What Visiting Nurse & Community Care is doing during COVID-19:
All caregiver staff is provided with the following training:
- Infection prevention and control practices and updates regarding COVID-19 related to client care
- Standard precautions for all client care and transition-based precautions for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19
- Washing of hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol), which should occur at a minimum:
- On arrival at a client’s home
- Before and after client contact
- Before and after handling food
- After contact with the client’s immediate environment
- After contact with blood, bodily fluids, and other potentially infectious material or contaminated surfaces
- When soiled
- Before and after putting on and taking off PPE, including, but not limited to, gloves and masks
- How to put on, take off, and dispose of PPE
Caregiver Personnel Self-Screening and Client Assessment Before Visit:
All caregivers call in daily, reporting to their manager regarding the following:
- Reporting of fever greater than 100 degrees
- Cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste/smell, or any other symptoms of COVID-19
Caregivers are removed immediately from daily schedule if reporting yes to any of the above and must contact a physician, in addition to agency policies of self-quarantine and follow-up testing.
Before making a home visit caregivers call to pre-screen the client regarding current COVID-19 clinical status and to determine the appropriate PPE needed for the visit.
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue, muscle, or body aches
- Headache, sore throat
- Congestion or runny now
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Loss of Smell/taste
- Is there anyone in your household or close contacts under investigation or surveillance or self-quarantine?
- Has any person in your household traveled internationally or in a high COVID-19 risk area?
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
- All caregivers are mandated to wear a mask, face shield or goggles and gloves
- Each case is assessed, and the appropriate PPE is supplied to all caregivers
Prevention:
CDC has reinforced the use of everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases and seasonal influenza. That includes:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Close contact is defined as being within approximately 6 feet of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period. Close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case, or having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on). (source: CDC)
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
- Follow “Stay at Home” orders given by public officials and avoid public places.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Hands and fingers do not do a sufficient job of covering the droplets of a cough or sneeze.
- Keep surfaces and frequently touched objects (bedside tables, door handles, surfaces in the bathroom, toys for children, etc.) clean by wiping down with a household disinfectant.
- No handshaking/hugging etc.
Visiting Nurse & Community Care Home has been awarded the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts Certificate of Accreditation since 2015. Visiting Nurse & Community Care is proud to be among the 10% of elite agencies having achieved this distinguished status.