Visibility and Accessibility of Hand Hygiene Stations and Fatigue Among Nurses Working in Long-Term Care (LTC) During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the relationship between nurses' perception of the long-term care (LTC) environment, specifically having visible and accessible hand hygiene stations (HHS), and nurses' fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND: LTC nurses experience not only heavy workloads and fatigue but also a high risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have evaluated the relationship between safety measures such as having visible and accessible HHS and nurses' fatigue. METHODS: The cross-sectional COVID-19 Impact on Nurses Study (COINS) was an online survey distributed to members of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing through the REDCap survey platform, between June 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021. Logistic regression modeling was conducted to identify the relationship between nurses' perception of having visible and accessible HHS and fatigue among LTC nurses. RESULTS: The majority of LTC nurse respondents (78.35%) reported having moderate to very severe fatigue. Nurses who reported not having enough visible and accessible HHS in their work environment have statistically significantly higher odds (odds ratio [OR] = 0.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.20, 0.70], p = .002) of reporting experiencing moderate to very severe fatigue compared to nurses who perceived there was adequate HHS. The logistic regression is significant while controlling for sociodemographic differences, guilt for family and patients, support from work, and confidence in the future of LTC. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals the LTC environment that incorporates better considerations of more visible and accessible HHS might mitigate nurses' fatigue during the pandemic. A conceptual framework has been proposed for future studies.

Support from Work and Intent to Stay Among Nurses During COVID-19: An Academic-Practice Collaboration.

The COVID-19 pandemic created stressful working conditions for nurses and challenges for leaders. A survey was conducted among 399 acute and ambulatory care nurses measuring availability of calming and safety resources, perceptions of support from work, and intent to stay. Most nurses reported intent to stay with their employer, despite inadequate safety and calming resources. High levels of support from work were significantly influenced nurses' intent to stay. Leadership actions at the study site to provide support are described, providing context for results. Nurse leaders can positively influence intent to stay through consistent implementation of supportive measures.

Invited Student Paper – Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Traffic Crashes in Florida

The novel COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has brought significant impacts on all aspects of peoples’ lives in the entire world. While this pandemic is still unfolding, it has already had unprecedented health, social, and economic consequences. The virus being easily transmittable from person-to-person, social distancing through stay-at-home orders is considered as effective in containing the rapid spread of the disease. For example, in Florida the stay-at-home orders came into effect on April 01, 2020. These strategies have resulted in drastic changes in the traffic pattern and travel behavior which in turn has led to significant changes in traffic safety. This study investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on traffic crashes. Traffic crashes for March and April (2018-2020) in Florida were analyzed to identify if there was a significant change in traffic crashes following the outbreak of the pandemic and statewide directives to prohibit person-to-person interaction. Compared to similar days in 2018 and 2019, the overall statewide traffic crashes dropped significantly by 10% and 45% in the first and last two weeks of March 2020 respectively, and by 58% in April 2020. A similar significant decrease was observed in the fatal and injury crashes although as a percentage of all crashes they increased in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. Also, a decrease in the rear-end crashes and an increase in the run-off-road and non-motorist crashes were observed. This study helps to understand the early impacts of the pandemic and may be useful in operational and strategic planning for future pandemics.

Evaluating the Feasibility of Remotely Administered Curriculum-Based Measurement for Students with Autism: A Pilot Study

Students with autism may struggle to develop the academic skills necessary for success in school and beyond. Understanding and improving academic skills performance requires appropriate measurement approaches. One such option that has been minimally studied with students with autism is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Coinciding with the need to study different approaches to academic skills measurement for students with autism was the global pandemic which forced a shift to remote service delivery with little warning. While some autistic students struggled with this shift, others thrived, raising questions about how to further support students with autism in virtual formats. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using remotely administered CBM for autistic students by studying both the practicality and acceptability of this approach. Five students with autism (Grades 2-5) participated in this pilot study, completing reading, math, and writing CBMs at three time points. Student behavior and assessor fidelity were collected to examine practicality;assessor ratings of usability provided insight regarding the acceptability of the approach. Results indicated that remotely administered CBM is feasible for some students with autism: all participants completed the study tasks with minimal behavioral difficulties, and assessor ratings of acceptability were high.