Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 daily screening programme for healthcare workers at a district hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, a quality improvement initiativ

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 daily screening programme for healthcare workers at a district hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, a quality improvement initiativ
 
Creator Booth, Amy Omed, Ridwaan A. Naidoo, Mergan
 
Subject — SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; healthcare workers; self-screening; occupational health; public health
Description The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused an unprecedented burden on our healthcare systems and workers. Healthcare workers are at risk of contracting and spreading SARS-CoV-2 given their proximity to positive cases, often with a lack of personal protective equipment. The South African Department of Health requires that all employees be screened daily for symptoms and potential persons under investigation identified timeously. This report aims to assesses the efficacy of daily self-screening tools in detecting and managing potential staff cases of SARS-CoV-2. Our hospital, situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, developed a daily self-screening tool for all healthcare workers to complete, consisting of questions on symptoms and epidemiological risk factors. The screening tools were collected and assessed after four weeks of use. Fifty-four forms were assessed. Twenty-eight (51.9%) forms were not completed, whilst 12 (22.2%) indicated positive symptoms with no documentation that any further medical assessment, testing or isolation was done. We identified that the poor completion of forms was likely because of the lack of education of staff on the importance of the forms, poor oversight by management, staff forgetfulness or lack of awareness of the forms. Screening of staff is vital during this pandemic but requires constant oversight by line managers, staff motivation and adequate education. Ongoing development of efficient screening programmes is required.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2020-09-01
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2525
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 12, No 1 (2020); 4 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2525/4169 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2525/4168 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2525/4170 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2525/4167
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Amy Booth, Ridwaan A. Omed, Mergan Naidoo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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