Our final articles and stories of 2020. See you in 2021!

CMS continues to work with accreditation organizations (AOs) on providing some remote flexibilities in conducting surveys. But only through the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).

CMS offers tips on maintaining pandemic infection control in behavioral health settings.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses were already facing a high burnout rate—with nearly four out of 10 nurses reporting they felt burned out—possibly due to long hours, increased workloads, weak work cultures, fragmented communication from leadership, and the emotional toll from caring for significantly ill patients. Then nurses stepped up when the pandemic hit, putting their own fears and exhaustion aside, as well as the needs of their families, to prioritize the needs of their patients, which is an approach that is not sustainable for the long-term, says Renee Cecil, DNP, RN, CEN, TCRN, SANE, NREMT, senior consultant for Philips Healthcare Transformation Services.

ASTM International, a standards-setting organization formerly known as The American Society for Testing and Materials, is developing a new specification for face coverings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended cloth face coverings for the general public to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recommended them in its workplace health guidelines during the pandemic, and four states now require them in emergency temporary standards for COVID-19.

After months of being stuck at home, staying socially distant, wearing face coverings, and constantly washing your hands, do you suffer from “coronavirus burnout”? While COVID-19-related inconveniences are certainly disruptive to our lives, healthcare providers have faced a burnout problem since before the pandemic, and COVID-19 is only exacerbating the condition.

Keep in regular contact with your supply chain and ensure they are checking the quality and integrity of supplies from nontraditional and foreign suppliers following an alarming report on disposable isolation gowns from ECRI, the nonprofit patient safety organization based in Pennsylvania. More than half of disposable isolation gowns tested by ECRI failed to meet protection standards and could leave healthcare workers exposed to dangerous viruses, bloodborne pathogens, and other hazards, the safety research organization said in mid-November.

The public health emergency (PHE) related to COVID-19 would seem to have added some barriers to treatment of hearing-impaired patients. As telehealth use has exploded during the PHE, there’s now a new line of service for which you may need to address chal­lenges for deaf or hard-of-hearing patients.

In addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the United States and the world continues to be challenged by disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, fires, floods, severe weather events, and terrorism.

When they occur, nurses are called on to respond during and following a disaster.

“Nurses are widely recognized for the key roles they play in disaster preparedness and response,” says Charleen C. McNeill, PhD, MSN, RN, an associate professor in the nursing science department at East Carolina University College of Nursing in Greenville, North Carolina.

As the largest body of healthcare providers who often find themselves involved in the acute post-disaster phase of response measures, nurses are critical in preparedness efforts and must educate themselves on the risks and hazards in the areas in which they live in order to plan appropriate response measures, McNeill says.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) remain a significant source of concern for healthcare facilities of all types and sizes, and the physical environment is often a leading source of these infection-causing pathogens. Data from the CDC indicates that each year, about 1 in 25 U.S. hospital patients are diagnosed with at least one infection related to hospital care alone, and approximately 97,000 Americans die from hospital-related fungal infections each year. While there are many factors that contribute to the prevalence of HAIs, the environment plays a significant role in their transmission.