Nursing Homes Reopening

[meriadocs, ADN, RN]

I'm just wondering if anyone else out there is working in a facility that will be reopening soon. The LTC facility I work at is reopening to visitors and new admissions on July 15. We have been COVID-free since the pandemic started and I'm just afraid that we are jumping the gun to reopen too soon. I know this pandemic is hitting nursing homes the hardest and that it is likely a lot of the residents wouldn't recover if they got sick.

I guess my question is, what do you all think of facilities reopening? I know a couple of staff that are considering leaving because they don't agree with opening so soon.

[amoLucia]

What a terrible double-edged sword!

[scribblz, BSN, CNA, LPN]

I imagine that they must be under intense pressure to both allow people access to their loved ones and to also continue to keep them safe. I mean the fact that you have had no cases yet is very impressive.

Have they been involving staff in the process of reopening and getting their feedback on the plan? As caretakers you guys are stakeholders in this, and if people have specific concerns, hearing them benefits everyone.

For example:

-firm mask policy

-hand sanitizer everywhere

-good house keeping

-limit visiting hours and numbers of visitors

-adequate PPE for staff

If they seem sloppy on even one of these things all your hard work protecting yourself and your residents could be in jeopardy.

[meriadocs, ADN, RN]

22 minutes ago, scribblz said:

I imagine that they must be under intense pressure to both allow people access to their loved ones and to also continue to keep them safe. I mean the fact that you have had no cases yet is very impressive.

Have they been involving staff in the process of reopening and getting their feedback on the plan? As caretakers you guys are stakeholders in this, and if people have specific concerns, hearing them benefits everyone.

For example:

-firm mask policy

-hand sanitizer everywhere

-good house keeping

-limit visiting hours and numbers of visitors

-adequate PPE for staff

If they seem sloppy on even one of these things all your hard work protecting yourself and your residents could be in jeopardy.

They did a really good job of locking down the facility before we got many cases in our area. Our governor was very, very proactive in setting forth guidelines for LTC facilities. However, we have had several residents pass away since January (just from natural causes) and with guidelines becoming more lenient, the cynic in me tends to think it's more about admissions than about family members visiting.

I'm hoping they have a good plan set in place but administration hasn't really been forthcoming about much so I'm not sure.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Here's what PA is doing:

Pennsylvania outlines steps for resuming visits at nursing homes

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/nursing-home-visits-coronavirus-pennsylvania-assisted-living-20200629.html

[StrwbryblndRN]

We are not allowing visitors but have not stopped taking admissions. Most come from our AL and IL but we have been taking outside the facility also. We are free of Covid also. We are very strict on our precautions and it appears to have worked. No date on when visitors will be allowed though. We are testing residents and staff regularly too.

To answer your question: depending on the area I would reopen to visitors. But ease into it. Limit to one person and have it scheduled with time limit. No more than X amount of visitors in building at any given time. If anyone comes up positive, then restrictions put into place. It should definitely no go back to pre-covid yet.

[Wuzzie]

I said this in another post. My mother told me she'd rather die of Covid than die of loneliness. I imagine that many would agree.

There are precautions that we can take and they work.