Lessons Learned From COVID-19 and the New Normal: The Official Voice of Perioperative Nursing

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.