Volume 32, Issue 1 pp. 337-347
Perspective

Perspective: Coping with Covid-19: An isolation risk assessment and management guideline for healthcare staff

Kim Edwards RN, MNursePract (MentHlth)

Corresponding Author

Kim Edwards RN, MNursePract (MentHlth)

Integrated Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Services, Mid North Coast Local Health District, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia

Correspondence: Kim Edwards, Integrated Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs Services, MNCLHD, RN. 43 Gordon Street, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Darrin Cowan RN, MClinPrac

Darrin Cowan RN, MClinPrac

Integrated Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Services, Mid North Coast Local Health District, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

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Scott Brunero RN, PhD

Scott Brunero RN, PhD

Mental Health Liaison, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia

Casual Academic University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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First published: 16 November 2022

Funding sources: There was no external funding.

Author Contributions: Kim Edwards: conceptualization, data curation, data analysis, writing and review. Darrin Cowan: original draft, conceptualization, data curation, data analysis, writing and review. Scott Brunero: conceptualization, data curation, data analysis, writing and review. All authors listed (i) meet the authorship criteria according to the latest guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, (ii) are in agreement with the manuscript and, (iii) have received no financial support or have relationships that may pose conflict of interest.

Abstract

The mental health consequences of pandemic isolation have been well documented extending from psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression to increased falls risk, medication errors and delirium. Whilst risk factors associated with isolation are known, there remains a gap in the guidance for healthcare staff on how to assess for these risks and develop effective management plans. Using a structured professional judgement (SPJ) approach and the author's recent experience providing consultation and leadership to clinical staff working with at-risk patients during the pandemic, an isolation risk assessment and management guideline was developed. SPJ is an evidenced-based analytical method used to understand and mitigate risk that was primarily developed for the assessment and management of aggression and violence. This paper discusses an evidenced-based process used to develop the guideline and the application of its use from the author's clinical experience.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.