Should hospitals inform patients and family that COVID positives nurses and staff may be working on a unit?

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Not tell them that a specific employee is working, but that they may be come into contact with an employee who is positive for COVID.

48 minutes ago, londonflo said:

One person's mild illness is severe in another.

The world has gone crazy... I break my hip and am treated by a hospital staff person who has Covid? And then I go home incubating Covid which shows itself days later?

I think we can all agree the agency needs to be abolished with a better form of agency started from the ground up. I have lost all the respect I developed with the CDC during the AIDS crisis. (It is well known that the CDC was going to be eliminated but then the AIDS crisis happened. The agency rose to the challenge....they are not rising to any challenge now, except to 'release' dangerous recommendations that make this whole country at risk.

I don't share that extremism in view and I'm not aware of serious discussion around eliminating the CDC. Could you help me with a link?

IMV this is not the time to expect Congress to undertake something of that importance when they can't even protect voting rights and election results and can barely be counted upon to even pay the bills. 

I think that what puts this country at risk is a press which largely seeks to find contradiction or confusion rather than seeking to clarify and inform.  It's like an addiction after 4 years of chaos and conflict as a presidential plan for engagement with the press.   What the press elevate and talk and write about matters. How they elevate it and write about it matters. 

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I don’t think that corporate profits is what’s primarily behind the new recommendations. Changes in recommendations similar to the CDC’s regarding isolation or quarantine for healthcare workers and other vital personnel after exposure to or infection with Covid, are being made in many countries around the world that are currently experiencing an Omicron tsunami. It’s the same in countries with single-payer healthcare, 

Because of the extremely rapid spread of Omicron countries are now having to choose between two very undesirable options. Have every infected person isolate for x number of days in an effort to not exacerbate the epidemiological situation and accept the consequences of having a large percentage of the work force unavailable, or try to keep society functioning but not increasing transmission to unacceptable levels. It’s a balancing act. Does anyone want a nurse:patient ratio of 1:6 in ICUs? Do you want clean water when you turn on the faucet? Want heating and electricity to work? Sanitation? Food deliveries to grocery stores? Want the fire department to show up if there’s a fire? Police? Want to be able to make a phone call ?? I suspect that nurses won’t be the only ones having to work while infected, but asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. If a quarter or third of the workdorce are off sick at the same time, that will likely cause a lot of harm. You have to weigh and compare the two risks.

Transmission is so extreme that there’s a risk that some vital functions in society might not be kept operational if a large enough percentage of a profession are off work at the same time.

I suspect the CDC are quite aware that the situation isn’t ideal. But at this stage in the pandemic it may well be necessary. 

Perhaps individual hospitals are taking advantage of the situation and using the crisis standard when contingency would suffice. I don’t know. But I’m reasonably sure that the changed recommendations came about due to the current situation. As I said, it’s happening in many more countries than the U.S. 
 

Look carefully at the graph in the link ”daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases per million people”

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases
 

The first wave back in March-April 2020 was higher than the graph shows because our testing capacity wasn’t great. But the second and third waves are likely reasonably accurate (even though testing never catches all cases). Look at how the fourth current Omicron wave dwarfs the preceding waves. The exponential spread of Omicron is crazy. As high as the case numbers are we are likely missing more cases now than we were during the second and third waves since our testing capabilities are stretched beyond capacity. 
 

You can choose to look at different countries in the graph. (On the left-hand side where it says Covid-19 data explorer and right below it you can ”type to add a country”.) I recommend choosing for example France, Spain, the U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Portugal to see countries with high ongoing Covid transmission. Then you’ll understand what I mean.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
On 1/18/2022 at 7:54 PM, toomuchbaloney said:

CDC recommends 10 days too.

I thought CDC said isolate for 5 days and then go out but wear a good, well-fitting mask for 5 days.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
9 minutes ago, Kitiger said:

I thought CDC said isolate for 5 days and then go out but wear a good, well-fitting mask for 5 days.

Conventional isolation is 7 to 10 days this allows the patient to recover even if they are not necessarily contagious. This is the model physicians (at least mine) prefer.

Contingency means hospitals staffing if affected but not at crises levels and patients (HCP) may return to work in 5 days with or without negative test if asymptomatic or with mild or improving symptoms.

Crises meaning full out break status (HCP) may return to work without restriction if they are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic.

So yes you can return to work while symptomatic if your area or facility is in crisis status

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Yep posted in each and every elevator in my local hospitals

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Specializes in Oncology (Prior: Ortho-Neuro, Metabolic Surgery).

Regardless of or perhaps despite CDC guidance, my hospital is recommending direct patient care employees return to work even while Covid positive "as long as they feel well enough". That is irrespective of whether they have a fever, how long it has been since symptoms started, and whether they are vaccinated and/or boosted. I am seeing signs that our Oc Health nurses are pushing back against this and trying to give employees a way to stay out, but their ability to control this situation is minimal. 

Symptomatic employees and employees who are still in their 5 day from + test window are to wear N95s the entire time they are in the building. A strict reading of this would be that sips of water through a shift and even a lunch break are to be done at least outside, though I've not heard of anyone challenging it yet. 

My hospital's response to control of Covid within the hospital and protecting employees from its spread has been dismal. This is my main reason for wanting to leave this hospital system as soon as I can line up a new job.

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Specializes in Educator, COVID Paperwork Expert (self-taught).

Why would you want to tell them that? What good does it do? A nurse could also be positive for influenza, the common cold, hepatitis, shingles, herpes, bronchitis or a host of other infections, and still be at work! The CDC guidance is for people who are ASYMPTOMATIC to work, after a certain number of days.  

Aren’t all healthcare workers wearing masks? Isn’t the purpose of masks “to protect others”? 

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.
1 hour ago, love2banurse89 said:

Aren’t all healthcare workers wearing masks? Isn’t the purpose of masks “to protect others”? 


Maybe they wear them when giving direct care in an exam room. I have recently stopped by two doctor’s offices where no one was wearing a mask in the office areas. I’m guessing they’re all fully vaccinated.

(I did see one chin mask). 

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Specializes in Educator, COVID Paperwork Expert (self-taught).
15 minutes ago, boulergirl said:


Maybe they wear them when giving direct care in an exam room. I have recently stopped by two doctor’s offices where no one was wearing a mask in the office areas. I’m guessing they’re all fully vaccinated.

(I did see one chin mask). 

I work in long term care & everyone in every Dept has worn a mask every day since March of 2020. In my dentists’ office everyone is wearing masks. Apparently it’s different in different settings. ?‍♀️ 

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.
6 hours ago, love2banurse89 said:

I work in long term care & everyone in every Dept has worn a mask every day since March of 2020. In my dentists’ office everyone is wearing masks. Apparently it’s different in different settings. ?‍♀️ 

It’s very confusing! ? In home care, we were told to wear masks (cloth or surgical for non-Covid, depending on the situation) then one day it was switched to surgical masks ONLY. KN95s have only been issued for working with Covid+ clients. 
After the vaccines came out, those of us who were fully vaccinated were no longer required to mask up (unless our clients asked us to), check our temp every morning or monitor for symptoms and exposures. We were free!…

….then came Delta. We went straight back to the temp checks, masks and monitoring. Felt like March 2020 all over again. 

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
25 minutes ago, boulergirl said:

It’s very confusing! ? In home care, we were told to wear masks (cloth or surgical for non-Covid, depending on the situation) then one day it was switched to surgical masks ONLY. KN95s have only been issued for working with Covid+ clients. 
After the vaccines came out, those of us who were fully vaccinated were no longer required to mask up (unless our clients asked us to), check our temp every morning or monitor for symptoms and exposures. We were free!…

….then came Delta. We went straight back to the temp checks, masks and monitoring. Felt like March 2020 all over again. 

I work for 2 home health care agencies. Both require at least a surgical mask all the time except for eating (in a different room or - if that isn't feasible - at least 6 feet away from our client.) This has been the norm since COVID started. We also do daily COVID screens, including temperature, symptoms, and exposures.

Myself? I started wearing the KN95 masks as soon as they became available. Beginning yesterday, I'm wearing an N95. We bought the N95s online, CDC and NIOSH approved, and made in America.

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On 1/23/2022 at 12:10 PM, love2banurse89 said:

Why would you want to tell them that? What good does it do? A nurse could also be positive for influenza, the common cold, hepatitis, shingles, herpes, bronchitis or a host of other infections, and still be at work! The CDC guidance is for people who are ASYMPTOMATIC to work, after a certain number of days.  

Aren’t all healthcare workers wearing masks? Isn’t the purpose of masks “to protect others”? 

I noticed you used all caps for ASYMPTOMATIC.  Almost right.  Just remove the "A".  It is now considered OK for for those with "mild" symptoms to return to work after 5 days of quarantine.  "Mild" is not clearly defined.

So, to be clear:  The CDC guidance is for people who are SYMPTOMATIC to work, after a certain number of days if they are needed.  My hospital has adopted this policy.  

 

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