Protection/Prevention - Color

Tips for Flu Prevention

Submitted by Laureen Lazarovici on Mon, 03/19/2018 - 18:18
Region
Program-wide
Keywords
flu
flu prevention
influenza
virus
flu shot
Topics
Preventive Care
Role
All Roles
Request Number
LSR-1658
Long Teaser

The flu is more than just a bad cold. Thousands die from it every year. Use these tips to protect yourself, your co-workers and your patients from the virus. 

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Laureen Lazarovici
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Download the Tips Sheet

Want a colorful tip sheet with these ideas to hand out and post on bulletin boards? Download one here!

10 Essential Tips for Flu Prevention
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Tips for Flu Prevention
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How to protect yourself and our members from this virus
Story body part 1

When flu season arrives, it’s important to stay well. As a matter of patient and workplace safety and professional pride, we can take steps to protect ourselves, our families, co-workers, and members and patients from flu and other infectious diseases. Here’s how. 

Vaccinate yourself and others

  • If you don’t get the flu, you won’t pass it on. The vaccine reduces the chance you will get the flu. Encourage others to get vaccinated, too.

Keep flu out of the air

  • Limit the time patients with suspected flu spend in open waiting rooms; separate them from others.
  • Offer surgical masks to people who are coughing or sneezing and encourage them to cover their coughs. Supply tissues, trash cans and hand sanitizer in waiting areas.
  • Place patients with flu in a private room.
  • Avoid unnecessary transport of infectious patients — and have them wear surgical masks outside their rooms.

Keep flu off of yourself. Follow standard and droplet precautions

  • Wear eye protection, gown and gloves.
  • Wear respiratory protection when in the room with the patient and until the air has cleared after the patient has left the room (about one hour), or if you are doing procedures that may aerosolize infectious particles.
  • Wash your hands often. Use hand sanitizer or wash with soap and water before and after all patient care.
  • Avoid touching your face, clothing or mask with your hands.

Keep the environment clean

  • Focus cleaning on high-contact surfaces: door knobs, elevator buttons, reception desks, exam tables, pharmacy furniture. 
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Transformed Team Tracks Kidney Transplant Patients Follow-up Care

  • Hosting a short-term special clinic for post-transplant patients, enabling them to get all their follow-up care in one visit
  • Creating an Excel spreadsheet of post-transplant patients and their follow-up needs
  • Making outreach calls to patients with care gaps

What can your team do to fill patient care gaps? What else could your team do to proactively meet patient needs?

 

Corralling Cancer With Coughs and Sneezes—Allergy Team Helps Screen for Cancer

  • Making a joint commitment that when there is a KP HealthConnect® notification that a patient is due for a health screening, team members follow up by offering to schedule the patient for the screening or asking the necessary questions to fill in missing information in the patient’s medical record
  • Creating a script to help staff members talk to patients about updating their health needs and posting laminated cards on computers to serve as reminders
  • Reporting the weekly screening numbers to staff members so they can track their progress and recognize where they missed opp

HPV Mission: Identify and Immunize

  • Working with information technology staff to get a list of eligible 11- and 12-year-old girls, and contacting parents and making appointments for those patients
  • Discussing the importance of the vaccine with patients and their parents
  • Scheduling the two follow-up booster shots at the time of the first shot, which required working with IT colleagues to modify the appointment system

What can your team do with technology to reach out to members letting them know what screenings and vaccinations they need?

Preventing Pressure Ulcers—Respiratory Team Preserves Patient Safety
  • Researching and trying different breathing equipment
  • Improving communication among team members and other health care workers, such as wound nurses
  • Focusing on fixing problems, not blaming each other

What can your team do to increase awareness of how equipment can impact patient care? 

Laureen Lazarovici Tue, 08/09/2016 - 15:25

Making Early Detection Easy With Screening Prompts

  • Designating and training a HealthConnect super-user on the team
  • Coaching and mentoring all team members on using the prompts in HealthConnect to urge patients to agree to sceenings and book appointments
  • Tracking how often staff members remind patients to get screenings

What can your team do to ensure that members and patients get their necessary screenings? What else could your team do to coach and mentor HeatlthConnect super-users?

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