COVID-19: Protecting Health Care Workers
Stress from treating patients with COVID-19 can take a deep toll on nurses, putting them at risk of moral distress, compassion fatigue and burnout. A group of nursing organizations is responding with the Well-Being Initiative, and individual hospitals have employed a range of tactics to support…
A high proportion of COVID-19 infections among U.S. health care personnel appear to go undetected. According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 1 in 20 health care workers sampled in 12 states tested positive for antibodies for COVID-19, and 69% of those with antibodies had never…
Two Sept. 9 webinars, Road to Resilience and Psychological Safety and Building Strength in Teams, will address ways health care systems can address the needs of patients and staff in times of crisis.
Last week, California passed the nation's first law (AB-2537) requiring health care facilities to maintain a 45-day supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). The union-backed bill requires employers to provide health care workers with unexpired PPE upon request.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter to health care providers warning of quality issues with surgical gowns manufactured or sold by Laws of Motion PPE. The FDA recommends facilities discontinue use of the gowns while the agency pursues its investigation.
In this month’s Nursing Outlook, three nurse ethicists argue for substantive reform of institutional processes and systems to avert the physical, emotional and moral stresses nurses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledging stress and finding ways to work through it is one method to address unwanted behaviors among people working in health care settings who may be experiencing vicarious trauma.
The authors of “I can’t breathe”: A Call for Antiracist Nursing Practice wrote the killing of George Floyd by a police officer during the COVID-19 pandemic “brought the effects of structural racism on Black Americans into focus.
A report released this week aims to assist hospitals in meeting patient care needs during COVID-19 outbreaks.