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#52: A Nurses Perspective - COVID-19 Special
63 Plays5 years ago
In this episode of the Accidental Safety Pro, podcast series host Jill James interviews two nurses to get their perspective on the Coronavirus situation. Jill and her guests, Jo and Sue, talk about how to prevent COVID-19, and cover everything from explaining proper handwashing techniques, to talking about the individual social responsibility we all have to practice: social distancing.
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Transcript
Introduction and Special Episode Context
00:00:10
Speaker
This is the Accidental Safety Pro brought to you by Vivid Learning Systems and the Health and Safety Institute. This is a special edition of the podcast recorded on March 17th, 2020.
Meet the Experts: Joe and Sue's Backgrounds
00:00:22
Speaker
My name is Jill James, Vivid's Chief Safety Officer. Today I'm joined by two guests, both of whom have had long and experienced careers in nursing, public health, and as educators. Joe is a registered nurse with a master's in public health.
00:00:37
Speaker
She has been certified in infection control and served as president of Minnesota's Association of Infection Control Prevention. She's organized regional infection control conferences and consultation through her career, as well as serving as adjunct professor at Minnesota State University, St. Cloud in the Department of Nursing Sciences since 2006.
00:00:59
Speaker
Sue, our other guest, is also a registered nurse and nationally certified pediatric nurse practitioner. She too has a master's in public health and a doctorate in educational administration. Sue's past work includes department chair of nursing at the University of South Dakota and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing in Eau Claire.
00:01:21
Speaker
She's the founding director and professor in the Department of Nursing Science at Minnesota State University, St. Cloud, meaning both Joe and Sue have taught public health nursing to college-level nursing students, and combined, they have a lot of years of experience.
Why is Infection Control Critical Today?
00:01:37
Speaker
I've asked both of them here today to bring their unique perspective as nurses on issues of infection control and how what they've been practicing and teaching throughout their careers is critical and relevant today for all of us, whether we're at work or with our families.
00:01:56
Speaker
So if you want to know how you can play a personal role in flattening the curve and spread of COVID-19, our guest today will give us some confidence on how we can all do that together. Welcome to the show, ladies, and thank you for making the time today. Thank you. Thank you.
Understanding Infection Control: Past and Present
00:02:13
Speaker
It's great to be here. So first question, just to set the stage for our audience, what is infection control?
00:02:25
Speaker
infection controls the prevention of infection as well as stopping the spread of infection. The original focus was in healthcare, but as you can see, in the current world we live in, it's throughout the community. And in nursing, we go way back. Florence Nightingale, who is kind of the founding of nursing, that was one of her major
00:02:52
Speaker
activities that she discovered then during the war that if they kept, they kept some of the soldiers that were hurt farther apart and just prevented and did hand washing that they prevented.
00:03:05
Speaker
the soldiers from getting sicker. So this goes way back in nursing. It's one of the bases of nursing care. Certainly, and one of the things Florence Nightingale discovered during the Crimean War when she was in Istanbul was not just that social distancing, but the environment, the importance of hand washing as well as the cleaning of environmental services.
00:03:29
Speaker
So infection control practices, have they really changed that much over time? Or it sounds like maybe things have kind of stayed the same, like what was discovered way back then is still what we're practicing today. I think so, but I think that people maybe, back when they knew people died of diphtheria, when people lived through the polio outbreak,
00:03:54
Speaker
And before we had antibiotics, people realized what a frontline activity good hand hygiene was. I think that focus in our technical world had gotten a little codified, but the hope is right now is people are really beginning to realize that in spite of all the other options that we have,
00:04:22
Speaker
the frontline defense is still good hand washing. Hmm. It sounds too good to be true, right? Yeah, it does. But you know, one of the things I certainly have noticed is, you know, one of the quality measures in hospitals was monitoring people's what they called foaming in foaming
Hand Hygiene: Techniques and Importance
00:04:42
Speaker
out. And it got to the point they began to educate patients.
00:04:47
Speaker
to look for that person when they entered your room foam in? Did they, when they left, did they foam out? And I think we need to extend that into our community. And I think that the unfortunate thing about what's happening right now is that we're returning to those basic principles, not just in healthcare settings, but in the community itself.
00:05:12
Speaker
And when you say foam in and foam out, you're talking about the hand sanitizing foams that we all see in hospital nursing home clinic settings, right? You know, and that was a fast thing to do. And there was a thought for a while there that the alcohol in it gave you sustained protection. But you know, as you're beginning to realize, more and more soap and water is far more effective.
00:05:39
Speaker
and everybody has access to soap. When we're looking at this run of hand sanitizers, I don't hear that there's a run on bar soap, and truthfully, it's far more effective. Wow, interesting. So that should be the first thing that people do is just wash their hands, and you don't have to worry about having the sanitizer. It's great to have it with just your basic soap and water that we have in every home.
00:06:05
Speaker
yeah so can can you both talk about um as long as we're talking about hand washing right now can we talk about like the real how-to practice of that because it sounds like yeah we all know how to wash our hands but do we?
00:06:21
Speaker
You know, it's interesting because I think both Sue and I do notice that. And one of the first things that I'm always struck with is, first of all, take your paper towel and turn on the faucet and wet your hands before you put soap on. And you know, because that's what helps the surfactant of the soap become more effective. It needs that water.
00:06:46
Speaker
to change that surface tension so turn on you know take your paper towel turn on your faucet or if you're lucky enough put your hands under the sink wet your hands put soap on and then remember for those 20 seconds you're rubbing everywhere don't you know don't forget all surfaces of of of of the fingers and the somebody reminded me the thumb as well as it's a good time to keep your fingernails short
00:07:15
Speaker
and the top of your hands and in between your fingers. One of the things I notice the most is that people don't wash it long enough.
00:07:24
Speaker
they should go for 20 seconds. And I think a lot of people run and put their hands under the water and then they pull it out. And 20 seconds is about the amount of time you sing the ABC song or you sing happy birthday twice or whatever song you want to decide to use. But I think people tend to not do it long enough. And that's kind of crucial is to do it for 20 seconds or more.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah, Sue, can you talk about, you know, we've talked about in healthcare settings, but let's take it home for just a moment, you know, when people are coming and going from their homes, and frankly, we should all be not coming and going from our homes much right now. But as you're coming in and going out, talk about what that hand hygiene looks like at home, you know, like you've just walked in your door, then what?
00:08:15
Speaker
Well, in these days now and maybe anytime, I think when you walk in your door, you should go wash your hands. So be sure that you're not anything that you've touched in your car or any mail or anything you're bringing in. Just when you walk in the door, go wash your hands. I think it's also important to wash your hands before you eat, after you're going to the bathroom.
00:08:40
Speaker
If you're playing with pets, we always tell children if they're playing with their pets, they should wash their hands. And especially if you're preparing food before you prepare, and then when you're going from different kinds of preparation to others, you should be washing your hands just to make sure that you're not spreading any viruses or bacteria that are there.
Home Infection Control Strategies
00:09:02
Speaker
Joe you had mentioned paper towels earlier and you know that's that we're thinking about public places and workplaces and the use of paper towels what about at home with towels and family members can you talk about that and you know I think I think it's always I know some families who have separate towels for every family member and
00:09:25
Speaker
And that's your towel. And then it gets laundered and it's your towel again. And the biggest thing is no one wants to pick up a towel that's dripping or obviously soiled. So the importance of making sure laundering your towels
00:09:42
Speaker
laundering your clothes. If you are working and you come back in and you've been out in the community, the importance again of reminding all of us to reduce the bio load. And that means things like bathing, showering, but also laundering. And if you're in healthcare, we really encourage people, don't go out in the community and run your errands.
00:10:07
Speaker
leave that scrub at home or change your clothes before you go and then wash your scrubs when you get home. Think about where you've been and where you're going. When people are laundering their clothes, does it make a difference if the water is hot or cold or drying?
00:10:27
Speaker
You know, some of us still like hot water, but the important thing is that, you know, you're just, you gotta launder according to the fabric. And the important thing is using that detergent to break up that surface tension and to, you know, again, that surface bioload. And that can be reduced with cold water also. So we also, we talk about if somebody's ill in the family, we often encourage
00:10:55
Speaker
wash clothes in the highest temperature, dry clothes in the highest temperature, but the important thing is just reducing the bioload. Hot, cold, any of it works. And if you have someone that's sick in the family, you may well, if they're quite sick, you may want to launder their clothes separately just while they're quite sick, you know, and just anything you can do to prevent spread.
00:11:20
Speaker
Mm hmm. Ladies, you know, backing up to we're, we're talking about infection control practices, we jumped right into hand washing. What else in the nursing profession that have been those gold standards forever would would would you include in infection control that that are things that our listeners in the workplaces and at home can take away?
00:11:44
Speaker
wipe down, wipe down, wipe down. Clean surfaces and clean surfaces that are frequently touched. And at home, that can be your remote control, your refrigerator and faucet handles, your desk, your doorknobs, railings.
00:12:00
Speaker
computer keyboards, light switches, phones, and toys. And to remember, soap and water first because you want to remove that surface soil because the disinfectants can't get at the germs if you've got dirt and impurities.
00:12:16
Speaker
So cleaning doesn't kill the germs, but it lowers them and it lowers the number and it lowers the risk of spreading various types of infection, not just coronavirus. But, you know, the chemical disinfectants kill germs, but you got to get the cleaning step done first.
00:12:35
Speaker
And I think it's really important to do your cell phone. I mean, I've seen studies, a lot of research studies have been, you know, where when you do the study, where do you find the most microbes? And oftentimes it's on the cell phone because people's hands are there and they're touching it and they're touching it multiple times a day. So it'd be a good practice to get in, you know, to start to learn to just clean that cell phone quite often during the day.
00:13:02
Speaker
Yeah. And can we talk about what to clean with because that's not necessarily like, you know, there's lots of different cleaning agents. And so what should people be looking for?
00:13:16
Speaker
You know, the biggest thing, again, remember touch, touch, and you've left soil on it. So, you know, ordinary soap and water reduces a lot of the bioload. And then if you're looking at things that are going to disinfect, remember the EPA standards. And so you want to look for things that have either quaternary ammoniums in them, sodium hypochloride, or hydrogen peroxide. So remember to read labels.
00:13:46
Speaker
And you know, basic bleach is sodium hypochloride. Yep, that's sodium hypochloride. But remember, just use that in the appropriate dilution. Don't use straight bleach. Mix one third cup with a gallon of cold water or four teaspoons with a quart of cold water.
00:14:09
Speaker
And remember, if you're going to use it for disinfecting, it's got to be cold water. Hot water, the sodium hypochloride will become ineffective. And remember that bleach can degrade over time, so don't stockpile it.
00:14:26
Speaker
And to make sure your bleach and water mixture is effective, mix it the day you use it and protect it from sunlight. And only use it to clean surfaces as organic materials and activate bleach. And remember, bleach is a disinfectant. It's not meant for humans. It's not a skin antisepsis. If you're going to use skin antisepsis, remember, they'll use the products that are meant for that, not the disinfectants.
00:14:56
Speaker
Sure. I mean, that goes into some of the crazy things we're hearing right now about people, you know, spraying Lysol on themselves or dipping their hands in the bleach water you're talking about. Sue, talk about, you know, you had mentioned cleaning your phone and obviously we wouldn't do that with, you know, soap and water. So talk about like, what are some of those agents that could be used right now? Well, then any of the ones that Joe mentioned and you could use for those because it's a hard surface. So you can use the hard surface and, um,
00:15:25
Speaker
you know, just the basic Clorox wipes that you have or the Lysol wipes. And again, those are around the EPA approved and it's on the CDC website. So people can go look and see. Yeah, or heart services.
00:15:40
Speaker
Sure, I'll share those. People could use this alcohol, but just remember it's 70% alcohol to disinfect, but to remember that alcohol is flammable, so to use it as a surface disinfectant in small surface areas and make sure and use it in well-ventilated spaces.
00:15:59
Speaker
That's what I've been using to clean my phone and have for years, is rubbing alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, the 71% that you're talking about. I just spray it on a paper towel and I wash my phone with that and let it evaporate.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's how I've been doing mine. Some people began to think the alcohol you drink is a substitute, it's not. You have to look at things that are 70% and over and none of us should be drinking any alcohol that 70% or over. Right, exactly. So that's another myth. I know some of the distributors are basically saying, do not use our alcohol. They're having to go out and tell people not to use it and just understanding the basics, but that's true.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yeah, right, right. And in our show notes today, we'll share links to CDC's lists of recommended cleaners they have right now. And they have two specific links, one for cleaning agents that are EPA approved right now for porous surfaces and also for those surfaces that are non-porous.
00:17:12
Speaker
And so when people look at those links, ladies, could maybe each of you take a turn and describe what's a porous surface and what's a non-porous surface so people understand what that is in case they're not familiar?
00:17:25
Speaker
You know, I always think about things like table tops, hard services as being non-porous. And you're right, things that if you wipe them down, you can feel the liquid on it afterwards, that's non-porous. That means it's going to soak in.
00:17:47
Speaker
You are right, you don't want something that absorbs some of that chemical, so you want to be very careful about your selection, as well as what we had referred to earlier, and that is the website also is great if a family member is sick as to how to handle dishes and laundry, and it gives some good common sense hints for what to do during that time.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah, good. Sue, how about you? Yeah, so basically, the follow up on that, a dishwasher is really good to use and put your dishes in there because that gets hot enough and it sanitizes. And you're actually saving water when you use a dishwasher. So this is a really, I mean, sometimes people might want to watch up a few dishes on their own and you can, but if you have a dishwasher, this would be a great time to just say, especially, you know, like your utensils and your plates and things.
00:18:38
Speaker
to really just go ahead and use your dishwasher now because it does get cleaner and it gets more sanitized. I would say that if you use something to wipe down surfaces like a sponge when you run the dishwasher the sponge goes in also.
00:18:56
Speaker
Yes, because that's another place where, you know, if you're rubbing it and it sits there and sits there, then it could grow the microbes. So that's wet. It's warm. It's a perfect surface to grow. So that's definitely an example of a non-porous surface.
00:19:11
Speaker
The sponge itself. Yeah, got it. So another thing that is happening right now as our healthcare institutions, especially our hospitals and our long-term care facilities, have closed their doors to visitors.
Healthcare Setting Protocols
00:19:32
Speaker
And that causes a little anxiety for people who have family members who may be in a long-term care facility or who may be hospitalized right now. Can you talk about what that means from an infection control perspective and why that's important right now? And it's not intended to make people feel bad.
00:19:57
Speaker
No. And again, we talked about the bioload. We all have a bioload. But the unfortunate thing with the current coronavirus is you can be incubating it for a day or two before you even are feeling badly and you're exposing other people. And so we do know that you increase the mass, you increase the exposure,
00:20:23
Speaker
And to try and flatten the curve, this is an aggressive stance, but a lot of times people think, oh, that little cough, but that little cough could be the death of someone else.
00:20:36
Speaker
So you're really preventing, you know, it's really for the people that are there. We know that this virus is harder on elderly. So the rate, the rates of having problems or having to be more serious go up after 60, go up even more after 70 and significantly more over 80.
00:20:55
Speaker
years old and so what we're trying to do is keep the people that if you're in a hospital you probably have an underlying condition and so you're going to be in more at risk so the prevention of visitors or stopping visitors is really to to really protect those people that are that are already ill. And people who are in long-term care facilities it's age or and often other comorbidities so they're in a very vulnerable state
00:21:24
Speaker
What you're describing are what we've been hearing about at-risk populations, at-risk communities. Sue, you just mentioned age breakdowns. Would you mind reviewing that piece with us and how that goes up with age, considering if they have other health issues as well?
00:21:44
Speaker
Right well basically as we age and when we as we get over 60, our immune system does not work quite as efficiently as it did when we were younger, even if you're well. And so basically we just know that if you're over between 1670.
00:22:00
Speaker
They say that your risk kind of rises 4%. If you're 70 to 80, it's up to 10%. And over 80, about 15% of people that get the virus are really at risk for serious illness. So it's just a matter of the aging process. There's also some factors. How well are you? How well, what kind of self-care are you doing?
00:22:26
Speaker
A lot of people that are older are in quite good health, but still the risk goes up. If you have an underlying condition, which is like if you have heart disease, or if you have a better heavy smoker, or if you have lung disease, or if you have diabetes, or if you have high blood pressure, any of those conditions will make you at higher risk in addition to your age.
00:22:50
Speaker
As well as when you think about people with certain cancers, blood cancers, you know, will put you, you're more vulnerable. And we know that this, the coronavirus more seems to have a
00:23:05
Speaker
significant impact on the lungs. And so anybody who has any kind of asthma, any kind of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, those are the kinds of comorbidities that you hear being discussed as being risk factors in this particular situation.
00:23:23
Speaker
I mean, the good news is that it doesn't seem to affect children very much. When they get the disease, it seems to be mild, but they can transmit it. And 80% of people that get it at any age are going to have a very mild or moderate disease, or it's just like a bad cold. So that's the good news on it, is that 80% of people will have a mild cold.
00:23:52
Speaker
probably and be fine. The bad news is that when you are transmitting it and it can be transmitted to these people that are older or vulnerable, that's why we have to be so careful.
00:24:05
Speaker
And I think that's why what we're really seeing a call to be is community activist, you know, not just for you and or me, but our entire community. And I kind of like somebody just recently described it as if we look at not beyond ourselves,
00:24:24
Speaker
but looking at the three C's of being caring, being a community, and showing compassion. And if we each day take a moment to do something for someone else other than ourselves, that is compassion. And that's the one thing this virus gives us a chance to do, is step forward and shine in all three of these characteristics.
00:24:49
Speaker
I think that's really a good point. And also, buy what you need, but don't buy more than you need. Most people will not need a mask.
00:25:01
Speaker
because those need to be saved for the health professionals and the first responders. And so really, for the most part, you know, people do not need to buy masks or worry about masks. And you don't need, you know, you should buy what you need, but you don't need to overbuy because we want to share and make sure that everybody gets basically their needs met.
00:25:23
Speaker
So it's a time to step back. You don't have to be in the community. You know, you can step back into your home and look in your home how you can reach out and do something for somebody else. Yeah. So let's talk more about that. You know, I love how both of you set this up from the beginning, you know, thinking of Florence Nightingale, you know, and I think we can all kind of picture, you know, we may even have a picture in our minds of who Florence Nightingale was.
00:25:52
Speaker
and how we can be those good stewards. And you're talking specifically about compassion, and that goes hand in hand with the professions that you both chose for your careers. Talk about what compassion looks like right now, particularly when it's like, well, we're not necessarily going over to our friend's house to sit with them. What does compassion look like right now?
00:26:16
Speaker
Compassion could mean leaving food on the doorstep of your neighbor who's working in a nursing home. And you know that they're stressed with staffing. They're trying to calm their residents who can't see their family members. And so they're giving, giving, giving. So you can walk over and slip something on their doorstep to give some gas back into their tank to continue their work.
00:26:43
Speaker
I think another thing is just to call, especially those, you know, some people like private time, some people really love to be with people and they really, it's really harder for them. So making a phone call to people and just say, how are you doing? You know, is there anything you need? Can I run to the store for you? Those kinds of things are really, really helpful.
00:27:06
Speaker
And just checking on people you know that either, as Sue alluded to, need people, or people who are vulnerable in your neighborhood, or people who they don't have to be in your neighborhood, but people that you know deserve a little check-in.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, let's talk a bit more about social distancing. And so you just mentioned running out to grab something for someone. Obviously, we're doing that in very, as limited as possible, the running out and grabbing something. But if we have to go somewhere for something critical, talk about what that social distancing should feel. I try to look at stores in their quiet times if I absolutely have to go.
00:27:50
Speaker
and really try to be mindful about go in for what you need no longer is it a time to kind of shop and you know for the routine shopping is it something I need to do or can it wait and I choose to wait.
00:28:10
Speaker
And again, washing your hands before you go, washing your hand when you come back. I have hand sanitizer in my car because I don't have running water there. And so I use that, you know, when I don't have running water to just kind of frequently before you go in somewhere and out.
00:28:27
Speaker
But limiting where you go, I know some of the grocery stores have started saying in the first part of the day now, it's going to be limited to seniors and they've washed and I think stores are being careful to clean much more, you know, significantly than they were. And so just, and then not going at busy times is an important part too. Some stores will deliver.
00:28:50
Speaker
And that's nice too. If you're really high risk, call a friend and say, could you pick this up for me? Or call your grocery and say, can you deliver? Because I think that's starting to happen more and more.
00:29:05
Speaker
Yeah, it can be a frightening time right now as we're all thinking and hearing about things happening around the world. And we're talking about what we all can do as individuals because it really will take all of us to flatten this curve. But those stressors take a toll on people. So I'm wondering,
00:29:31
Speaker
From a nurse's perspective, Sue, I know that you've got some thoughts on this. When kids have questions right now, specifically as they're listening and hearing the adults in their lives acting and reacting, how should we be with our children right now?
Family, Children, and Mental Health During COVID-19
00:29:49
Speaker
I think the first most important thing is to be a good role model because children always learn by what they see, probably more than by what you tell them.
00:29:59
Speaker
So if you are role modeling, washing your hands and wiping things down and just, you know, doing relaxing things and trying to take care of your own personal health, I think that's number one. I think number two is for the younger child, just answer their questions briefly. Sometimes people go on and on and on with a lot of data and children
00:30:22
Speaker
don't at a younger age just miss just need a brief answer like if you know if they and you could even say do you have any questions because they're hearing things on the TV and from people and then answer it briefly like it's like a cold and and answer don't go overboard on answering to young children with more information than they need and then reassure them like we're working to keep you safe you know we're doing these things to be safe
00:30:50
Speaker
and just reassure them that the adults in their life will be taking care of them. And then also teach them so they can be in control too. It's like that's why we wash our hands and let's do it and make it fun, you know, do a new song or do it together and teach them the correct way. Then there's something they can do and it gives them a little more control.
00:31:12
Speaker
When they get a little older, then you can start to say, you know, especially, you know, this is the virus. This is scientifically what's happening. This is what we're doing. What questions do you have? What, you know, because they may be hearing things from friends or they may be hearing things on social media that aren't accurate. So you can give them information that's accurate so they're not worried about things that are unnecessary.
00:31:38
Speaker
kids are black and white too, and this is a very fluid situation. And so to model that, this is what I know now, and it could change. Yeah. And the other things you can teach them is the basic things. Like I said, hand washing, coughing into your sleeve or into, you know,
00:31:58
Speaker
doing an elbow bump, you can teach them things that they should be doing too so that they've got the basics and that gives them something that they can feel good about. Yeah. What about mental health considerations for adults right now from a nurse's point of view?
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think wanted from from mental health perspective. I think 1 of the 1 of the things you should do is really think about practicing self care and interestingly enough exercise and just getting out of the house and moving. And that's 1 of the things you can walk in the park. You can go for a walk.
00:32:37
Speaker
It's interesting how so many studies have shown that just basic walking can increase your endorphins and make you feel better and it's better for your mind, body and spirit. So that's a basic something that most everyone can do.
00:32:52
Speaker
eating healthy, you know, we say it all the time, but if this is a really good time to having your fruits and vegetables and making sure that you're not overdoing it, you know, like the sweets and the donuts and those kinds of things, you know, and then basic things like for some people, it's prayer, that prayer is is is helpful in or meditation or yoga or whatever spiritual
00:33:17
Speaker
you know, activity you believe in can be really helpful now. And just taking care of all your physical, we're talking a lot about physical, but there's also the mind body spirit that we need to think about. I think using some other things, you know, we need to listen to media and we need to hear what's going on and we need to stay up to date.
00:33:43
Speaker
But sometimes I think we need to pull away and just take a break and turn that off, put on some quiet music or something relaxing, and then go back and listen again so we get the information we need, but not just bombard ourselves with
00:33:57
Speaker
You know, because it's hard to hear about all the cases and all of this and sometimes it gets kind of overwhelming. That's kind of true for kids too. You know, I think it's good to limit, you know, you want them, you know, to watch some of their favorite programs and everything. But after a while, maybe just turn off that TV for a while or the radio for a while and have some quiet time or have something that isn't, you know, so intrusive.
00:34:22
Speaker
Yeah, right. I know I've been doing that myself too. As an adult, it's like, how can I break away and doing many of the things that you're suggesting as well to try to give your mind a chance to have a rest and breathe back into ourselves. And calling a friend. We thrive at our friendships and
00:34:47
Speaker
I've kind of thought, well, I'm going to, one thing I'm going to do is just call a different friend every day. Just stay connected. Just, you know, just, or a family member or someone, just to stay, you know, because we need that personal connection too. And then we can find out how is somebody doing? And if we know they're doing okay, then we feel better too.
00:35:07
Speaker
Mm hmm. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for our listeners who who are wondering, well, what happened to Joe's voice now? Joe had to had to duck out of our recording at this point. All of your voices are so well needed right now. And so I just want to thank Joe for her time on the podcast today. And so I'm wondering.
00:35:32
Speaker
You were saying giving ourselves a break from some of the media, and you were also mentioning reliable sourcing. Can you talk about maybe some of the myths that people have been... If you want to do some myth busting, now would be a nice time, maybe if you want to mention some of those things.
Addressing Myths and Community Efforts
00:35:56
Speaker
Well, I think one of the really sad myths that was out there is that people of different ethnic groups like this disease, we first recognized it coming out of Wuhan, China. And I think people were starting to say, oh, they saw someone that looked Chinese or looked Asian, that they were afraid of them and wanted to stay away from them. So first of all, this disease is not limited to any ethnic group.
00:36:22
Speaker
or any age group. So I think a myth is that we need to be supportive of each other, all ethnic backgrounds, and we also need to not, you know, be careful with, you know, like some of the things we've talked about, but it's a myth that it just would be coming from one race or one ethnic group, too. Yeah, I think that's one of the things to think about.
00:36:47
Speaker
I think it's a myth like some of the things we talked about that that you can, you know, that if you use alcohol and there's, there are some, there are some things on the Internet.
00:36:58
Speaker
you know, this is a vaccine, this will fix you. If you use this, this will be fine. There isn't, there isn't any cure, there isn't any known treatment, there isn't any vaccine yet, although people are working on it. So if something sounds too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true. And you should just, you know, go back to those basics that we talked about. So I think that's another concern.
00:37:24
Speaker
And, you know, home remedies as well. Like if you do this, you won't get it, right? Right. And there's some of that too. Right. There's some of those home remedies, but go back to the, like we said, so those websites you've talked about, the CDC and the World Health Organization, because there are some home remedies that you can mix up and can be good, but follow the guidelines and have it be from a known source that you trust.
00:37:49
Speaker
I think we're fortunate that we've got a lot of people working on this. There's a lot of experts and epidemiologists.
00:37:58
Speaker
and people really working hard to give us the data. I think one of the things that's hard about this virus is it's new. It's called a novel virus because it's new. So we don't have a lot of long-term researcher data to tell us exactly. So we're getting kind of changes in real time. We're learning new things all the time, but the basics are standing true. The basic hand washing and keeping things disinfected and limiting contact with people.
00:38:28
Speaker
those are standing too. Doing the things that Florence Nightingale discovered so long ago. And like we talked about, sometimes it's so simple, it doesn't seem like that's all you can do, but some of these simple remedies are just very useful and very powerful and something everyone can do. So everyone can play a role and everyone can play a part in keeping, kind of keeping this virus at bay, you know, keeping it from taking and taking over.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah. And none of the things that you've shared today are things that are out of reach for any of us, whether we're at work or whether we're at home or whether we're a child. Exactly. Yeah. Everyone can play a role. And I think everyone needs to play a role. Like Joe mentioned, this is a time to show compassion
00:39:19
Speaker
to each other and for each other. And some of the things we're doing are helping ourselves, but they may be helping the most vulnerable in our community even more than ourselves. And that's what we need to be thinking about.
00:39:33
Speaker
Mm hmm. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Sue, are there any other things that you'd like to share with our audience today from a nurse's perspective that may be helpful, things people can do or reassurances?
00:39:52
Speaker
Well, again, like I said, I think we're well positioned in this country to have the resources we need to combat this virus, but it is going to take everyone. And going back to nurses, I think we had mentioned that we want some of the protections that we're doing, like not overbuying masks, so that these things can be there for our nurses and our first responders. And you just join that compassion and checking in with people and listening to the experts.
00:40:22
Speaker
listening to the experts and following their guidance and not second-guessing or saying, I don't want to do that. It doesn't affect you because this affects everyone. It's not just about one person. This does affect everyone.
00:40:40
Speaker
Yeah, the whole human family. The whole human family. That's right. Sue, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today. Yeah, it was very, very much enjoyed it. Thank you. Yeah. And thank you all for spending your time listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution, making sure your workers, including your temporary workers and your family members, make it home safe every day.
00:41:05
Speaker
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00:41:31
Speaker
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