Operating Room Setup: How to Improve Health Care Professionals Safety During Pandemic COVID-19-A Quality Improvement Study

Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era

Surgery is one of the most energy-intensive branches of healthcare. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced surgical volumes, infection control protocols have increased the ecological footprint of surgery owing to the extensive use of personal protective equipment, sanitation, testing and isolation resources. The burden of environmental diseases requiring surgical care, the international commitment towards environmental sustainability and the global efforts to return to the pre-pandemic surgical workflow call for action towards climate-friendly surgery. The authors have searched the peer-reviewed and gray literature for clinical studies, reports and guidelines related to the ecological footprint of surgical care and the available solutions and frameworks to reduce it. Numerous studies concede that surgery is associated with a high rate of energy utilization and waste generation that is comparable to major non-medical sources of pollution. Recommendations and research questions outlining environmentally sustainable models of surgical practices span from sanitation and air quality improvement systems to the allocation of non-recyclable consumables and energy-efficient surgical planning. The latter are particularly relevant to infection control protocols for COVID-19. Paving the way towards climate-friendly surgery is a worthy endeavor with a major potential to improve surgical practice and outcomes in the long term.

Relationships Between Job Satisfaction of Operating Room Nurses and Hospital's Compliance With Protective Guidelines During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study, Iran

PURPOSE

The Covid-19 pandemic is considered the biggest threat to human health in the recent century. During emergency surgeries, the possibility of infection of members of the surgical team with Covid-19 increases due to the direct contact with patients. The present study has been conducted aimed to investigate the relationships between job satisfaction of operating room nurses and the hospital's compliance with protective guidelines (guidance) during Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of operating room nurses.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted from September 22, 2020 to April 21, 2021.

METHODS

This study was conducted on 926 nurses working in operating rooms in 15 metropolises of Iran. The sampling method in this study was multistage clustering. The questionnaire was sent to the target group through social apps (WhatsApp and Telegram). The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 26 using descriptive and analytical statistics.

FINDINGS

The mean age and job satisfaction of the participants were 28.81 ± 5.64 years and 51.15 ± 11.45, respectively. Participants (n = 259; 27.97%) reported very good job satisfaction. Also, the mean hospital's compliance with protective guidelines during Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of operating room nurses was 42.29 ± 7.11. The results of the present study showed a significant relationship between job satisfaction and hospital's compliance with protective guidelines during Covid-19 pandemic (P-value ≤ .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Optimization of infrastructure, improvement of management decisions and increasing human resources in a crisis can affect the quality of performance and job satisfaction of operating room nurses. The researchers suggest that health system managers can contribute to the safety and efficiency of the existing human resources by taking measures to increase job satisfaction.

COVID-19 infection and the broader impacts of the pandemic on healthcare workers

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease or COVID-19 pandemic is associated with more than 230 million cases and has challenged healthcare systems globally. Many healthcare workers (HCWs) have acquired the infection, often through their workplace, with a significant number dying. The epidemiology of COVID-19 infection in HCWs continues to be explored, with manifold exposure risks identified, leading to COVID-19 being recognised as an occupational disease for HCWs. The physical illness due to COVID-19 in HCWs is similar to the general population, with some HCWs experiencing a long-term illness, which may impact their ability to return to work. HCWs have also been affected by the immense workplace and psychosocial disruption caused by the pandemic. The impacts on the psychological well-being of HCWs globally have been profound, with high prevalence estimates for mental health symptoms, including emotional exhaustion. Globally, governments, healthcare organisations and employers have key responsibilities, including: to be better prepared for crises with comprehensive disaster response management plans, and to protect and preserve the health workforce from the physical and psychological impacts of the pandemic. While prioritising HCWs in vaccine rollouts globally has been critical, managing exposures and outbreaks occurring in healthcare settings remains challenging and continues to lead to substantial disruption to the health workforce. Safeguarding healthcare workforces during crises is critical as we move forward on the new path of 'COVID normal'.

Observational study on healthcare workers protection in the angiographic suite during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: before and during vax era

Background: Since the first case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy, all the hospital facilities had to reform their daily activities. Amidst them, the Interventional Radiology Department in the “Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria” of Novara (Italy) had to create a dedicated protocol for the patent’s management during the pandemic.

Design and Methods: The time interval between February 2020 and March 2021 was divided into three different periods and we reported the evolution of our safety protocol, the changes in our daily activities and the rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the healthcare workers (HCW) of the Angiographic Suite. Personnel who had positive partners/family members or who had established close contacts of another nature outside the workplace were excluded from the study, in order to reduce any bias.

Results: A total of 35 HCWs served in 355 patient procedures on SARS-CoV-2 positive patients from February 2020 to March 2021. During the year there was a reduction in the morbidity rate first from 7.9% to 1.4% and then currently reaching 0%.

Conclusions: Dedicated routes, elevators, establishing filter areas and a clear demarcation between clean and contaminated areas, dressing and undressing procedures, cleaning procedures and the obligation to always wear a surgical mask during the working shift are essential to prevent in-hospital infection. The vaccines’ arrival seems to further reduce the risk for healthcare workers, but it is still necessary to take docile precautions in view of the new mutations of the virus.