The role of dedicated biocontainment patient care units in preparing for COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks

Flinn, Jade; Hynes, Noreen A.; Sauer, Lauren; Maragakis, Lisa L.; Garibaldi, Brian T.

doi:10.1017/ice.2020.451

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…All interior floors, exterior walls, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems were designed using BIM ( L. Chen et al, 2021 ). Best practices in biocontainment unit facility planning and design have been developed ( Flinn et al, 2020 ; Lenaghan & Schwedhelm, 2015 ). These facilities are reliant on preexisting technological infrastructure, that is, site utilities, access to transport routes to maintain supply chain continuity, telecommunications support, and availability of installation sites ranging from community centers to sports stadiums and to open fields ( Fang et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Portable Field Hospitals and Disaster Mitigation Including Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive Care Unit Built Environments: A Comprehensive Literature Review (2005–2020)

Verderber

Gray

Suresh-Kumar

et al. 2021

HERD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The intensive care environment in hospitals has been the subject of significant empirical and qualitative research in the 2005–2020 period. Particular attention has been devoted to the role of infection control, family engagement, staff performance, and the built environment ramifications of the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. A comprehensive review of this literature is reported summarizing recent advancements in this rapidly expanding body of knowledge. Purpose and Aim: This comprehensive review conceptually structures the recent medical intensive care literature to provide conceptual clarity and identify current priorities and future evidence-based research and design priorities. Method and Result: Each source reviewed was classified as one of the five types—opinion pieces/essays, cross-sectional empirical investigations, nonrandomized comparative investigations, randomized studies, and policy review essays—and into nine content categories: nature engagement and outdoor views; family accommodations; intensive care unit (ICU), neonatal ICU, and pediatric ICU spatial configuration and amenity; noise considerations; artificial and natural lighting; patient safety and infection control; portable critical care field hospitals and disaster mitigation facilities including COVID-19; ecological sustainability; and recent planning and design trends and prognostications. Conclusions: Among the findings embodied in the 135 literature sources reviewed, single-bed ICU rooms have increasingly become the norm; family engagement in the ICU experience has increased; acknowledgment of the therapeutic role of staff amenities; exposure to nature, view, and natural daylight has increased; the importance of ecological sustainability; and pandemic concerns have increased significantly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Discussion of the results of this comprehensive review includes topics noticeably overlooked or underinvestigated in the 2005–2020 period and priorities for future research.

show abstract

Section: Portable Field Hospitals and Disaster Mitigation Including Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive Care Unit Built Environments: A Comprehensive Literature Review (2005–2020)

Verderber

Gray

Suresh-Kumar

et al. 2021

HERD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The leadership decision to activate the BCU team in response to the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated the delivery of safe and effective care. As in other hospital BCUs in the United States, the preparedness of highly trained staff was instrumental in developing the resources, educational training, and support necessary for hospital staff during this pandemic 6. Nurses who worked as site managers on the BCU team engaged with staff members using a variety of modalities, including instructional videos, hospital town hall question-and-answer sessions, and just-in-time teaching on shifting PPE guidelines, which contributed to the many resources and protocols used throughout the pandemic.…”

Section: Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in other hospital BCUs in the United States, the preparedness of highly trained staff was instrumental in developing the resources, educational training, and support necessary for hospital staff during this pandemic. 6 Nurses who worked as site managers on the BCU team engaged with staff members using a variety of modalities, including instructional videos, hospital town hall question-and-answer sessions, and just-in-time teaching on shifting PPE guidelines, which contributed to the many resources and protocols used throughout the pandemic. BCU site managers successfully called upon the skills they had honed through repeated training and simulation to anticipate the need for additional educational resources, and they developed many of these resources based on their past experiences as well as real-time encounters with patients who had COVID-19.…”

Section: Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Deployment of Pediatric Biocontainment Unit Nurses in Response to COVID-19

Kinlay

Whiting

Audain

et al. 2021

AJN, American Journal of Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Most existing biocontainment units (BCUs) in U.S. hospitals are designed to care for a limited number of patients infected with epidemiologically significant pathogens. The COVID-19 pandemic presented substantial challenges to hospital preparedness and operations because of its high incidence rate and the high risk of transmission to staff members. This article describes a novel practice innovation: a hospital-wide deployment of nurses on a trained BCU team to support hospital staff in safely caring for patients with COVID-19. Their responsibilities included assisting in the development of guidelines and providing training on safety protocols and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment. The authors show how this deployment contributed significantly to staff education and support during the pandemic.

show abstract

“…Although COVID-19 is not considered a disease warranting highlevel isolation care, its emergence as an unknown, novel disease positioned ETCs as the cornerstone of hospital and local preparedness. [7][8][9][10] Our primary aim was to follow-up on our previous assessments of designated ETCs to determine ongoing sustainability, including how HPP funding expiration has affected the ability of hospitals to maintain ETC capabilities and, for units that no longer maintain those capabilities, reasons for decommissioning. We also sought to identify how the high-level isolation capabilities that ETCs invested in affected hospital, local, and regional COVID-19 readiness and response.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The utility and sustainability of US Ebola treatment centers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Herstein

Biddinger

Gibbs

et al. 2022

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: In response to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated 56 US hospitals as Ebola treatment centers (ETCs) with high-level isolation capabilities. We aimed to determine ongoing sustainability of ETCs and identify how ETC capabilities have impacted hospital, local, and regional COVID-19 readiness and response. Design: An electronic survey included both qualitative and quantitative questions and was structured into two sections: operational sustainability and role in the COVID-19 response. Setting and Participants: The survey was distributed to site representatives from the 56 originally designated ETCs; 37 (66%) responded. Methods: Data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of the 37 responding ETCs, 33 (89%) reported they were still operating while 4 had decommissioned. ETCs that maintain high-level isolation capabilities incurred a mean of $234,367 in expenses per year. All but one ETC reported that existing capabilities (e.g., trained staff, infrastructure) before COVID-19 positively affected their hospital, local, and regional COVID-19 readiness and response (e.g., ETCs trained staff, donated supplies, and shared developed protocols). Conclusions: Existing high-level isolation capabilities and expertise developed following the 2014-2016 EVD epidemic were leveraged by ETCs to assist hospital-wide readiness for COVID-19 and support response for other local and regional hospitals However, ETCs face continued challenges in sustaining those capabilities for high-consequence infectious diseases.

show abstract

The role of dedicated biocontainment patient care units in preparing for COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks

Cited by 14 publications

References 19 publications

Intensive Care Unit Built Environments: A Comprehensive Literature Review (2005–2020)

Intensive Care Unit Built Environments: A Comprehensive Literature Review (2005–2020)

Novel Deployment of Pediatric Biocontainment Unit Nurses in Response to COVID-19

The utility and sustainability of US Ebola treatment centers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About