ABSTRACT
Like other health care facilities, OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center (SAHC) in Alton, Illinois, has emergency protocols in place. Because of their location in the Midwest near the convergence of three major rivers, personnel at this facility are prepared to respond to health emergencies occurring after extreme weather and accidents from nearby refineries, highways, and farming operations. [...]the leadership team met over the weekend to mobilize a command center that included staff members from human resources, occupational health, and infection prevention, among others. According to Becker, having the right voices at the table helped the leadership team to "be as nimble as possible." Because of the prolonged nature of this crisis and the need for consistency, the BIDMC team adjusted the typical incident command structure-which would normally rotate the administrator-on-call role week by week-and appointed the chief nursing officer as the incident commander.
ABSTRACT
Other challenges that nurse leaders have had to address included rapidly changing information, fear, and constraints at their facilities' physical locations. Because of the novelty of COVID-19, the science continually changed and leaders from various organizations (eg, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state departments of health) presented new information and recommendations on a regular basis (eg, hourly, daily). At the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center St. Margaret in Pennsylvania, Mary Barkhymer, MSN, RN, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, has observed sicker patients entering the facility because they wait longer to seek help out of fear of COVID-19 or worries that hospital staff members are overloaded. According to Debbie Ebert, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CNOR, CCRN, CPAN, CAPA, vice president of perioperative services at MemorialCare Integrated Health System in California, nursing leaders were challenged to help their teams sift through the noise to get to the facts. To support team members and patients alike, LynnMarie Verzino, MHA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, vice president of perioperative services at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia, noted that a multipronged approach was necessary to help convey important information, including posting information on both the intranet and the public web site, holding regular leadership rounding discussions, and speaking directly with patients' family members.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections/therapy , Organizational Policy , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling/organization & administration , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , COVID-19 , Humans , Occupational Health , Pandemics , Personal Protective Equipment/statistics & numerical data , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections/therapy , Emergency Medical Services/organization & administration , Emergency Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , Triage/organization & administration , COVID-19 , Humans , Pandemics , Patient Isolation , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
In April 2020, AWWA hosted a webinar on how utilities can be a trusted source of information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a communications plan and using a spokesperson, water utilities should focus on simple messages that use basic terminology. Utilities should express empathy, focus on facts, and be transparent to build and reinforce public trust during a crisis.