Infection Control
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The Role of Surgeons in the COVID-19 Era
Accrediting body helps surgery leaders find the right path forward during unusual times.
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OSHA Allows ‘Enforcement Discretion’ During COVID-19
Responding to respirator shortages during the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a memorandum allowing “enforcement discretion” by compliance officers citing the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR § 1910.134).
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CDC Defines ‘Low-Risk’ Occupational Exposures to Coronavirus
The CDC recently issued guidelines allowing healthcare personnel (HCP) to continue working if they incur only “low-risk” exposures to patients with COVID-19. With some reported cases of large numbers of HCP furloughed after exposures, the CDC is moving to preserve the workforce in situations where HCP are exposed to infected patients through minor breaks in protocol or personal protective equipment.
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CDC Guidance for Use of Facemasks During Crisis
The CDC’s recommendation for optimizing the supply of facemasks include “contingency” and “crisis” capacity. These are steps hospitals can take if they are no longer at “conventional” capacity, when standard measures remain in effect. The CDC defines contingency capacity as practices that may be used temporarily during periods of expected facemask shortages. Crisis capacity may call for stopgap measures “that are not commensurate with U.S. standards of care."
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Crossing the Fine Line Between Fear and Courage
A truism that has been observed in various forms is the only time one can show courage is when one acts in the face of fear. This is what healthcare workers responding to the coronavirus pandemic are essentially doing, one expert says.
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CDC Guidelines for Reuse of N95 Respirators
With reuse of N95 respirators in effect at many hospitals, the CDC has issued recommendations that begin with the caveat “there is no way of determining the maximum possible number of safe reuses for an N95 respirator as a generic number to be applied in all cases.”
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Spring of Fear: ED Staff Face Surging Coronavirus
Emergency physicians and other frontline clinicians are trying to hold the line against an accelerating coronavirus pandemic in the United States, even as they fear for their own safety and that of their families and colleagues. A shortage of personal protective equipment — particularly N95 respirators — ratcheted up the anxiety, as did the accumulating media reports of healthcare worker deaths, illness, and home quarantine.
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How Providers Can Weather the Pandemic
As pandemic messaging moves from containment to mitigation to recovery, national experts are giving healthcare providers tips on how to weather the storm.
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COVID-19 Shuts Down Nation; Family Planning Need Not Stop
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of American life, including nonemergency doctor visits. But from a family reproductive health point of view, the consequences of weeks of social distancing and quarantines can present new challenges.
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COVID-19 Pandemic Changes Nation While Hospitals and Case Managers Cope
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted American life and threatens to inundate hospitals with critically ill patients through the spring. Hospitals and case managers can use phone and video conferencing when feasible. Also, they can follow all infectious disease prevention measures.