Longitudinal Quantitative Analysis of Radiation Oncology Staff Illness in a New York City Center during COVID-19: The Impact of New Guidelines on Operations and Employee Health

PURPOSE: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) forced radiation oncology clinics to overhaul operational policies, but the effect on employee safety has not, to our knowledge, been reported. The New York Proton Center (NYPC), a large freestanding clinic in New York City, New York, presents a 1-month expe...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hasan, Shaakir, Press, Robert H., Chhabra, Arpit, Choi, J. Isabelle, Simone, Charles B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Particle Therapy Co-operative Group 2020
Materias:
Original Articles
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7574831/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33094132
http://dx.doi.org/10.14338/IJPT-20-00032.1
Descripción
Sumario:PURPOSE: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) forced radiation oncology clinics to overhaul operational policies, but the effect on employee safety has not, to our knowledge, been reported. The New York Proton Center (NYPC), a large freestanding clinic in New York City, New York, presents a 1-month experience of employee-reported health outcomes after the infiltration of COVID-19 and enforcement of policies designed to mitigate its impact. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In March 2020, new operational policies were implemented, including rigorous and frequent sanitation, visitor and treatment restrictions, distribution of personal protective equipment, work-from-home orders, and isolated nursing and radiation therapy teams. Employees of NYPC were prospectively monitored for exposure and symptoms of COVID-19. Work hours lost because of illness or quarantines were quantified from March 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020. RESULTS: Among 95 total employees, 23 (24%) were quarantined because of symptoms (n = 15; 65%), high-risk exposure (n = 5; 22%), or self-quarantined with personal concern (n = 3; 13%). Of 44 full-time, on-site employees, 39% (n = 17, including 6 therapists and 5 nurses) missed significant work time, including 6 (14%) with confirmed COVID-19. At full capacity, NYPC would have used 7260 work hours during March 2020 from the full-time, on-site staff, which was reduced by 18.8% overall (25.2% of nursing and 13.3% of therapy work hours), all in the latter half of the month. Among the therapist lost work hours, 92% were from 2 of 7 distinct, isolated therapy teams (29%). Without isolation, the exposure was modeled to have been 100%. CONCLUSION: Despite losing significant staff hours in our department because of COVID-19, early and aggressive adoption of current, recommended policy guidelines outlined in this manuscript allowed NYPC to continue patient operations at full capacity.

Ejemplares similares