Articles: personal-protective-equipment.
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Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of getting infected while at work, for example, operating room (OR), hence it is pertinent that they don all the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize the chance of getting infected. ⋯ Our HCW were adapting well to the new normal of donning appropriate PPE in the OR, except for the eye protection due to discomfort and visibility related issues. This is important to know so that necessary changes could be introduced to better the compliance.
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At the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hand hygiene audits indicated decreased compliance in a 12-bed critical care (CC) area with ventilated COVID-19 patients, where staff used personal protective equipment (PPE), including sessional use of long-sleeved gowns in accordance with the recommendations of Public Health England. There was also a cluster of three central venous catheter (CVC) infections along with increases in the number of patients from whom enteric Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) were isolated from sterile sites. Environmental sampling of near-patient surfaces and frequently touched sites demonstrated that 11.5% of areas were contaminated with enteric GNB in the COVID-19 CC area, compared with 2.6% and 2.7% in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 general wards, respectively. ⋯ Long-sleeved gowns prevent HCWs performing hand hygiene effectively. While it is imperative that HCWs are adequately protected, protection of patients from infection hazards is equally important. Further studies are necessary to establish risks from PPE to inform a review of current guidance.
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The overall aim of this study was to evaluate personal protective equipment (PPE) that may facilitate the safe recommencement of cochlear implantation in the COVID-19 era, with the broader goal of minimizing the period of auditory deprivation in prelingually deaf children and reducing the risk of cochlear ossification in individuals following meningitis. ⋯ 4 Laryngoscope, 130:2693-2699, 2020.
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More than 40 percent of all reported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths in the United States have occurred in nursing homes. As a result, health care workers' access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control policies in nursing homes have received increased attention. ⋯ Health care worker unions were associated with a 1.29-percentage-point reduction in mortality, which represents a 30 percent relative decrease in the COVID-19 mortality rate compared with facilities without these unions. Unions were also associated with greater access to PPE, one mechanism that may link unions to lower COVID-19 mortality rates.