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An outbreak of novel coronavirus COVID-19 at a long-term care facility near Seattle has killed at least five elderly residents and infected two healthcare workers. The situation was changing rapidly as this report was filed, but other residents and workers at the facility were under investigation for COVID-19 infection. More cases were expected as the Seattle area is experiencing the largest community outbreak in the United States.
Tampa General Hospital developed a screening tool to use for patients and healthcare workers suspected of COVID-19 infection. Patients can be screened via phone or in person.
CDC guidelines for extending respirator supplies for the emerging novel coronavirus include excluding or limiting patient visitors and considering cohorting patients or staff. A standard face mask — not an N95 respirator — should be used as source control on a suspected COVID-19 patient. Regarding cohorting, when single patient rooms are not available, patients with confirmed COVID-19 may be placed in the same room.
More than 3,000 healthcare workers in China have suspected or confirmed novel coronavirus infections, raising the stakes considerably as employee health professionals brace for community spread to begin in the United States. The authors of a published report from China described a COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital in Wuhan, which resulted in 40 infections in clinical staff caring for patients. In addition, about one-fourth of the healthcare workers contracted the coronavirus from a single patient.
“Burnout” is a term that tends to blame the victim — in this case, healthcare workers — overwhelmed by a system that often puts them at odds with their duty to protect patients. A more accurate term for this condition is “moral injury,” an expert explains.
In the absence of long-sought federal legislation to prevent violence in healthcare, Oregon becomes the latest state to enact protections for healthcare workers against workplace violence. Effective Jan. 1, the law requires healthcare employers to conduct comprehensive security and safety evaluations using state or nationally recognized workplace violence prevention methods.
Employee health professionals have until April 27 to comment on the latest section of the CDC’s draft guidelines, “Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel,” posted in the Federal Register.
Financial Disclosure: Nurse Planner Kay Ball, PhD, RN, CNOR, FAAN, reports she is a consultant for Ethicon USA and Mobile Instrument Service and Repair. Medical Writer Gary Evans, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Editor Jonathan Springston, Editorial Group Manager Leslie Coplin, and Accreditations Manager Amy M. Johnson, MSN, RN, CPN, report no consultant, stockholder, speaker’s bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.
