Nursing homes and Covid-19. Storms a coming

[xanderx]

How are all the LTC nurse doing out there!! What are some things your facilities are doing to protect staff and residents. Our place went on lock down pretty early, but were are a huge CCRC, and sadly some of our IL resident aren't taking this seriously and continue to leave on a regular basis.

I just feel like we are sitting on a ticking time bomb, and just one positive case could do some serious damage.

[42pines]

11 hours ago, xanderx said:

How are all the LTC nurse doing out there!! What are some things your facilities are doing to protect staff and residents. Our place went on lock down pretty early, but were are a huge CCRC, and sadly some of our IL resident aren't taking this seriously and continue to leave on a regular basis.

I just feel like we are sitting on a ticking time bomb, and just one positive case could do some serious damage.

I'd say you are, indeed, sitting on a ticking time bomb.

My last job (a temp job) was as Administrator for a small assisted living facility slated to close. (Now closed) Were I still there I'd advocate for zero visitors, zero family, zero resident excursions. Additionally, I'd ask staff to come and work like they do on an oil rig. This means you come in, stay overnight, day after day, without leaving, perhaps for 4-6 days, then leave. (We had multiple empty rooms). Upon coming in, via a dedicated entrance, each person would shower, change clothes into new clothing, and old clothings would then be laundered or placed in bags. All incoming items would be wiped down including foods, even such items as tomatoes (very simple--spray with 10% bleach, 60 second dwell, rinse/dry. Were I there today and be opposed, they could have my two-week notice.

Consider, in my small facility we'd have 11 staff group in/out cycles per day. That's 330 possible virus entries each month. If staff agreed to stay for extended periods such as 5 days, living there, sleeping there, we could have reduced that to 50 possible virus entries. Additionally, dedicated entry with clothing change/showers would go a long way to stopping virus. Doing that once every 5 days is practical--daily, not so likely. Staff would be paid lucratively. I'd have staff wear, at least, surgical type masks in case they were asymptomatic.

I suspect we are on the cusp of an enormous crisis within a crisis at LTC and assisted living facilities. One single resident who takes this lightly can be the Typhoid Mary for your facility. Infection will spread from one to resident, to staff to resident, there will be no stopping it, once started.

A cursory search shows some bombs detonating right now:

Coronavirus Spreads To IL Long-Term Care Facility; Now 66 Cases. See: https://patch.com/illinois/across-il/coronavirus-spreads-il-long-term-care-facility-now-64-cases

Oklahoma: "Hardest hit was Grace Skilled Nursing and Therapy in Norman. The Health Department reported 33 residents of the nursing home tested positive for COVID-19 and four of them died. It reported three staff members also tested positive."

Texas: "Twelve of the 53 residents of MorningStar, 5355 Centennial Blvd., have tested positive for the virus, spokeswoman Lorna Lee said Thursday. The other long-term care facilities with outbreaks have confirmed 10 or less coronavirus cases."

Note: The above cases are like the Diamond Princess cruise ship. These are localized epidemics that are now occurring, NOT ones we are looking back at--each will have more and more victims.