As a healthcare professional, you may be wondering how best to protect yourself, your co-workers as well as your patients from COVID-19. We share some critical information with you in this guide.
Taking Measures
Wherever possible, you should strive to reduce the risk of contact between yourself and others. This can be achieved through measures such as the following:
- Encouraging patients to call in for appointments
- Require patients to fill in a declaration form before entering the healthcare premises
- Evaluating if a patient with COVID-19 symptoms can be managed from home or if it is necessary for them to physically come down to your premises
- Ensuring that all patients on the premises follow certain guidelines such as social distancing and having a mask on
Enforcing Hygiene Measures and Symptom Control
While it is possible for asymptomatic individuals to be infected, symptom control remains important for reducing the spread of COVID-19. Some ways you can improve the hygiene measures of your healthcare facility include:
- Posting visual alerts such as signs and posters providing instructions and reminders for patients and visitors, such as which direction they should be going in and reminding them to stay six feet apart from others
- Providing hand sanitizers at strategic locations throughout your facility
- Mandatory temperature screenings for all visitors
- Keeping a box of disposable face masks for visitors who enter without one or have forgotten theirs
Encouraging Telehealth Sessions and Social Distancing
Patients who have non-COVID-19 related health issues may wish to receive consultations from home. As a healthcare professional, your facility may even be encouraging this and by all means, telehealth sessions should be enforced wherever possible, on top of social distancing on the premises. This can be done through:
- Video calls
- Limiting the number of patients who can be in the facility at any one time
- Shifting group therapy sessions online
- Spacing out seating in the waiting room to ensure patients remain six feet apart
Personal Protection
As a healthcare professional who comes into contact with multiple persons throughout the day, it is more important than ever that you maintain a level of personal protection. You may not be required to don PPE, depending on your responsibilities. However, always keep in mind the following best practices:
- Wash and sanitize your hands frequently
- Have on a face covering
- Do not intermingle with different departments or with patients whom you are not dealing with directly
- Do not report to work if you are feeling unwell
ATVIVO Can Provide COVID-19 Testing?
Is your healthcare facility looking for a trusted laboratory who can provide COVID-19 testing services? If so, ATVIVO is the perfect partner for your purposes. We are a licensed Laboratory based in New York who can provide comprehensive and accurate test information and insights. Our services are tailored to the needs of our local customers and to this end, we are providing COVID-19 laboratory testing during this trying time.
If you would like more information about the COVID-19 laboratory tests we offer, please feel free to contact us at contact@atvivo.com.