‘Code‐95’ rapid response calls for patients under airborne precautions in the COVID‐19‐era: a cross‐sectional survey of healthcare worker perceptions

Abstract

BackgroundTo allow better allocation of staff and resources, rapid response teams attending to acutely deteriorating or aggressive patients with suspected or confirmed COVID‐19 infection were pre‐warned with the announcement of 'Code‐95' with calls.AimTo assess healthcare worker (HCW) perspectives on pre‐warning rapid response calls (RRC) with ‘Code‐95’ in announcements when attending to deteriorating or aggressive patients with suspected/confirmed COVID‐19 infection.MethodsDesign: prospective cross‐sectional single‐centre survey of HCW over a 3‐week period. Setting: tertiary public hospital. Participants: HCW caring for deteriorating or aggressive patients. Main outcome measures: the primary outcome was to assess HCW perspectives in attending Code‐95 calls. Secondary outcomes were to identify any differences related to craft group, age, experience or presence of comorbidities.ResultsA total of 297 responses was analysed; 86.7% of HCW (n = 257) attending Code‐95 calls reported anxiety. Medical staff reported greater anxiety in comparison to nursing staff (93.8% vs 78.5%; P = 0.002). Efferent team reported higher anxiety in contrast to afferent team (92.6% vs 58.8%; P = 0.021). There was no significant difference in perceived anxiety based on age (≤40 vs >40 years of age), years of experience (≤5 vs >5 years), comorbidities or mental illness; 54% reported concerns about adequacy of infection‐control policies and personal protective equipment; 45% were worried about inadequate training for responding to Code‐95 calls.ConclusionsMost surveyed HCW supported Code‐95 announcements pre‐warning them of potential COVID‐19 exposure when attending a RRC. However, the majority of HCW reported anxiety when attending these calls. Medical and efferent team HCW perceived greater anxiety compared to nursing and afferent team HCW. The Code‐95 system to pre‐warn rapid response teams may be a useful addition to protecting HCW from infectious diseases, although broader implementation will require greater resourcing, training and support.

Risk perception and emotional wellbeing in healthcare workers involved in rapid response calls during the COVID-19 pandemic: A substudy of a cross-sectional survey

“…Further to what was reported in the previous paper 5 that 87% of respondents (n=257) attending Code-95 calls reported moderate to high levels of emotional stress and anxiety, 25% (101/402) of all open feedback comments were related to anxiety. Comments such as this “ I am afraid of the unknown, fear of being an asymptomatic carrier and sharing the virus.…”

“…Over a 3-week period, 334 respondents completed the survey, with an overall response rate of about 10% who were directly or indirectly involved in Code-95 calls. 5 We included responses from 297 HCWs for the final analysis, as in the previous study. 5 More than half (54%) of all respondents were older than 40 years of age and 65% (n=193) were female.…”

“… 5 We included responses from 297 HCWs for the final analysis, as in the previous study. 5 More than half (54%) of all respondents were older than 40 years of age and 65% (n=193) were female. Most respondents denied having either mental illness or chronic conditions associated with risks for severe COVID-19 infection.…”

“…A prospective cross-sectional single-centre survey of all HCWs was undertaken to understand the perspectives of HCWs on pre-warning Code-95 RRCs for patients suspected or confirmed with COVID 19 infection. This was a secondary analysis and the data pertinent to personal impact including respondent feedback that was not included in the initial publication 5 is presented in this study.…”

“…We have recently published results of a detailed survey that explored the healthcare workers’ (HCWs) perspectives on “Code-95” being added to announcements of rapid response calls (RRC) and aggression management teams across a tertiary public hospital 5 . The Code-95 add-on aimed to help pre-warn attending teams about the potential positive COVID status of the patient.…”