Aljuaid Maha, Deeb Ahmad, Tashkandi Nabiha, Al Rowaithy Reem, Al Shammary Muneera
King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
East Mediterr Health J. 2023 Mar 26;29(3):217-223. doi: 10.26719/emhj.23.024.
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.
This report documents lessons from the ambulatory care nursing for COVID-19 contact tracing at a tertiary care hospital.
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.
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.
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.
新冠疫情在全球迅速蔓延，促使世界卫生组织宣布其为国际关注的突发公共卫生事件。医疗机构对新冠病毒进行筛查和检测的能力对于发现、预防和控制该疾病的传播至关重要。
本报告记录了一家三级医院门诊护理进行新冠病毒接触者追踪的经验教训。
2020年3月，沙特阿拉伯利雅得国民警卫队卫生事务部的一个多学科团队，由初级医疗服务、门诊护理中心、感染预防与控制部门以及护理服务部门的工作人员组成，共同协作在医院外设立了2个专门的新冠病毒接触者追踪诊所，一个诊所面向公众，另一个面向医院工作人员。建立了监测系统以尽可能多地发现和控制病例。本报告重点介绍了建立和维护接触者追踪诊所的结构以及管理工作流程的过程。我们计算了2020年3月至2021年3月期间两个诊所的鼻咽拭子数量和每日平均就诊患者数量。
在这一年期间，诊所为79146名访客提供了服务，工作人员平均每日就诊52次，成人平均每日就诊159次，儿童平均每日就诊16次。两个诊所共进行了73924次聚合酶链反应检测。在两个诊所工作的工作人员均未发生新冠病毒感染传播。
尽管设立接触者追踪诊所有挑战，但选择不同地理位置有助于降低诊所工作人员的感染风险。有效实施接触者追踪干预措施依赖于部门间的合作和有效的沟通，以控制病毒传播风险。
