Public Health Nurses involvement with Covid

[Chris GordonKeymaster 29th December 2020 at 8:01 pm Post count: 48]

#9679 |

A Christmas and Holiday Gift to All Public Health Nurses around the Globe
By
Assumpta Ude, NP, Ph.D.

Public Health Nurse Consultant
Global Network of Public Health Nursing Council Member

Public Health Nurses (PHNs) in various countries widely affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic are facing high level of professional stress. As many of the worst pandemic hit countries face critical shortage of nurses, PHNs have become increasingly in high demand as essential health personnel for various educational organizations, communities, institutions, and health settings that need them as frontline health professionals and gatekeepers. In the health research setting, public health nurses have also assumed the role of facilitating COVID-19 assessment, diagnostic testing of asymptomatic workers and other interventions involving vaccine trials.
In this holiday season, saddled with the new wave of global rise in COVID-19 infections and deaths, PHNs wearing various hats intervene at multiple levels and systems. They are involved in screening and education that focus on individual, family, community and entire population. In addition, public health nurses play a critical role in facilitating transition of those persons dealing with loss of loved ones, and those discharged from the hospital after treatment to various communities. Below are resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) research studies and mental health resource from a Nurse Bioethicist. It is a Christmas holiday gift to add to your education and personal health toolbox.
> RESILIENCE AND COPING RESOURCE-Moral Resilience: Trans-forming Moral Suffering in Healthcare written by Dr. Cynda Hylton Rushton, a nurse bioethicist from Johns Hopkins University includes professional and personal stress coping measures that could be helpful for PHNs on the frontline.
>RECENT CDC & NIH COVID-19 EXPOSURE AND TESTING EDUCATIONAL UPDATES

Time from Exposure to Symptom Onset (Incubation Period)
Three to as long as 13 days after exposure.
Definition of Close Contact
Within 6 feet distance with an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period* starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for persons with no obvious symptoms, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.
CDC Levels of Exposure:
High
Travel from Hubei Province, China
Living in the same household as, being an intimate partner of, or providing care in a non-healthcare setting (such as a home) for a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 without using recommended home care precautions.
Medium
Travel from mainland Childa outside Hubei Province or Iran • Travel from a country with widespread sustained transmission, other than China or Iran • Travel from a country with sustained community transmission • Travel from an area in the United States with sustained community transmission
Close contact with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19
On an aircraft, being seated within 6 feet (two meters) of a traveler with symptomatic laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection; this distance correlates approximately with 2 seats in each direction
Living in the same household as, an intimate partner of, or caring for a person in a non-healthcare setting (such as a home) to a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection while consistently using recommended home care precautions.
Low
Being in the same indoor environment (e.g., a classroom, a hospital waiting room) as a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time but not meeting the definition of close contact
None
Interactions with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection that do not meet any of the high-, medium-, or low-risk conditions above, such as walking by the person or being briefly in the same room.
Saliva Testing Versus Nose (Mid-Turbinate) Swabbing
Saliva is almost as sensitive as the mid-turbinate swab for finding COVID-19 infection.
Mid-turbinate swab is first choice but saliva is a good second choice for anyone still struggling with having a swab inserted into his or her nose.
For best saliva testing result, avoid eating, drinking, smoking, or chewing gum or tobacco for at least 30 minutes before saliva sample collection.

References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Exposure Measurement and Action Level and Occupational Environmental Variability. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/76-131/default.html
Czumbel, L. M., Kiss, S., Farkas, N., Mandel, I., Hegyi, A., Nagy, Á., Lohinai, Z., Szakács, Z., Hegyi, P., Steward, M. C., & Varga, G. (2020). Saliva as a Candidate for COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing: A Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in medicine, 7, 465. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.00465
Iwasaki, S., Fujisawa, S., Nakakubo, S., Kamada, K., Yamashita, Y., Fukumoto, T., Sato, K., Oguri, S., Taki, K., Senjo, H., Sugita, J., Hayasaka, K., Konno, S., Nishida, M., & Teshima, T. (2020). Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 detection in nasopharyngeal swab and saliva. The Journal of infection, 81(2), e145–e147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.05.071

• This topic was modified 1 year ago by  Chris Gordon.

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