5 Ways to Protect Your Employees During Flu Season

Published on : 1/17/20
  • The dreaded flu season is upon us — is your hospital ready? 

    Employees who work in healthcare are at a higher risk of exposure to the flu. Team members who provide clinical care and those who do not, such as housekeepers or cafeteria employees, all need to take precautions against the flu. 

    The flu is an unpredictable illness. Flu season can be as early as October and continue all the way to May, but the flu virus can be detected year-round. That means your hospital needs to be extra cautious 365 days a year. 

    Your hospital’s policies and procedures are a critical way to protect your employees against the flu. 

    The threat of a pandemic in the US is always a concern, regardless of the severity of the flu.  

    For example, the 2009 flu pandemic was considered mild. However, it still highlighted a lack of preparedness in workplace settings regarding: 

    • Medical equipment, including what equipment to keep on hand and how much
    • Control measures to keep the virus from spreading
    • Other potential factors, such as school and daycare closings 

    Policies and procedures should never be reactive. In order to keep your team members, patients, and visitors healthy and safe, it’s essential to have a detailed and clear set of expectations among everyone working in your hospital. 

    Here are 5 ways to protect your employees, patients, and visitors during the flu season and year-round. 

    1. Encourage the influenza vaccination. 

    The healthcare community is in agreement on the single best way to prevent the flu: the flu vaccination. Yet, not all healthcare workers get their flu shot. 

    The flu shot within the healthcare community

    The Flu Shot Within the Healthcare Community 

    Only 78.4% of healthcare personnel got their flu shot in 2018.  

    Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

    All employees in your hospital should be encouraged to get the flu vaccination. However, some healthcare workers are more likely to get theirs than others. Over 96% of physicians get their flu shot — while only 71% of assistants and aides, and 72.8% of nonclinical healthcare personnel, do. 

    Healthcare workers in hospitals have the most impressive flu shot stat with almost 92% of them getting a flu vaccine. In comparison, only 67% of healthcare professionals in long-term care settings get their flu vaccine. Still, 8% of your employees may be unvaccinated and are more likely to spread the flu. 

    Other ways to encourage your team members to get their flu vaccination include: 

    • Offering the vaccination on-site 
    • Providing the vaccination at no cost 
    • Promoting vaccination through emails, bulletins, and leadership communication 

    2. Remind employees about hand hygiene and cough etiquette. 

    You’re in the life-saving business — and handwashing is a life-saving protocol. Handwashing reduces respiratory illnesses, like influenza, by over 20%. It’s simple but effective, and it should be an expectation that all of your team members are washing their hands at the appropriate times. 

    However, healthcare providers clean their hands less than half of the time they should. 

    Team members should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds: 

    • Before and after patient contact 
    • After using personal protective equipment 
    • After touching contaminated surfaces 
    • After blowing their nose, sneezing, or coughing 
    • After using the toilet 
    • After eating 
    • After handling waste 

    Every team member should use proper cough etiquette, as well. They should cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue or, if a tissue is unavailable, sneeze into their upper sleeve. Tissues should be disposed of in a “no-touch” wastebasket. 

    Encourage your patients and visitors to follow the same protocol. Physicians can talk to their patients about the importance of hand-washing and cough etiquette, and you may want to post bulletins around the hospital. 

    Hand sanitizers are not as effective as hand-washing, but they’re an acceptable alternative, if soap and water are unavailable. By placing hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol around your hospital, you can help everyone in your hospital reduce the number of germs on their hands. 

    Remember to stay stocked up on important supplies, such as soap, tissues, and hand sanitizer. Keeping these supplies readily available means everyone will be more likely to use them. 

    3. Encourage team members to stay home if they are ill. 

    Your team members love their jobs — but if they’re sick, it’s critical that they stay home. Unfortunately, team members often feel pressured to come to work, even though it’s unsafe.  

    How often are employees going to the office sick?

    How Often Are Employees Going to the Office Sick? 

    62% of Americans  

    85% of US nurses  

    63% of US physicians  

    Sources: Forbes; RN Network; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

     

    The flu spreads easily, and the most effective way to avoid getting others sick is to stay home.

    A person with the flu can infect others 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 7 days after becoming sick. They can also spread germs up to 6 feet away. Everyone from physicians to employees in housekeeping services can easily spread their illness to other team members, patients, and visitors. 

    The CDC recommends that employees who have a fever of 100°F or other respiratory symptoms, such as a runny nose, headaches, and tiredness, should stay home until at least 24 hours after their fever ends without using medication. 

    If your team members come into work when they are ill, not only will they put others at risk, they’ll also take longer to recover from their illness. Your sick leave policy should be non-punitive, flexible, and consistent — and all team members should understand the importance of it. 

    4. Require the use of protective equipment. 

    Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a staple in the healthcare industry, and all of your team members should make sure to use it properly. 

    Team members should use the following personal protective equipment: 

    • Surgical masks
    • Respirators during aerosol-generating procedures
    • Gloves, gowns, and eye protection 

    Using PPE is one thing — using it properly is an entirely different, but important, concept. 

    A study in 2016 revealed that in 325 hospital rooms, 280 failures were made when using personal protective equipment. That’s 280 times when germs may have been transmitted between patients and employees. 

    Healthcare workers have plenty to think about when it comes to caring for patients, but the importance of wearing protective equipment properly should never be ignored. Make sure protective equipment is put on and taken off in the correct order. You may want to hang posters that display this information for your team members to reference when they need to. 

    These supplies can save the lives of your team members and patients — and you should be sure to keep a full supply on hand. It’s better to overstock than understock when it comes to protecting everyone in your hospital. 

    5. Keep a clean space. 

    A clean hospital is a safe hospital — and it’s up to your team members to ensure that’s the case. 

    Germs can live for hours on surfaces, and if a team member or patient touches a surface while they are infected with the influenza virus, other people are put at risk. 

    One study showed just how quickly germs can spread from surface to employee. After applying samples of a virus to surfaces such as doorknobs and desks, 40% to 60% of employees had picked up the germ within just 4 hours. 

    Frequently touched common surfaces, such as doorknobs, phones, computer equipment, and desks should be thoroughly cleaned regularly. You may also want to keep disinfectant wipes nearby to make it easy to clean quickly throughout the day. 

    When possible, team members should have their own equipment, such as phones, computers, and writing utensils to avoid spreading germs. 

    Practice Precautions and Stay Safe 

    Protocols in hospitals are put into place for one reason — to keep everyone safe and healthy. The flu season can be managed more effectively when measures are taken to stop the spread of germs. 

    Team members should be trained frequently to ensure they understand their exposure risk as well as your hospital’s policies and procedures. 

    Supplies and training are critical first steps — and your team member’s consistent adherence to hospital protocol is a necessity.

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