How often should healthcare workers be tested for COVID?

Nurses COVID

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I assume they should be tested more than the general public, but how often?

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

My son is a chef for a Major League Soccer team.  Went back to work in October and is COVID tested every TWO days.

Why is it difficult for nurses to get tested.   Isn't protecting our health care system especially those in hospitals,  long term care and patients more important?

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
On 10/23/2020 at 2:16 PM, Matthew Prazak said:

A little off topic. Apologies. I did find something interesting out today. CDC recommends not testing for three months after recovery from COVID 19. Apparently we shed detectable levels of virus after recovery. I think PCR will trigger positive even with dead virus. 

I still was unable to find any official guidance on testing HCWs periodically. We decided to test q2 weeks. Reasonable I guess considering the area I am in is having a bad time with viral spread. 

Best to everyone.

I was trying to explain this to someone who wondered why we don't have to "test back in" for return to work....We don't have enough tests to actually make this happen for all of us. The good news is that the PCR is "better" tech than the raging gamut of what was available in March. The bad news is that it's highly sensitive.....

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
3 hours ago, NRSKarenRN said:

My son is a chef for a Major League Soccer team.  Went back to work in October and is COVID tested every TWO days.

Why is it difficult for nurses to get tested.   Isn't protecting our health care system especially those in hospitals,  long term care and patients more important?

I'm not surprised...even though soccer is not as huge as American football,  we're talking atheletes who can command celebrity level salaries.  The owner of the sports teams consider them irreplaceable and an outbreak in their ranks means lost revenue.  Nurses, on the other hand, can be bullied and scared into submission when there's a threat of losing their livelihood.  However, I feel bad for your son's nasopharyngeal mucosa, LOL.

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On 10/25/2020 at 3:38 PM, getoutnride said:

 Now with the increase in COVID patients we are mixing COVID and non COVID patients in the same hall.  I would appreciate comments from others if this is a common practice in other hospitals and if it sounds responsible.

To an extent, we've always done that.  Basically, any PUI unit is going to have a combination of patients who test + and who test -.  While it's probably not as good as having fully COVID and "clean" units, I don't think it's irresponsible either.  

Even after we get a vaccine, we're always going to have COVID with us to some degree.  I predict that eventually we will have COVID isolation the way we have C-diff isolation, regular droplet isolation, regular airborne isolation, and regular contact isolation.  The doctor will just order the isolation type, it will trigger the associated protocol, and we'll put patients in private rooms with the corresponding precaution notices on the doors.

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Specializes in school nurse.
On 10/9/2020 at 7:51 AM, T-Bird78 said:

 The only reason he got tested was because he was experiencing cold-like sx, so there’s no telling how long he’d had it before sx appeared. 

If the current theories/way of thinking are correct, the average incubation time before symptoms is five days, with infectiousness considered starting two days before symptom presentation. If I'm just repeating stuff you already know, I apologize, it's just that this sentence seemed (to me) a little more "gloom and doom" than the situation necessarily was...

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Specializes in Oncology (OCN).
On 10/23/2020 at 2:16 PM, Matthew Prazak said:

A little off topic. Apologies. I did find something interesting out today. CDC recommends not testing for three months after recovery from COVID 19. Apparently we shed detectable levels of virus after recovery. I think PCR will trigger positive even with dead virus. 

I still was unable to find any official guidance on testing HCWs periodically. We decided to test q2 weeks. Reasonable I guess considering the area I am in is having a bad time with viral spread. 

Best to everyone.

I contracted Covid the beginning of July (first symptoms 7/7).  I continued to test positive for 10 weeks (4 tests).  Finally tested negative on 9/14.  It was not a work requirement to be tested.  I needed a pulmonary function test and they required a negative test prior to the procedure.  (I have not returned to work yet as I’m still on home oxygen PRN and my doctor has not released me.)

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Specializes in CRNA.

I've never been tested for covid since working 

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
3 hours ago, Jason6915 said:

I've never been tested for covid since working 

I haven't been tested either. But I have been tested (negative) for antibodies twice since April because Red Cross automatically tests when we donate blood.

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Specializes in clinic nurse.
16 hours ago, Kitiger said:

I haven't been tested either. But I have been tested (negative) for antibodies twice since April because Red Cross automatically tests when we donate blood.

Good for you for donating. I'm leery. I'm a few-times-a-year donator, but because the RC where I live would not take advantage of some fine outdoor weather recently and move some blood collecting outside (entirely feasible), I declined both times I got calls this Fall. I thought about it, and decided not to.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
2 hours ago, JVBT said:

Good for you for donating. I'm leery. I'm a few-times-a-year donator, but because the RC where I live would not take advantage of some fine outdoor weather recently and move some blood collecting outside (entirely feasible), I declined both times I got calls this Fall. I thought about it, and decided not to.

Red Cross required appointments, masks (of coorifice), we were very well spaced out, and - at my end of the day appointment - there were only 2 donors, myself included.

I felt much safer there than at the grocery store.

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On 10/27/2020 at 8:41 AM, NRSKarenRN said:

My son is a chef for a Major League Soccer team.  Went back to work in October and is COVID tested every TWO days.

Why is it difficult for nurses to get tested.   Isn't protecting our health care system especially those in hospitals,  long term care and patients more important?

Nope.  If it was, we would be tested.
The problem is that if tests are done, and reality is acknowledged, we are going to be short staffed.

 

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