FEATURE
visitors from waiting in the center,” Nash says. “Unless we have pediat- ric patients, then the parents need to stay.” All visitors must wear a mask. The pens that the patients use must go in a “used pens” basket and are wiped down with alcohol wipes. When patients register, the receptionist must clean every area that the patient has touched. “It slows things down; that’s the new normal now,” she says. “You have to have patience.”
The ENT patients at Manatee are sent to the local health department for COVID-19 testing three days before their procedure and are sup- posed to self-quarantine after the test, until they go in for their procedure, Nash says. “We do a thorough vetting before procedures. We have several nursing homes in our county that had COVID-19 cases, and we don’t allow
patients from those nursing facilities.” Even after the vetting, when they come for their procedure, the recep- tionist takes the patients’ temperature, she says. Harmony is not testing for COVID.
“We treat everybody like they have COVID,” Craig says. “Our local hos- pitals, are testing patients three days prior to their procedure, but we are concerned with the accuracy of the test results.” The ASC is texting patients three days prior to their procedure, and the day before, to ask if they are showing COVID symptoms, she says. When they arrive for their procedure, a staff member takes each patient’s temper- ature. “If it’s 100 degrees or above they may not have their procedure, we reschedule,” Craig says.
The center asks everyone to bring a mask and provides masks to those who show up without one, she says. The furniture in the waiting room has been taken out and re-arranged to abide by the social distance guidance. Family members may not wait at the center; they can drop their patients off and pick them up.
“Since being back and implement- ing this new visitor policy, our whole attention can be focused entirely on the patient, which our nursing team has really appreciated,” Craig says. “When the patient is ready to go home, we complete discharge instructions with family members in one of our three consult rooms outside our clinical area. This gives us a chance to connect with the family members and concen- trate on post-operative planning one- on-one to educate them. The nurses
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