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COVID-19 Workforce Solutions from the Field
Topic Collection
June 3, 2020

Topic Collection: COVID-19 Workforce Solutions from the Field

This collection highlights webinars and other resources sharing promising practices from the field related to workforce capacity and addressing workforce issues.

Please refer to CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 webpage for the most up-to-date clinical guidance on COVID19 outbreak management.

If you are a decision-maker and have COVID-19 promising practices, plans, tools, or templates to share with your peers, please visit the ASPR TRACIE Information Exchange COVID-19 Information Sharing Page (registration required) and place your resources under the relevant topic area. Resources specific to decision-making on healthcare workforce can be placed under the COVID-19 Workforce Virtual Toolkit Topic.  

NOTE: inclusion of any reference in this document does not constitute an endorsement, acknowledgment, or suggestion that the reference is the only or best example for that topic. References are included as examples which were provided as suggestions at the time the document was developed.

All guidance posted is accessible to the public, and non-federal resources are noted with an asterisk (*). Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. government, or any of its employees, of the information and/or products presented on that site.

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Promising Practices in 911

Orleans Parish Communications District. (2020). COVID ECC Resources *.
This website presents promising practices implemented by the Orleans Parish Communication District in response of COVID-19 to innovate their triage practices and reduce the risk of exposure to first responders in the field. These practices include administrative adjustments, software innovations that enable screening algorithms and computer aided dispatch, collaboration, and training of call-takers and dispatchers. Changes to software, protocols, and operating procedures enable the transfer of non-acute calls for medical service to paramedics stationed at the center, who then place video calls to screen callers for referrals, and perform daily follow-up to track symptoms of callers who are advised to remain at home.
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Promising Practices in Critical Care Nursing Staffing

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). (2020). Nurse Staffing Amid COVID-19 *.
This PCORI webinar on April 22, 2020 brought together critical care nurse leaders from different parts of the country (Washington, Maryland, and Georgia) to describe how their health systems have responded to nurse staffing needs amid surge and crisis response. The webinar summary provides information on the key strategies that these health systems used to assure appropriate staffing and use of PPE; optimize the performance of care teams; and address fears and anxiety among staff, patients, and families. Access the recorded webinar here: https://www.pcori.org/video/part-4-nurse-staffing-amid-covid-19-webinar-recording-april-21-2020 * The PCORI webinar series Confronting COVID-19: Finding Hospital Capacity and Improving Patient Flow highlights real time learning from hospitals and health systems confronted with an imminent or actual surge of COVID-19 patients. https://www.pcori.org/meetings-events/confronting-covid-19-finding-hospital-capacity-and-improving-patient-flow-webinar-series *
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Promising Practices in Developing and Implementing COVID-19 Surge Plans

* ASPR TRACIE. (2020). Ensuring Healthcare Safety Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This ASPR TRACIE webinar features speakers sharing lessons learned in adjusting care delivery, the role of leaders, and how rounding was changed to ensure workforce safety during COVID-19.
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2020). Podcasts and Transcripts. Coronavirus COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls.
The Thursday, May 7, 2020 Call with Nurses (at minute 6:33) contains a presentation by Dr. Nancy Blake, Chief Nursing Officer of Harbor UCLA Medical Center on how the concepts of healthy work environments and disaster preparedness came together during the COVID-19 surge at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. The leadership team’s approach included early and effective communication with the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff and other teams caring for COVID-19 patients, frequent rounding to listen to the needs of staff, mental health support, and healthy meals. Interventions to supplement team staffing included utilization of orthopedics team members to help with proning and nurses from ambulatory care, trauma, and other services to provide basic nursing care as part of the team approach in the ICU.
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2020). Podcasts and Transcripts. Coronavirus COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls.
The Thursday, May 21, 2020 call with nurses (at minute 9:50) contains a presentation by Dr. Amanda Chaney, AANP Fellow from the Mayo Clinic in Florida, on how individuals from different departments, specialties, and hospitals came together for Mayo Clinic surge planning. The team developed strategies for staffing acute care wards by identifying the fitness level of nurses from other departments for a surge acute care situation, and developed onboarding curriculum and a three-day shadowing experience to train 80 nurses to provide acute care.
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Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center. (2020). State Workforce Strategies in Response to COVID-19: Experiences from the Field.
This webinar provides insights into state responses to quickly build health workforce surge capacity, an overview of COVID-19 workforce resources available on the Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center website, and describes plans for current and future studies by the HWRCs related to COVID-19
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2020). 8 Lessons from a COVID-19 Surge Hotspot *.
This webpage provides information from Northwell Health’s learning to date about developing COVID-19 surge plans, as one of the earliest and hardest hit health systems in the U.S. with 23 hospitals and 800 outpatient centers north, south, and east of New York City. This health system went from one COVID-19 positive patient in one hospital in early March to over 3,000 COVID-19 positive patients in their hospitals with more than 600 on ventilators in a very short period of time. The takeaways highlight Northwell Health’s experience with planning, communication, capacity building, and staff support and protection, among other important actions from which health systems and hospitals can learn.
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Promising Practices in Long-Term Care

Florida Health Care Association. (2020). Temporary COVID-19 Personal Care Attendant Program *.
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration approved a temporary personal care attendant (PCA) program requested by the Florida Health Care Association and Florida Leading Age to allow on-the-job training program for nursing assistants to work in nursing homes. The program provides an eight-hour initial training followed by supervised on the job training and allows the PCA to perform additional duties.
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State of Indiana. (2020). Emergency Order Authorizing Temporary Personal Care Attendant Positions and Training for Nursing Homes *.
The Indiana State Department of Health authorized licensed Indiana comprehensive care facilities (nursing homes) to train and subsequently utilize temporary personal care attendants as a supplement to other personnel.
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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). How Nursing Homes Are Handling COVID-19: Best Practices from Maryland and Massachusetts *.
This webinar from the National Academy of Sciences highlighted how the states of Maryland and Massachusetts are addressing a number of challenges in nursing homes, including staffing shortages, expanding access to COVID-19 testing, and maintaining transparent communications with residents’ families and the public. Access slides at https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/04-22-2020/keeping-nursing-home-residents-and-staff-safe-in-the-era-of-covid-19-a-webinar * or https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/04-22-2020/docs/D20B4F2AD00C95EC8FA23857D28DE0FB6C87B4736573 * Access more information at https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-new-funding-outlines-ongoing-steps-to-support-long-term *
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U.S. Army. (2020). CAL Guard Assisting Skilled Nursing Facilities in LA County *.
This article provides information on how California National Guard regional medical support teams are assisting skilled nursing facilities at 10 sites in Los Angeles County. It describes the types of medical professionals assigned to facilities and types of care being provided to support the regular facility staff.
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Promising Practices in PPE Match and Medical Supplies Match

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2020). Guidance for Prioritizing and Optimizing use of Personal Protective Equipment in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 Response *.
The states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have formed a multi-state agreement to develop a regional supply chain initiative to obtain PPE and other medical equipment. The states have agreed to work together to identify the entire region's need for PPE and equipment, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs of supplies, and stabilize the supply chain. The states developed policies regarding PPE inventory to ensure the region is prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19. The states also coordinated policies on which supplies may be needed for First Responders and the non-profit and private sectors.
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Promising Practices in Repurposing of Staff

* ASPR TRACIE. (2020). Ensuring Healthcare Safety Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This ASPR TRACIE webinar features speakers sharing lessons learned in adjusting care delivery, the role of leaders, and how rounding was changed to ensure workforce safety during COVID-19.
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Promising Practices in PPE Preservation

American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. (2020). Florida CRNAs Prepare for COVID-19 Patient Surge with Collaboration and Innovation *.
Tampa General Hospital implemented a plan where Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists perform intubations and extubations for all surgical patients in designated rooms. This protocol limits the number of staff who need full PPE.
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Project ECHO The University of New Mexico. (2020). COVID-19 Clinical Rounds Special Session. Innovative PPE Preservation Strategies. A Peer to Peer Virtual Community of Practice *.
This ECHO session on innovative personal protective equipment (PPE) preservation strategies featured Dr. Gopi Patel (minute 9:20) from the Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Dr. James Lawler (minute 28:30) from the Global Center for Health Security and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Dr. Patel (slides https://app.box.com/s/t2hmd6xsm10fl16yvpt33pzyqmw4tw1h *) discussed how Mount Sinai Hospital preserved PPE as they faced a surge of patients. These actions helped flatten the epidemic curve, as they took steps to remain in contingency standards and prevent the shift to crisis standards. In spite of the hospital having pandemic planning, stockpiles of pandemic supplies (including N95 respirators), and lessons learned from other infectious diseases, they still were faced with a situation that required daily reassessment and new practices to care for patients and maintain staff safety. Dr. Lawler (slides https://app.box.com/s/oqd0823vgt529e34cy7l4ovba8io3qk7 *) discussed the experience at UNMC with reuse and decontamination of PPE.
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Promising Practices to Support Staff Availability: Childcare

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). (2020). Childcare Services for Essential Workforce Personnel *.
This resource highlights how states have prioritized continuity of childcare services to essential personnel through the duration of COVID-19 emergency. Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Vermont have established frameworks to ensure undisrupted childcare services that include: providing gubernatorial guidance on essential service designations; permitting childcare centers to temporarily operate under disaster relief licenses and in other settings (such as hospitals and homes); and expanding the “key governmental employee” designation to include workers from child protective services, child welfare, and foster care.
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Promising Practices to Support Staff Availability: Housing

Marriott, American Express and J.P. Morgan Chase. (2020). Rooms for Responders *.
Marriott, American Express and J.P. Morgan Chase Express are providing rooms available without charge to healthcare professionals leading COVID-19 response. The initiative is providing free rooms in areas most impacted by COVID-19. Marriott is implementing the Rooms for Responders initiative in collaboration with the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association to match doctors and nurses with free accommodations at participating hotels. Access more information about Rooms for Responders at https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-24521 *
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New York City. (2020). City of New York COVID-19 Hotel Program *.
The City of New York's COVID-19 Hotel Program provides free hotel rooms to eligible New Yorkers who cannot isolate where they live and frontline workers in the healthcare industry who wish to reduce the risk of transmission at home.
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