Nursing home residents are at high risk of being affected by respiratory pathogens like COVID-19. The facility staff needs to do everything it can to protect its residents. You can put in additional safety protocols, disinfect surfaces, and educate your residents. This will help you to avoid the spread and keep your residents healthy.
Put in Additional Safety Protocols
There are several additional safety protocols employees should follow. You should make sure the families know what the protocols are and are willing to abide by them. You can add extra testing for residents and employees to ensure that nobody is sick. You can implement sick leave policies for the employees that are flexible and consistent with public health policies. There are many protocols that you can implement that will provide additional safety for employees and residents. You should have a meeting with the staff and see what they think should be added. This way you will be able to create the best plan for your facility.
Disinfect Surfaces
Disinfecting surfaces is an important practice when it comes to COVID-19. Develop a schedule for regular cleaning and disinfection of shared equipment, frequently touched surfaces in resident rooms and common areas. Professional cleaning services will disinfect using special EPA-registered chemicals. Ensure EPA-registered, hospital-grade disinfectants are available to allow for frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces and shared resident care equipment. Disinfecting surfaces is a great way for you to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect your residents and employees.
Educate Residents
Before COVID-19 affects your residents, and after the facility has been impacted you should educate your residents. You need to keep them updated. Educate residents and families on topics including information about COVID-19, actions the facility is taking to protect them and/or their loved ones, any visitor restrictions that are in place, and actions residents and families should take to protect themselves in the facility, emphasizing the importance of hand hygiene and source control. You should have a plan and mechanism to regularly communicate with residents and families.
COVID-19 is spreading quickly and it’s affecting everyone. However, it has affected the older population more than the younger ones. It’s important to keep the residents in nursing homes safe. You can put in additional safety protocols, disinfect surfaces, and educate your residents. This will help you keep your residents away from the virus.