How Critical Are Lanyards To The Healthcare Sector?

A lanyard might not seem like an important bit of kit in the healthcare sector compared to many other things, but it can be more crucial than you might expect. Lanyards are a familiar sight in most healthcare settings these days, as they can play an important role in patient comfort, safety and security.

So, why are lanyards so critical to the healthcare system? Let’s find out…

The use of lanyards in healthcare settings

Medical Lanyards are versatile bits of kit, but in a healthcare setting they are most often used as a way to display identity badges or access control cards. They are issued to all staff members and are worn at all times so that they can be easily identified and can keep the card close at hand for when they need it.

Identification

One of the key roles that a lanyard plays is in helping to identify staff members quickly and easily. Most healthcare settings are busy environments and so it can be difficult to know who is, especially if you are a visitor or patient. By wearing an identification badge on a lanyard, it is clearly displayed at all times, making it easy to see who a person is and what their job role is.

Security

Healthcare settings have a lot of vulnerable people inside them, and so safety has to be a paramount concern. A lanyard can make it much easier to identify who the authorised personnel are, which makes it much harder for anyone to be somewhere that they should not be.

By displaying a lanyard in such a visible way, it is much easier to establish this at a glance without having to approach someone or ask them to provide identification, which can lead to confrontation and aggravation.

As many lanyards also carry access control cards or fobs, they can be important in limiting where people are allowed to go.

Each access card will have its own restrictions in place that will stop some staff members having access to certain areas and will keep the public in their own designated spaces.

This helps to make a setting much more secure and allows the tracking of movement, as it becomes possible to see who the last person was to leave or access a particular space.

Staff safety

Lanyards have been worn for a long time in the world of healthcare, but as they hung around the neck, there was a danger that they could be pulled or become trapped. These days, lanyards have developed to have breakaway features that can detach easily if they are pulled or caught.

Infection control

Lanyards can have a number of different uses, and the different connecting points mean that they can carry more than just identity cards. In fact, they can carry just about anything, and many in the healthcare sector have been adapted to allow staff to carry essential hygiene products such as hand sanitiser or face masks with them at all times. This means that they will always have access to the tools that help to limit the spread of infection, and they are easily accessible which means that they can be used quickly and without the need to go delving in pockets.

Some lanyards even come with retractable wheels which means that they can be extended when they need to be swiped against an access control system, but then can retract a long way so that they do not need to hang in the way that they used to. This means that they are not inadvertently brushing against anything that could then play a part in spreading infections around the setting without realising it.

Patient comfort

Patients in healthcare settings put their trust in the staff that they are dealing with, but they may not know who this is. By wearing a lanyard, each member of staff makes themselves identifiable to patients and family members so that they can see names and job titles. This can help to put patients at their ease as they can feel safe and start to develop a relationship of trust.

This is also useful for those looking for help and advice. A clearly displayed identity badge on a lanyard can help members of the public to know whether they are talking to a cleaner or a heart surgeon when they approach them for help. This makes it much easier for patients to narrow down who they need to talk to and can be more effective in emergency situations.

As lanyards can be personalised for each individual setting, it can also be possible to colour code them according to the role or department that each staff member works in. This makes it easier for people to understand that they need to look around for a purple lanyard instead of trying to read every badge that they see.

Workplace violence

It is a sad fact that far too many healthcare professionals are being subjected to violent physical attacks. As lanyards make it possible to identify staff members from a distance, it can help to reduce these incidents.

As many lanyards are capable of carrying panic buttons, it can also make it easier for staff members to scare aggressive people away or summon help to ensure that security staff or emergency services are able to intervene much quicker.

Unique styles

As most lanyards can now be personalised, they can be made to be unique to your own healthcare setting by making use of colours, logos and straplines. This makes them much harder to copy and means that they can still be set apart even at a distance from anyone wearing a more generic lanyard that does not bear the same design features.

Lanyards are often simple tools, but this does not mean that they are not important. They have become a crucial factor in many healthcare settings as they can deliver some important features that contribute both to safety, convenience and controlling the spread of infections, and this should not be underestimated.