Will your staff come to work?
One of the greatest challenges during a pandemic may be ensuring that you have adequate staffing, warns Katherine West, BSN, MSED, CIC, infection control consultant at Infection Control/Emerging Concepts in Manassas, VA.
"I saw a survey of nurses in the San Francisco area where more than 50% said they would not come in, so this is where we have to begin preparation," West says. "We have to assess our own workplaces hardcore and see who would come to work."
It's important, therefore, to survey your own staff, West says — but to do it in ways that will not identify them. "You have to somehow get an honest assessment," West says. "You can get all the plans in the world, but if you do not have adequate staff, it is problematic."
In addition, she says, it's important to survey staff readiness at home. Have they planned for child care, elder care, or pet care? "You need to make sure people have been doing that preparation," West asserts.
"Probably one of the most important things is transparency with staff; it's the only way to get people to come to work," adds Colleen Connelly, RN, BSN, emergency preparedness manager, University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. "If things are bad, you have to tell them they're bad."
Connelly surveyed her hospital staff about two years ago. "Our positive responses were higher than the national average, but in the people who said they might not report, it was all about helping them take care of their family," she notes.
What can be done to ease their concerns? "If there's a big pandemic, and even grocery stores are affected, you should have arrangements with food suppliers to set up a general-store-type facility in your hospital — like they did in Toronto during the SARS outbreak," she says. "We have a plan to do that; we also have a pet plan and a family care plan."
One of the greatest challenges during a pandemic may be ensuring that you have adequate staffing, warns Katherine West, BSN, MSED, CIC, infection control consultant at Infection Control/Emerging Concepts in Manassas, VA.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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