, not to mention patients, and so it is important to be able to identify someone quickly, particularly when faced with an emergency, and custom lanyards are a great way to do this.