Infection Control

N95 fit testing during a pandemic

Briefings on Infection Control, July 1, 2009

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login.

When the novel influenza A H1N1 virus, or swine flu, hit Mexico and subsequently the United States in April, IPs were gathering information as fast as possible. The first priority was to mitigate the spread of disease, and part of that prevention effort included ensuring that healthcare workers were protected.

For many, that meant working with employee health and safety in order to fit test employees quickly. Several surveys have found that a portion of the healthcare work force would not come in during a pandemic for fear of their health or the health of their family (see “Swine flu scare provides real-time preparedness training” on p. 1), so having a plan in place that is part of your pandemic planning will help ensure protection and provide reassurance for workers.

Although this may be a job that falls on the employee health and safety department, IPs should have some input regarding the severity of the disease and what staff members could be at risk.

“We rely on IC quite a bit in just communicating infections,” says Bruce E. Cunha, RN, MS, COHN-S, manager of employee health and safety at the Marshfield (WI) Clinic. “We really are conjoined twins, if you want to call it that. We want to make sure we are taking care of our patients and taking care of our employees.”

The “Just-in-time” method
For a larger facility, it’s not feasible to fit test all employees, especially if they are not at risk for exposure to diseases such as TB. Many hospitals and clinics can still comply with OSHA regulations and annually fit test employees only if they are going to wear an N95 respirator.

Cunha says his facility has incorporated the “just-in-time” method for fit testing into its pandemic plan.

“We fit test only specific areas like urgent care, pulmonary, and infectious disease,” Cunha says. “But in preparing for a pandemic, we said, ‘If we get a pandemic, we are going to have to do a lot of fit testing and get people up to speed.’"

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login.

Most Popular

Related Articles