Was scheduled pre ‘Fearbola’
Infection prevention training for staff at Greene County Medical Center this week is carrying a bit more importance as Ebola has claimed national and world headlines.
The training is being conducted by Sandy Atkinson, RN, BSN, director of quality management and patient experience at the medical center. According to chief nursing executive Katie Heldt, the training was planned several weeks ago. Atkinson enhanced the training in personal protective equipment more recently.
The training included a review of the basics like handwashing. “Handwashing is the best protection against anything, whether it be influenza or the common cold. Washing your hands is paramount to infection protection,” Heldt said.
Other basics in the training are needle safety, dealing with central lines and ports, and the like. Atkinson is using a room at the medical center dubbed “the room of horrors,” where she placed many safety and infection hazards to remind staff of things to watch for.
The use of the personal protective equipment that’s been shown in the media recently is also being practiced. “When we think about Ebola and what we’ve heard in the news about personal protective equipment, and how it was potentially not put on correctly or removed correctly, this is an important thing that we practice,” Heldt said.
She explained that the putting on and taking off, the donning and doffing, is critical. “There are specific steps that have to be gone through when you put it on and when you take it off to minimize your risk,” she said. Staff is training to use a buddy system, watching each other as they don and doff to be sure it’s done right.
All nurses are doing the training this week, as well as the CNAs. The environmental services staff and the dietary staff has also been invited to go through the training. “This is for the entire staff,” Heldt said.
When talking about Ebola, Heldt mentions that 50,000 people a year die in the US of influenza. “When you think about 50,000 versus four (people who have been diagnosed with Ebola here), that doesn’t alleviate the anxiety the public is feeling,” Heldt said.
“Our goal is to enhance what we already know, enhance what we practice every single day. We put on personal protective equipment, we wash our hands, we practice infection prevention every single day. It’s just practicing it maybe with a little more vigilance at this point. Our goal is to alleviate any anxiety, avoid panic,” she said.
Heldt added that the staff is not more anxious about Ebola than other things. “People come in all the time with things that our staff could potentially contract. That’s why we use the standardize precautions,” she said. “It’s not just Ebola. It could be anything.”
As part of the UnityPoint system, Greene County Medical Center is assured that should a patient come in who screens positively as a possible Ebola case, he or she will be immediately transferred to a larger UnityPoint facility. UnityPoint is setting up an area for care of Ebola-exposed patients in one of the larger hospitals. “By working in concert with UnityPoint and the CDC we feel that we have a plan that will be successful,” she said.
“This sort of training is the right thing to do for our patients and our community. It’s what we do,” Heldt said.
