A high proportion of COVID-19 infections among U.S. health care personnel appear to go undetected. According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 1 in 20 health care workers sampled in 12 states tested positive for antibodies for COVID-19, and 69% of those with antibodies had never been diagnosed with the disease.
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources and Special Communications
Below are links to AHA resources developed in response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19). For all coronavirus resources and news updates, visit our COVID-19 page.
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More than half of Michigan patients hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 received antibiotics, even though fewer than 4% of those patients had bacterial infections. The findings, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, were based on data from a random sample of 1,705 patients receiving care at 38 Michigan hospitals from mid-March to mid-June.
Two Sept. 9 webinars, Road to Resilience and Psychological Safety and Building Strength in Teams, will address ways health care systems can address the needs of patients and staff in times of crisis.
Last week, California passed the nation's first law (AB-2537) requiring health care facilities to maintain a 45-day supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). The union-backed bill requires employers to provide health care workers with unexpired PPE upon request.
When it comes to providing accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines in development, respondents to an August Harris Poll ranked nurses and physicians above other information sources, with 88% saying they are “somewhat” or “very” trustworthy.
This week’s issue of Joint Commission Online included a summary of eight guidelines to assist organizations in preserving the presence of family members in health care settings despite the presence of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter to health care providers warning of quality issues with surgical gowns manufactured or sold by Laws of Motion PPE. The FDA recommends facilities discontinue use of the gowns while the agency pursues its investigation.
In this month’s Nursing Outlook, three nurse ethicists argue for substantive reform of institutional processes and systems to avert the physical, emotional and moral stresses nurses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledging stress and finding ways to work through it is one method to address unwanted behaviors among people working in health care settings who may be experiencing vicarious trauma.
In this podcast, Rebecca Chickey, senior director of field engagement, behavioral health services of the AHA is speaking with Martha Whitecotton, senior vice president of Behavioral Health Services at Atrium Health in Charlotte North Carolina, about using telehealth visits to provide behavioral health care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As urged by the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued guidance stating that COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments and Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness funds should not be recorded as offsets to expenses on the Medicare cost report.
Download the Wear a Mask campaign social media resources on this page to help spread the word on the importance of wearing a mask to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Published last month, the first of a three-part survey report from The Physicians Foundation paints a sobering picture of the existential threat the pandemic has posed to many physician practices.
A new phishing campaign is using COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)-themed lures to spread Agent Tesla malware. This difficult-to-detect remote access Trojan (RAT) provides attackers with a dashboard to monitor the malware’s keylogging and information stealing capabilities.
Letter from AHA to President Donald Trump urging additional support for rural hospitals and health systems.
COVID-19 erupted across the nation putting unprecedented stress on hospitals and health systems.
In 2020, identified as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife (a celebration of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday), it seems almost surreal that we would be faced with a pandemic of the novel coronavirus. Nurses, as in the time of Florence Nightingale, provide a pivotal role in infection prevention, infection control, isolation, containment and public health.
Communication challenges during a crisis are not new to health care in the United States. In fact, over the last 100 years, disasters, including pandemics, served to highlight the vital role of communication to help staff understand, engage and rise to the challenges needed to provide care to our communities.