{"pk":15275,"title":"Clinician Absences and Contributing Factors During a COVID-19 Surge: Potential Areas for Intervention and Planning","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Introduction: \nOur goal was to quantify healthcare clinician (HCC) absenteeism in the emergency  department (ED) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge and to identify potential  interventions that may mitigate the number of absences.\nMethods:\n This was a retrospective, descriptive record review that included 82 resident physicians,  physician assistants, and staff physicians who were scheduled to work more than three clinical shifts  during March 2020 in an urban, academic ED that received a high number of coronavirus disease  2019 (COVID-19) patients. Exposure was defined as a healthcare clinician who was not wearing  appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) having contact with a confirmed COVID-19 positive  patient in the ED. The main outcome was the number of HCC absences secondary to exposure to or  symptoms concerning for COVID-19.\nResults: \nDuring March 2020, of 82 ED HCCs, 28 (34%) required an absence from clinical duties,  totaling 152 absentee calendar days (N = 13 women [46%]; N = 15 men [54%]). Median HCC age  was 32 years (interquartile range 28-39), and median number of days absent was four (interquartile  range 3-7). While 16 (57%) of the total absences were secondary to a known exposure, 12 (43%)  were symptomatic without a known exposure. A total of 25 (89%) absent HCCs received COVID-19  testing (N = 5 positive [20%]; N = 20 negative [80%]) with test results returning in 1-10 days. Eleven  (39%) symptomatic HCCs had traveled domestically or internationally in the prior 30 days.\nConclusion: \nEmergency departments should anticipate substantial HCC absences during the initial  surge of a pandemic. Possible interventions to mitigate absences include early and broad use of  PPE, planning for many asymptomatic HCC absences secondary to exposures, prioritizing HCC  virus testing, and mandating early travel restrictions.","language":"en","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\r\n\r\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"Healthcare provider absences"},{"word":"COVID-19"},{"word":"Pandemic"},{"word":"Epidemic"},{"word":"emergency department staffing"},{"word":"disaster"}],"section":"Endemic Infections","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/772304zt","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":"","last_name":"Grahf","name_suffix":"","institution":"Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Detroit, Michigan","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Jad","middle_name":"","last_name":"Dandashi","name_suffix":"","institution":"Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Detroit, Michigan","department":"None"},{"first_name":"John","middle_name":"","last_name":"Deledda","name_suffix":"","institution":"Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Detroit, Michigan","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Phyllis","middle_name":"","last_name":"Vallee","name_suffix":"","institution":"Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Detroit, Michigan","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Taher","middle_name":"","last_name":"Vohra","name_suffix":"","institution":"Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Detroit, Michigan","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2021-04-08T01:17:41Z","date_accepted":"2021-04-08T01:17:41Z","date_published":"2022-02-14T23:07:27Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/westjem/article/15275/galley/7748/download/"}]}