COVID-19 STAFF UPDATES

We are constantly receiving updated directives from the Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care. To help keep everyone safe, please stay informed.

1. Prior to coming to work, check your phone (for any mass messages) and this page - save it as a bookmark on your device for quick & easy access.

2. When you arrive at work, check the bulletin board, Point Click Care and with the charge nurse for the latest direction.

COVID-19 Guidance for the Health Sector

Protect Yourself & Others with Proper Hand Hygiene & PPE

4 Moments of Hand Hygiene

How to Put On PPE How to Remove PPE

If working in an isolation room, wear a face shield or goggles, gloves and gown.

How to Clean Face Shields & Goggles

While wearing gloves, carefully wipe the inside, followed by the outside of the face shield or goggles using a clean cloth saturated with neutral detergent solution or cleaner wipe.
Carefully wipe the outside of the face shield or goggles using a wipe or clean cloth saturated with EPA-registered hospital disinfectant solution.
Wipe the outside of face shield or goggles with clean water or alcohol to remove residue.
Fully dry (air dry or use clean absorbent towels).
Remove gloves and perform hand hygiene.

Extended use of eye protection = wearing the same eye protection for repeated close contact encounters with several different patients, without removing between patient encounters, which can apply to disposable and reusable devices.

Remove and reprocess when eye protection becomes visibly soiled or difficult to see through.
- If a disposable face shield is reprocessed, it should be dedicated to one HCP and reprocessed whenever it is visibly soiled or removed (e.g., when leaving the isolation area) prior to putting it back on. See protocol for removing and reprocessing eye protection below.
Discard if damaged (e.g., face shield can no longer fasten securely to the provider, if visibility is obscured and reprocessing does not restore visibility).
Do not to touch their eye protection. If you touch/adjust, perform hand hygiene.
If you need to remove eye protection, leave patient care area.

For more information, refer to manufacturer's instructions or refer to CDC recommendations on eye protection.

Wear a surgical mask at all times at work.

Discard the surgical mask when it becomes visibly soiled, it makes contact with a resident/client, very moist, feels damp, or is hard to breathe through.

Additional surgical masks will be available from the charge nurse.

Do not wear under your chin or hang from ear or head.

If you touch your mask, wash/sanitize your hands (20 sec rub).

Remove mask properly when you go on break or use the washroom.

1. Remove gloves and wash hands.

2. Remove the mask, touching only the elastic (not the inside) and place on a paper towel.

3. To put it on again, wash hands, and put it on.

4. Use wipe to clean surfaces you touch.

5. Discard your mask at the end of the shift in the garbage container by the front door when exiting the home. Sanitize your hands afterwards.

While on break, please maintain physical distance (2 m) from others.

Handle your uniform with care & leave work shoes at work.

1. Wear street clothes to work.
2. Once at work, change into clean uniform and duty shoes.
3. When shift is done, change back into street clothes,
4. Bag uniform & leave duty shoes at work.
5. Wash your hands.
6. Wash uniform and shower when you get home.

Important considerations for uniforms

IPAC Recommendations for PPE When Caring for Confirmed/Suspect Resident:

Point of Care Risk Assessment (PCRA) to assesses the task, the resident and environment, completed by the care worker before every resident interaction to determine risk of being exposed to an infection - the first step in routine practices, use with all residents, for all care and for all interactions to determine the correct PPE.
For every patient and/or patient environment encounter, apply the 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene.

Individual	Activity	Type of PPE or Procedure
Healthcare worker	Aerosol-generating medical procedures performed on suspect or confirmed COVID‑19 patients	Airborne, Droplet and Contact Precautions, including:  N95 respirator (fit-tested, sealchecked)  Isolation gown  Gloves  Eye protection (goggles or face shield)  Negative pressure room, if available
Healthcare worker	Providing direct care to suspect or confirmed COVID19 residents, including nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab collection	Droplet and contact precautions, including: Surgical/ procedure mask Isolation gown Gloves Eye protection (goggles or face shield)
Healthcare worker	Providing CPAP and/or open suctioning to suspect or confirmed COVID-19 resident.	Droplet and Contact precautions using a N95 respirator when providing CPAP. Manage in single room with door closed. Keep the number of people in the room during the procedure to a minimum.
Environmental service workers	When entering the room of a resident suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19	Droplet and contact precautions, including: Surgical/ procedure mask Isolation gown Gloves Eye protection (goggles or face shield)
Admin areas	Administrative tasks that do not involve contact with resident suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19	No PPE required.

N95 MASKS are to be worn for any Aerosol Generating Medical Procedures: Tracheal intubation, CPR, open airway suctioning, bronchoscopy, autopsy, sputum induction, non invasive positive pressure ventilation for acute respiratory failure (CPAP, BiPAP, high flow oxygen therapy).

Collection of a a throat swab is not considered an aerosol generating medical procedure, so you can wear a surgical/procedure mask.

(From Public Health Ontario, "IPAC Recommendations for Use of Personal Protective Equipment for Care of Individuals with Suspect or Confirmed COVID-19" - April 6, 2020)