Rights, roles and responsibilities of health workers: how to protect yourself?

Pending review by Darmankade medical team

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses belonging to the Coronaviridae family. They infect both animals and humans. Human coronaviruses can cause mild illness similar to the common cold, while others cause more severe illness (such as MERS – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Corona virus is a new virus that has not been seen in humans before but appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019. To check the possibility of corona, you can participate in an online corona test for free.

Symptoms and symptoms include respiratory symptoms, including fever, cough and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, and sometimes death. Standard recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include frequent hand cleaning using alcohol-based solutions or soap and water. When coughing and sneezing, cover the nose and mouth with a bent elbow or a disposable tissue. and avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever and cough.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with experts, governments and global partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge about this new virus and to take action with timely advice to protect public health and prevent the spread of this outbreak.

See more: The best infectious disease doctor

But in the meantime, the front line of the fight against Corona is the health workers: nurses, doctors and employees who have specific rights, roles and responsibilities. Including the occupational safety and health of healthcare workers who are at the forefront of any outbreak response and thus exposed to risks that put them at risk of infectious disease (in this case, COVID-19). Risks include exposure to pathogens, long working hours, psychological distress, fatigue, burnout, insults, and physical and psychological violence. This document of the World Health Organization highlights the rights and responsibilities of health workers, including the specific measures required to protect occupational safety and health.

The rights of health workers include that employers and managers in health facilities:

Take overall responsibility to ensure that all necessary prevention and protection measures are taken to minimize occupational and safety risks, including the implementation of safety and occupational management systems to identify hazards and evaluate risks related to health and safety and infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. and policies of complete non-acceptance of violence and harassment in the workplace have been made.

• Providing information, instructions and training on occupational health and safety, including;
• Retraining on infection prevention and control (IPC); and
• use, placement, collection and disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Make adequate IPC and PPE supplies (masks, gloves, goggles, clothing, hand sanitizer, soap and water, cleaning materials) available to health care providers or other staff caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, so that staff do not incur costs for essential occupational safety and health.

• Acquaintance Staff with technical updates on COVID-19 and provide appropriate tools for assessing, prioritizing patients, testing and treating patients, and sharing infection prevention and control information with patients and the public.
• Provide appropriate security measures for personal safety as necessary.
• Create a blame-free environment for staff to report incidents such as exposure to blood or bodily fluids from the respiratory tract or cases of violence, and take measures for immediate follow-up, including victim support.
• To Advise employees about self-assessment, reporting symptoms and staying home when sick.
• Maintain efficient working hours with breaks.
• Consult with occupational health and safety aspects, consult with health workers and notify the labor inspector of cases of occupational disease.
• Do not return to a work situation where there is a serious risk to health and well-being unless the employer takes the necessary medical measures.
• Give employees the opportunity to do so. Allow them to leave the work situation that they have a reasonable justification and believe to have an imminent and serious danger to their life or health. When a healthcare worker exercises this right, they are protected from any unintended consequences.
• Respect the right to compensation, rehabilitation, and medical care if they become infected with COVID-19 as a result of workplace exposure. Consider this in the context of work and the resulting illness is considered an occupational disease.
• Provide access to mental health resources and counseling. and
• Enable collaboration between management and employees and/or their representatives.

Healthcare workers must:

• Follow established occupational health and safety procedures, avoid exposing others to health and safety hazards, and participate in employer occupational health and safety training.
• Use provided protocols to assess, prioritize, and treat patients.
• Treat patients with respect, compassion, and dignity.
• Maintain patient confidentiality;
• Promptly follow established procedures for public health reporting of suspected and confirmed cases.
• Provide or assist in the preparation of accurate infection prevention and control and public health information, including those of concern who are asymptomatic and at risk.
• Adjust, use, discard, and dispose of personal protective equipment properly. In case of symptoms of unwanted stress or psychological problems that require supportive interventions, give advice to the management. And
• reporting to your direct supervisor about any situation in which there is reasonable justification to believe there is an imminent and serious danger to life and health.

On-site corona test

Additional Resources

As knowledge of the virus develops, WHO will continue to develop and update technical guidance.
Useful information includes:

Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV: methods for detection, prevention, response and control
Surveillance and case definitions
Early investigations
Patient management
Infection prevention and control target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Country readiness
Risk communication and community engagement
Disease commodity package

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