Safety Measures for Health Professionals amidst the Pandemic

The Coronavirus first made an appearance in 2019, which caused a been brutal impact on everyone. There was widespread fear and panic, not knowing how the virus would strike. Since little was known about the virus, it was hard to jump into a preventive mode.

Unfortunately, as cases began to pile up, the WHO and the CDC published a set of instructions for the community to follow. While the community worked on keeping themselves safe, the healthcare professionals were vulnerable. The healthcare sector never had these many cases at one time.

Hospitals had to turn away patients, and there were no rooms available to look after patients. For doctors and other health care professionals, it was essential to ensure they were safe. Therefore, hospitals had to establish their safety measures.

1. Sanitation Stations

While healthcare practitioners have to stay on top of their hygiene, they have to do so more now. Between every patient checkup, these professionals had to sanitize. These included cleaning their hands and any surface they may have contact with. Most healthcare professionals even wore gloves and tucked their sleeves to avoid the cloth touching the patient. Patients are also provided with samples of sanitizers to prevent touching the healthcare practitioner.

2. More Disposal Equipment

Hospitals had a multitude of patients. Moreover, cleaning and sterilizing between each checkup wasn’t possible. Hence, hospitals had to opt for high quality medical disposable gowns to equip both patients and doctors. In addition, disposable gloves and face masks were necessary to check patients instead of using cloth masks or attending to patients without protection. These kept practitioners safe from exposing themselves and getting exposed.

3. Monitor Symptoms

Even with all the precautions the healthcare sector professionals are taking, they can still get sick. Therefore, if a healthcare practitioner is over-exposed to patients, they should get checked frequently. Monitoring symptoms includes checking the practitioner’s temperature. It also includes looking for signs such as dry cough or even lack of taste. Suppose a practitioner shows none of these symptoms; they should still keep their distance and quarantine as much as possible. Some cases of corona carry no signs but can still transmit the infection.

4. Practice Good Protection Etiquettes

Healthcare practitioners need to ensure that everyone around them is safe. That includes avoiding handshaking and hugging with their peers. If a healthcare practitioner has to cough or sneeze, they should do it in their elbows. These practitioners should also frequently wash their hands and use sanitizers if they don’t want to wash. While continually changing is not possible, keeping scrubs for patients separate from routine checkups is good.

5. Sterilize Equipment Frequently

Equipment like thermometers or any equipment that touches the patient needs sterilizing. BP cuffs and stethoscopes should be wiped with alcohol swabs. Devices like the otoscope need to have disposable points of attachment. So that when the practitioner checks a patient, they can get rid of the disposable attachment points. Equipment like tongue depressors needs to get binned. The Coronavirus stays on surfaces, so practitioners can’t afford to reuse the same equipment on different patients. The last thing practitioners would want to pass on the virus from person to person.

6. Keep Track Of Patient Data

The only way practitioners can keep track of how the virus is spreading is through tracking their symptoms. These can help healthcare practitioners narrow who is more likely to get impacted and who is expected not to get affected fast. They can also narrow down the ethnic background followed by socio-economic background to get an idea of who the virus impacts badly. The data also helps keep practitioners safe since they can also understand how else the symptoms present themselves. Some patients may exhibit coughing but no fever. The data can also extend towards the prognosis of the symptoms. How bad they get or if they improve after a while. The data then gets passed on to the public health sector who can study it more deeply. The information benefits the community, who can learn where they need to exercise caution.

7. Deep Clean The Hospital

Hospitals need to stay clean. However, the sanitation varies from regular cleansing. During the pandemic, the walls and the floors of the hospital need to get disinfected. These can happen through disinfectant sprays and anti-bacterial wipes. Bathrooms get cleaned after every use and at no point is the area left unattended. So while in the hospital, the staff gets kept under clean and hygienic conditions:

8. Kept Away From Family

One of the most significant sacrifices the health care sector had to make was staying away from their families. Since practitioners didn’t want to carry the disease home, it was essential to quarantine at the hospital. The stress it took on many healthcare practitioners was tremendous. However, it was necessary to stay away from family during these times. Most healthcare practitioners choose to video chat and text their family members. The actively breastfeeding nurses decided to pump milk and provide it to their children in bulk instead of visiting them every time. While these precautions were rigid, they were a necessity.

Wrap Up

As we approach 2022, we still see lingering signs and symptoms of the virus. The pandemic started back in 2019, and while we have curbed it to some extent, precaution is necessary. When the pandemic was still at its peak, it was challenging to provide care.

It was expected from healthcare practitioners to keep us safe and healthy during the pandemic. These included practicing top-notch hygiene and staying away from coming into contact with patients. Hospitals also needed to invest in disposable safety equipment. However, the hardest part of the practitioner’s job was to keep away from their families to keep them safe. Therefore it goes without saying the unspoken heroes of the pandemic are the healthcare sector.