It's World AIDS Day, and it's a good time for all to review their bloodborne pathogens policies

Today is the 32nd annual World AIDS Day. Internationally recognized, the day is meant to raise awareness, support, and money for the estimated 38 million people with HIV/AIDS worldwide. It's also a time for healthcare providers to reflect on how they're preventing the spread of bloodborne diseases in the healthcare setting.

The federal government has unveiled new “flexibilities” that include allowances for providing hospital care in patients’ homes and waiving some staffing requirements at ambulatory surgery centers as part of an effort to expand hospital capacity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Evidence indicates that for patients with low risk and good prognosis, localized treatment with targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT) may be equally as effective as standard radiation, with potentially less damage to normal tissues and organs.

"We're at a new level of crisis response with COVID-19 and CMS is leveraging the latest innovations and technology to help healthcare systems that are facing significant challenges to increase their capacity to make sure patients get the care they need. With new areas across the country experiencing significant challenges to the capacity of their healthcare systems, our job is to make sure that CMS regulations are not standing in the way of patient care for COVID-19 and beyond," Verma said.

When your facility can’t access its medical records, operate its equipment, and properly care for patients, that’s not a problem—it’s an emergency, said Kelly Proctor, CHFM, CHSP, CHOP, director of operations for DNV GL Healthcare, during DNV GL’s 2020 Virtual Conference in October. When your systems go down, your facility needs to be ready to switch back to paper records and runners in an instant.

As COVID-19 and the rest of this year’s chaos continues to take its toll on your hospital, set up ways for your staff to let off steam, meditate for a few minutes, or just find some peace and quiet. And remember to help them grieve. Think about setting up a place online or in your facility to honor colleagues lost to the pandemic.