Global Change
A pandemic is an example of global change that can greatly impact a local healthcare organization in multiple ways. According to Flu.gov, a pandemic is a global outbreak of a disease, and is based on how the disease is spread, rather than how many people die from it (Flu.gov, 2014). This paper will outline one of the most recent pandemic outbreaks, some of the ways they can affect a hospital, and how the hospital leadership and management might react in this scenario.
Over the years, there have been a few pandemic outbreaks. The most recent example of an outbreak occurred in 2009, called the H1N1 virus. This virus was also referred to as the swine flu, due to the similarities it had with another illness also found in pigs …show more content…
Once the alert has been received, hospitals can deploy their emergency plan. Several key hospital departments will be involved in implementing the disaster plan. Here’s an example of how those individual departments may be involved, based on a the Healthcare Epidemiology article published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases Journal: (1) the hospital epidemiologist and infection control department would keep in contact with and provide status updates to the leadership team, emergency networks, and other hospital departments, investigate and notify health department of confirmed cases, implement isolation and cohort units, and develop recommendations for prevention and treatment; (2) the medicine and pediatric staff would triage the level four and five cases, set up respiratory isolation units, and provide overflow staff; (3) psychiatry staff would provide services to affected psychiatric patients, monitor the stress levels of the health care teams, establish rest areas for staff, coordinate community crisis efforts, provide emotional support to staff, assist with triage efforts to identify patients needing psychiatric care; (4) hospital security staff would be used to control access to the facility, and redirect visitors and staff to screening stations, close and secure all areas not designated as screening areas; (5) Social workers would coordinate family information center, assist the psychiatric staff in establishing rest areas for staff; facilitate discharge planning, and provide patients and families with disaster counseling; (6) the emergency medical team would evacuate any non-urgent, uninfected patients, and prioritize care to patients based on their acuity levels; (7) the occupational health services staff would coordinate screenings of employees and volunteers, supervise development of database for
A pandemic is an example of global change that can greatly impact a local healthcare organization in multiple ways. According to Flu.gov, a pandemic is a global outbreak of a disease, and is based on how the disease is spread, rather than how many people die from it (Flu.gov, 2014). This paper will outline one of the most recent pandemic outbreaks, some of the ways they can affect a hospital, and how the hospital leadership and management might react in this scenario.
Over the years, there have been a few pandemic outbreaks. The most recent example of an outbreak occurred in 2009, called the H1N1 virus. This virus was also referred to as the swine flu, due to the similarities it had with another illness also found in pigs …show more content…
Once the alert has been received, hospitals can deploy their emergency plan. Several key hospital departments will be involved in implementing the disaster plan. Here’s an example of how those individual departments may be involved, based on a the Healthcare Epidemiology article published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases Journal: (1) the hospital epidemiologist and infection control department would keep in contact with and provide status updates to the leadership team, emergency networks, and other hospital departments, investigate and notify health department of confirmed cases, implement isolation and cohort units, and develop recommendations for prevention and treatment; (2) the medicine and pediatric staff would triage the level four and five cases, set up respiratory isolation units, and provide overflow staff; (3) psychiatry staff would provide services to affected psychiatric patients, monitor the stress levels of the health care teams, establish rest areas for staff, coordinate community crisis efforts, provide emotional support to staff, assist with triage efforts to identify patients needing psychiatric care; (4) hospital security staff would be used to control access to the facility, and redirect visitors and staff to screening stations, close and secure all areas not designated as screening areas; (5) Social workers would coordinate family information center, assist the psychiatric staff in establishing rest areas for staff; facilitate discharge planning, and provide patients and families with disaster counseling; (6) the emergency medical team would evacuate any non-urgent, uninfected patients, and prioritize care to patients based on their acuity levels; (7) the occupational health services staff would coordinate screenings of employees and volunteers, supervise development of database for