EVALUATION OF COVID-19 VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS USING CASCADE ANALYSIS

Background: Healthcare workers in Indonesia have been prioritized for vaccination. Nevertheless, fully vaccinated healthcare workers are still at risk of being infected with COVID-19, but will be less likely to develop severe symptoms, be hospitalized or be at risk for death as compared to those who have not been vaccinated. Objectives: This study aims to analyze the incidence of COVID-19 in fully vaccinated healthcare workers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021. All healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 (2-4 weeks after vaccination) and able to complete a questionnaire were the participants. The collected data was then analyzed using the cascade method. Results: Based on the 529 collected questionnaires, by using the cascade analysis conclude that the percentage of healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated was 99%, healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated and then infected with COVID-19 was 14%, healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated, infected with COVID-19 and hospitalized was 4%, healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated, exposed to COVID-19, hospitalized and experienced the long-haul effect of COVID-19 was 0%. Discussion: Health workers are still at risk of being confirmed by COVID-19, because have high risk of being exposed in the workplace. The risk of being confirmed and severity are also influenced by age, gender and comorbidities. Conclusions: Complete vaccinations of healthcare workers did not reduce their risk of being infected with COVID-19, however, it can reduce the severity and the risk of the long-haul effects

Knowledge, Attitudes, and COVID-19 Prevention Practices of Healthcare Workers in Indonesia: A Mobile-based Cross-sectional Survey

Knowledge of disease can affect attitudes and prevention practices, and wrong attitudes and practices can directly increase the risk of disease infection. This study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and COVID-19 prevention practice of healthcare workers in Indonesia and factors associated with prevention practices. A mobile-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in August 2020 with 254 healthcare workers in Indonesia. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of four parts: 1) sociodemographic information, 2) knowledge of COVID-19, 3) attitudes and anxiety toward COVID-19, and 4) COVID-19 prevention practices. The results indicated that healthcare workers in Indonesia had excellent knowledge and positive attitudes about COVID-19, but their preventionpractices were lacking. The multiple logistic regression analysis results revealed that the factors associated with the COVID-19 prevention practices of healthcare workers in Indonesia were knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, domicile island, age, income, and education. Healthcare workers who had excellent knowledge, positive attitudes, and high anxiety exhibited better COVID-19 prevention practices than others. Healthcare workers in Sumatra Island, aged 41–50 years, and an undergraduate education showed better COVID-19 prevention practices than others

Risk of hospital admission with coronavirus disease 2019 in healthcare workers and their households: nationwide linkage cohort study

Objective: Many healthcare staff work in high-risk settings for contracting and transmitting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Their risk of hospitalisation for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and that of their households, is poorly understood. Design and settings and participants: During the peak period for COVID-19 infection in Scotland (1st March 2020 to 6th June 2020) we conducted a national record linkage study to compare the risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation among healthcare workers (age: 18-65 years), their households and other members of the general population. Main outcome: Hospitalisation with COVID-19 Results: The cohort comprised 158,445 healthcare workers, the majority being patient facing (90,733 / 158,445; 57.3%), and 229,905 household members. Of all COVID-19 hospitalisations in the working age population (18-65-year-old), 17.2% (360 / 2,097) were in healthcare workers or their households. Adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, socio-economic deprivation and comorbidity, the risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation in non-patient facing healthcare workers and their households was similar to the risk in the general population (hazards ratio [HR] 0.81; 95%CI 0.52-1.26 and 0.86; 95%CI 0.49-1.51 respectively). In models adjusting for the same covariates however, patient facing healthcare workers, compared to non-patient facing healthcare workers, were at higher risk (HR 3.30; 95%CI 2.13-5.13); so too were household members of patient facing healthcare workers (HR 1.79; 95%CI 1.10-2.91). On sub-dividing patient-facing healthcare workers into those who worked in front-door, intensive care and non-intensive care aerosol generating settings and other, those in front door roles were at higher risk (HR 2.09; 95%CI 1.49-2.94). For most patient facing healthcare workers and their households, the estimated absolute risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation was less than 0.5% but was 1% and above in older men with comorbidity. Conclusions: Healthcare workers and their households contribute a sixth of hospitalised COVID-19 cases. Whilst the absolute risk of hospitalisation was low overall, patient facing healthcare workers and their households had 3- and 2-fold increased risks of COVID-19 hospitalisation

Policies to Protect Healthcare Providers in Public Hospitals in Egypt Amid the First Wave Covid-19 Crisis: A Case Study

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 became a main public health problem among the worlds. Universally, healthcare workers were forced to face an unprecedented challenge since the outbreak COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been trying to reduce transmission of COVID-19 between different countries by setting regulations and standards in attempt to control the transmission of infection. The protection of healthcare workers working as frontline workers for COVID-19 is a priority. To assess the occupational workplace policies to protect healthcare workers in public university hospitals in Egypt during the first wave of COVID-19, this research was conducted at a major public university hospital. These policies were crucial to protect the frontline workers from COVID-19 infection amid the first wave of COVID-19. In depth interviews were conducted to gather information about the current policies in the case study hospital. Results of this research are vital to all public hospitals which provide service a large segment of the population in Egypt. Defective implementation of the workplace policies, lack of needed managerial support, and poor communication between the administration and the healthcare workers were highlighted. The challenge of substandard infrastructure and insufficient resources in the healthcare system during the pandemic at the case study contributed to the crisis. Additionally, the absence of psychological and mental health support needed to health care workers amid the ongoing stress of COVID-19 with all the mental challenges they are facing. The findings of this research give insights to the protective workplace policies of COVID-19 for healthcare workers at the case study public hospitals and challenges in their application and different policy alternatives

Use of Simulation to Improve Nurse\u27s Response to COVID-19 Code Blue: A Literature Review

Background Healthcare workers in the acute care setting must be ready to respond to emergencies at any given time. The recent COVID-19 pandemic put strains on the healthcare workforce that have brought challenges and new competencies for how healthcare workers safely respond to emergencies. To ensure healthcare workers maintain these competencies, specific training must occur to improve emergency response and outcomes. Specifically, there needs to be training for healthcare workers to respond to COVID-19 code blue emergencies safely and with skilled interventions. Problem A code blue in the acute care setting is a medical emergency that requires nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists to react urgently and with precision to deliver life-saving interventions. Responders must be confident in performing their skills in this high stress environment. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are tasked with caring for COVID-19 patients with additional precautions to avoid potential exposure to self and others. Methods Sixty-four healthcare workers (registered nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists) participated in COVID-19 code blue simulation training. Each participant completed a pre- and post- survey to evaluate the simulation training. Data was collected on time to first chest compressions, first defibrillation, and first dose epinephrine from COVID-19 code blue case pre- and post- simulation training. Observations were done on COVID-19 code blue cases pre- and post- simulation training. Interventions The purpose of this project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a simulation training class that allows for responders to safely practice their COVID-19 code blue skills including how to properly don and doff appropriate personnel protective equipment (PPE). This simulation training was provided to nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapist so they could practice their skills and responses to this life-threatening emergency. Results COVID-19 code blue simulation training had a positive impact on healthcare workers knowledge, skills, and comfort levels that was statistically significant (p= Conclusion The project had a positive effect on healthcare workers safely conducting a code blue during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were some limitations to the project, it is recommended that the organization continue the COVID-19 code blue simulation training with spread to all departments. Keywords: Code blue, COVID-19, personal protective equipment, safety, simulatio

THE ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR MEASURING HEALTHCARE WORKERS’ PREPAREDNESS FOR COVID-19

Most all the countries in the world haven’t been prepared for COVID - 19 pandemic so there is a need to analyze the strategies to measure our healthcare workers’ preparedness for preventing healthcare workers (HCW) from becoming the victim of COVID-19. This systematic literature review is for reviewing the various assessment tools that had been used to measure the preparedness of healthcare workers’ for COVID - 19 in the time of pandemic of COVID-19 (2019 November - 2021 June). Between this range of time, we analyzed how the researchers defined and constructed the assessments tool for measuring the preparedness of healthcare workers for COVID-19. We used databases of Scopus, Proquest, Pubmed, and Willey online library with search themes healthcare workers, Preparedness, COVID-19, assessment. There were 33 studies that measured HCW’s preparedness for COVID-19 from November 2019 to 10 June 2021. Most studies were done in developing Nations (N=22). Almost of studies were Cross-sectional studies with questionnaires as their main instrument. The definition of preparedness was varied among these studies but all of them agreed that the tool for measuring the preparedness of HCW for COVID-19 was constructed with more than one aspect of measurement

Using Simulation to Improve COVID-19 Code Blue Outcomes

Background Healthcare workers in the acute care setting must be ready to respond to emergencies at any given time. The recent COVID-19 pandemic put strains on the healthcare workforce that have brought challenges and new competencies for how healthcare workers safely respond to emergencies. To ensure healthcare workers maintain these competencies, specific training must occur to improve emergency response and outcomes. Specifically, there needs to be training for healthcare workers to respond to COVID-19 code blue emergencies safely and with skilled interventions. Problem A code blue in the acute care setting is a medical emergency that requires nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists to react urgently and with precision to deliver life-saving interventions. Responders must be confident in performing their skills in this high stress environment. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are tasked with caring for COVID-19 patients with additional precautions to avoid potential exposure to self and others. Methods Sixty-four healthcare workers (registered nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists) participated in COVID-19 code blue simulation training. Each participant completed a pre- and post- survey to evaluate the simulation training. Data was collected on time to first chest compressions, first defibrillation, and first dose epinephrine from COVID-19 code blue case pre- and post- simulation training. Observations were done on COVID-19 code blue cases pre- and post- simulation training. Interventions The purpose of this project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a simulation training class that allows for responders to safely practice their COVID-19 code blue skills including how to properly don and doff appropriate personnel protective equipment (PPE). This simulation training was provided to nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapist so they could practice their skills and responses to this life-threatening emergency. Results COVID-19 code blue simulation training had a positive impact on healthcare workers knowledge, skills, and comfort levels that was statistically significant (p= Conclusion The project had a positive effect on healthcare workers safely conducting a code blue during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were some limitations to the project, it is recommended that the organization continue the COVID-19 code blue simulation training with spread to all departments. Keywords: Code blue, COVID-19, personal protective equipment, safety, simulatio

Vitamin D3 Supplementation at 5000 IU Daily for the Prevention of Influenza-like Illness in Healthcare Workers: A Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial.

Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of acute respiratory infections in populations at risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of preventing viral infections in healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to assess the hypothesis that vitamin D3 supplementation at 5000 IU daily reduces influenza-like illness (ILI), including COVID-19, in healthcare workers. We conducted a prospective, controlled trial at a tertiary university hospital. A random group of healthcare workers was invited to receive 5000 IU daily vitamin D3 supplementation for nine months, while other random healthcare system workers served as controls. All healthcare workers were required to self-monitor and report to employee health for COVID-19 testing when experiencing symptoms of ILI. COVID-19 test results were retrieved. Incidence rates were compared between the vitamin D and control groups. Workers in the intervention group were included in the analysis if they completed at least 2 months of supplementation to ensure adequate vitamin D levels. The primary analysis compared the incidence rate of all ILI, while secondary analyses examined incidence rates of COVID-19 ILI and non-COVID-19 ILI. Between October 2020 and November 2021, 255 healthcare workers (age 47 ± 12 years, 199 women) completed at least two months of vitamin D3 supplementation. The control group consisted of 2827 workers. Vitamin D3 5000 IU supplementation was associated with a lower risk of ILI (incidence rate difference: -1.7 × 1