Nurses' experiences of managing COVID-19 contact tracing clinics in a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly globally, making the WHO to declare it a public health emergency of international concern. The ability of health institutions to screen and test for COVID-19 has been critical in detecting, preventing, and managing the spread of the disease.

AIMS

This report documents lessons from the ambulatory care nursing for COVID-19 contact tracing at a tertiary care hospital.

METHODS

In March 2020, a multidisciplinary team consisting of staff of the Primary Healthcare Services, Ambulatory Care Center, Infection Prevention and Control Department, and Nursing Services at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, worked collaboratively to establish 2 dedicated COVID-19 contact tracing clinics away from hospital premises, one clinic established for the public and another for hospital staff. Surveillance system was established to detect and contain as many cases as possible. This report highlights the process of establishing and maintaining the structure and managing workflow of the contact tracing clinics. We calculated the number of nasopharyngeal swabs and the daily average number of patient visits for both clinics between March 2020 and March 2021.

RESULTS

Over the one-year period, the clinics served 79 146 visitors with an average of 52 visits for staff, 159 visits for adults, and 16 visits for children per day. The 2 clinics conducted 73 924 polymerase chain reaction tests. There was zero transmission of COVID-19 infection to staff working at both clinics.

CONCLUSION

Despite the challenge of setting up contact tracing clinics, the decision to use separate geographic locations contributed to reducing the risk of infection exposure among staff of the clinics. Effective implementation of contact tracing interventions relies on interdepartmental cooperation and effective communication to contain the risk of viral spread.