scholarly journals The Impact of Proper PPE Protocol in A Highly Community Spread of Infectious COVID-19 in Semporna

Author(s):  
Muhammad Farid Bin Zainal Abidin ◽  
Nur Farhana Binti Zainan ◽  
Mafeitzeral Bin Mamat ◽  
Sivasankar Pubalan ◽  
Mohd Syahfadzreen Bin Yunus

Introduction: The district of Semporna, Sabah was majorly hit by the third wave surge of COVID-19 in September 2020. At the peak of the crisis, services in Semporna Hospital were paralyzed with 40 healthcare workers (HCW) found to be COVID-19 positive; contributing to 14% of the total manpower.Objectives: Due to the immediate crisis, the main priority was to control the spread of COVID- 19 amongst the Semporna Hospital HCWs. This was important to curb direct infection from handling suspected patients seeking treatment in Semporna Hospital. Based on the hospital capabilities and resources, a comprehensive modified protocol was needed to control the situation.Methods: Semporna Hospital pandemic emergency task force was established with the presence of multi department and specialties. Multiple issues were raised and attended to, especially; issue of preparedness, low PPE stock and Emergency Department infrastructure.Results: The number of Semporna Hospital HCWs infected with COVID-19 was minimal after the initial disaster. Emergency Department infrastructure was improvised, workflow processes modified, HCW protection education prioritized and complete PPE sets were stocked up. All these efforts were under the strict supervision of the infectious control unit. The presence of multiple units of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR) completed our adherence to the Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines in managing the highly infectious level 4 patients for aerosolized generating procedures (AGP).Conclusion: This achievement can be used as a preparedness reference for other non-specialist district hospitals in Malaysia.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue: 2021 Page: S21

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e031781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie C Vrablik ◽  
Anne K Chipman ◽  
Elizabeth D Rosenman ◽  
Nancy J Simcox ◽  
Ly Huynh ◽  
...  

ObjectivesViolence towards emergency department healthcare workers is pervasive and directly linked to provider wellness, productivity and job satisfaction. This qualitative study aimed to identify the cognitive and behavioural processes impacted by workplace violence to further understand why workplace violence has a variable impact on individual healthcare workers.DesignQualitative interview study using a phenomenological approach to initial content analysis and secondary thematic analysis.SettingThree different emergency departments.ParticipantsWe recruited 23 emergency department healthcare workers who experienced a workplace violence event to participate in an interview conducted within 24 hours of the event. Participants included nurses (n=9; 39%), medical assistants (n=5; 22%), security guards (n=5; 22%), attending physicians (n=2; 9%), advanced practitioners (n=1; 4%) and social workers (n=1; 4%).ResultsFive themes emerged from the data. The first two supported existing reports that workplace violence in healthcare is pervasive and contributes to burn-out in healthcare. Three novel themes emerged from the data related to the objectives of this study: (1) variability in primary cognitive appraisals of workplace violence, (2) variability in secondary cognitive appraisals of workplace violence and (3) reported use of both avoidant and approach coping mechanisms.ConclusionHealthcare workers identified workplace violence as pervasive. Variability in reported cognitive appraisal and coping strategies may partially explain why workplace violence negatively impacts some healthcare workers more than others. These cognitive and behavioural processes could serve as targets for decreasing the negative effect of workplace violence, thereby improving healthcare worker well-being. Further research is needed to develop interventions that mitigate the negative impact of workplace violence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1640-1645
Author(s):  
Francesco Bussu ◽  
Davide Rizzo ◽  
Laura Saderi ◽  
Antonio Piras ◽  
Laura Maria De Luca ◽  
...  

Introduction: To analyze the virus spread among Sassari Hospital staff in the first Covid-19 wave and the impact of the Swab Team, a multidisciplinary task force entitled of nasopharyngeal swab collection and testing. Methodology: Nasopharyngeal swabs from HCWs between March 6 and May 28 2020 are evaluated. Results: 4919 SARS-CoV-2 tests were performed on 3521 operators. Nurses and doctors are the categories at highest risk. After the Swab Team institution, the average number of swabs raised from 47/day to 86/day (p = 0.007). Positive samples decreased from 18.6% to 1.7% (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The Swab Team is effective in increasing the cases tested and in reducing the reporting time. Procedure standardization reduces the risk for all the subjects involved (no transmission among swab team members, nor during the sample collection).


Author(s):  
Yuemei Zhang ◽  
Sheng-Ru Cheng

Background: As the number of COVID-19 cases in the US continues to rise and hospitals are experiencing personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, healthcare workers have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infection. Since COVID-19 testing is now available, some have raised the question of whether we should be routinely testing asymptomatic healthcare workers. Methods: Using publicly available data on COVID-19 infections and emergency department visits, as well as internal hospital staffing information, we generated a mathematical model to predict the impact of periodic COVID-19 testing in asymptomatic members of the emergency department staff in regions affected by COVID-19 infection. We calculated various transmission constants based on the Diamond Princess cruise ship data, used a logistic model to calculate new infections, and we created a Markov model according to average COVID-19 incubation time. Results: Our model predicts that after 30 days, with a transmission constant of 1.219e-4 new infections per person2, weekly COVID-19 testing of healthcare workers (HCW) would reduce new HCW and patient infections by 5.1% and bi-weekly testing would reduce both by 2.3%. At a transmission constant of 3.660e-4 new infections per person,2 weekly testing would reduce infections by 21.1% and bi-weekly testing would reduce infections by 9.7-9.8%. For a lower transmission constant of 4.067e-5 new infections per person2, weekly and biweekly HCW testing would result in a 1.54% and 0.7% reduction in infections respectively. Conclusion: Periodic COVID-19 testing for emergency department staff in regions that are heavily-affected by COVID-19 and/or facing resource constraints may reduce COVID-19 transmission significantly among healthcare workers and previously-uninfected patients.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birju Patel ◽  
Stacie Vilendrer ◽  
Samantha M.R. Kling ◽  
Ian Brown ◽  
Ryan Ribeira ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Telemedicine has been deployed by healthcare systems in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to enable healthcare workers to provide remote care for both outpatients and inpatients. Although it is reasonable to suspect telemedicine visits limit unnecessary personal contact and thus decrease the risk of infection transmission, the impact of the use of such technology on clinician workflows in the emergency department is unknown. OBJECTIVE To use real-time locating systems (RTLS) to evaluate the impact of telemedicine on in-person interaction between healthcare workers and patients. METHODS The RTLS platform was used to collect movement data for nursing and physician staff in each patient room of the emergency department. Movement data was captured between March 2nd, 2020, the date of the first patient screened for COVID-19 in the emergency department, and April 20th, 2020. A new telemedicine platform was released to clinicians on March 29th, 2020. Number of entrances and duration of in-person interactions per patient encounter, adjusted for patient length of stay, were obtained for pre- and post-implementation phases and compared with t-tests to determine statistical significance. RESULTS There were 15,741 RTLS events linked to 2,662 encounters for patients screened for COVID-19. There was no significant change in number of in-person interactions between the pre- and post-implementation phases for both nurses (5.7 vs 7.0 entrances per patient, p=0.07) and physicians (1.3 vs 1.5 entrances per patient, p=0.12). Total duration of in-person interaction did not change (56.4 vs 55.2 minutes per patient, p=0.74) despite an increase in telemedicine videoconference frequency (0.6 vs 1.3 videoconferences per patient, p<0.01 for change in daily average) and duration (4.3 vs 12.3 minutes per patient, p<0.01 for change in daily average). CONCLUSIONS Telemedicine was rapidly adopted with the intent of minimizing pathogen exposure to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet RTLS movement data did not reveal significant changes for in-person interactions between staff and patients under investigation for COVID-19 infection. Additional research is needed to better understand how telemedicine technology may be better incorporated into emergency departments to improve workflows for frontline healthcare clinicians.


Author(s):  
Alizaman D. Gamon ◽  
Mariam Saidona Tagoranao

This study discusses the penetration of Islam in the Philippines, particularly the third wave of its expansion, which was brought by Sufi missionaries. It reinstates the historical relevance of Sufi ideas and approaches due to its contemporary relevance to the concept of social co-existence. The rational, intellectual and philosophical dimension of Islam is manifested in the cultural and traditional life of Muslim communities. The study also analyzes the impact of Muslim struggle for the development of Islamic institutions in the context of the secular state. The ongoing, unsettled debate between Islamic and government approaches to peace and development in Mindanao and Sulu continues unabated. Over the years, reforms were introduced, but in their midst, evidence of government biases and prejudices with regards to Islamic institutions have surfaced. Muslim leaders and intellectuals responded in the context of historical rights and freedom, but those views were often questioned as they are presumed to be incompatible with the national agenda for national unity. It was very recently that this incompatibility was readdressed giving support to having lasting peace and justice in Mindanao. The study argues that there have been substantial state-sponsored reforms which may contribute to the gradual advancement of Muslim communities. Though the path for the passage of Muslim concerns within the given condition is fragile and open to challenges, the study recognizes the prominence of inter-civilizational dialogue, from which the universal values of humanity will be embraced by both Muslim and non-Muslim policy makers. In addition, Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the Philippines need to embrace the universal principle of humanity and coexistence due to its relevance to the political stability and economic growth in the country.  Keywords: Muslims in the Philippines, Islamic institutions, Islamization, Muslim intellectuals, Reform. Abstrak Kajian ini mengkaji tentang kemasukan Islam, terutamanya gelombang ketiga perkembangannya, yang dibawa oleh para pendakwah sufi. Kajian itu mengembalikan semula sejarah penting tentang idea-idea dan pendekatan Sufi yang boleh digunapakai pada masa kini untuk mewujudkan keharmonian sosial di kalangan rakyat pelbagai agama. Pemahaman tentang Islam mempunyai pengaruh yang jelas terhadap kebudayaan dan tradisi Islam. Kajian ini juga menganalisis kesan perjuangan Muslim untuk pembangunan institusi Islam dalam konteks sebuah negara sekular. Perbahasan yang berterusan yang tidak menemukan penyelesaian antara pendekatan Islam dan pendekatan kerajaan untuk perdamaian serta pembangunan di Mindanao dan Sulu terus berlanjutan. Walaupun  bertahun-tahun pembaharuan telah dilakukan, namun terdapat bukti penolakan dan prasangka buruk kerajaan terhadap institusi Islam. Para pemimpin dan intelektual Muslim bertindak berdasarkan pada fakta sejarah dan hak kebebasan bersuara, namun pandangan mereka sering dipertikaikan kerana mereka dianggap tidak seiring dengan agenda dan perpaduan nasional. Baru-baru ini ketidakserasian ini mulai disuarakan semula untuk mendapat sokongan terhadap keamanan dan keadilan yang berterusan di Mindanao. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa terdapat pembaharuan yang dilakukan oleh pihak kerajaan yang boleh menyumbang ke arah  kemajuan masyarakat Islam secara beransur-ansur. Walaupun pendekatan bagi memenuhi hasrat orang Islam masih dalam keadaan yang rapuh dan penuh cabaran, namun kajian ini mengusulkan peripentingnya dialog antara peradaban dimana nilai-nilai universal manusia akan diperoleh dan dipegang oleh kedua-kedua pihak pembuat dasar iaitu  Islam dan bukan Islam. Di samping itu, umat Islam dan bukan Islam di Filipina perlu mengkaji dan mencontohi model keharmonian sosial Malaysia dan Singapura kerana kaitannya dengan kestabilan politik dan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Kata Kunci: Muslim di Filipina, institusi Islam, Islamisasi, intelektual Islam, Pembaharuan.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Jessup ◽  
Cassandra Bramston ◽  
Alison Beauchamp ◽  
Anthony Gust ◽  
Natali Cvetanovska ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 12 ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Asher L Mandel ◽  
Thomas Bove ◽  
Amisha D Parekh ◽  
Paris Datillo ◽  
Joseph Bove Jr ◽  
...  

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