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As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves and hurricane season approaches, nurses need to prepare for the next healthcare crisis. The best time to prepare is now, while the events are fresh on their minds. Resources are available to provide education for staff, patients, and families to help decrease legal liability and anxiety.
In the second half of the 19th century, Florence Nightingale was one of the first to document the impact of the environment on the body's balance. Nightingale suggested nursing "ought to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet - all the least expense of vital power to the patient" (Gonzalo, 2019, section 9). The world of nursing has changed dramatically since Florence Nightingale monitored her patients with a lamp. However, two things remain true: nurses compose the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, and the most common setting is at the bedside (Black, 2020). As nurses face the challenges of the pandemic, it's easy to wonder how the first nursing theorist would tackle the overwhelming tasks triggered by COVID-19. Florence Nightingale likely would say the problems faced by patients may not be related directly to their ailment, but the environment in which they live (Sher & Akhtar, 2018). As simplistic as that sounds, a public health crisis requires constant attention and prompt action for the health and safety of patients and healthcare organizations. Using the concepts of Environment Theory and resources available from the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) and the American Nurses Association (ANA), nurses can help provide education for staff, patients, and families to decrease legal liability and anxiety.
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COVID-19 has claimed over 100,000 lives and has shattered decades-old assumptions about how Americans perceive medicine, healthcare providers, and hospitals (Facher, 2020). Hospital leaders reported their most significant challenges centered on testing and caring for patients with known or suspected COVID-19 while keeping staff safe. They also faced substantial challenges in maintaining or expanding their facilities' capacity to treat patients with COVID-19. Leaders described specific challenges, mitigation strategies, and needs for assistance related to personal protective equipment (PPE), testing, staffing, supplies and durable equipment, maintaining or expanding facility capacity, and financial concerns (Grimm, 2020).
Healthcare facilities and healthcare providers...