Use of respirators (N95 masks)
CDC guidelines recommend fit-tested, NIOSH certified N95 respirators for personnel in health care settings that will have close proximity (i.e. direct medical care, delivering food tray, room cleaning) with a known, probable, or suspected case of H1N1. This recommendation applies to settings such as acute care, ambulatory care, nursing homes and home health, and also to personnel in non-health care settings where health services are delivered, such as school-based clinics and correctional facilities. OSHA has released a compliance document that will enfource these guidelines (See more below).
The Institute of Medicine convened an expert panel on occupational health, which included representatives from nursing, to examine the issue of respiratory protection. This panel determined that the N95 should continue to be the mask of choice for health care workers to avoid exposure to the virus. The report is linked below.
Sick patients should wear a surgical mask before going within 6 feet of others, including at home.
The ANA will be monitoring the discussions around mask use and possible federal standard creation. The ANA advocates for properly fitted NIOSH certified N95 or its equivalent particulate respirator as the minimum level of protection when caring for suspected or confirmed cases of pandemic influenza.
For more on PPE, see ANA's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
Other non-pharmalogical prevention measures
Hand hygiene - The single most effective way to prevent the spread of disease! Nurses should be sure they, their colleagues, their patients, family and friends wash their hands often using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Covering cough or sneeze - Use a tissue to cover a cough or sneeze to prevent the spread of infectious droplets.
Social distancing - Ill persons should stay home and not attend work, school, church, or other social events where they will have close contact with others. If social interaction is unavoidable, ill persons should maintain at a distance of 3 feet, and consider wearing a surgical mask.
Vaccines
Four vaccines against the novel H1N1 influenza virus have been approved by the FDA. The vaccine is safe and effective, and widely available at a number of public health sites, private practice offices, and retail pharmacies. Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance covers the administration fee for the vaccine (the government has purchased the vaccine, so patients should not be asked to pay for the vaccine itself).
Linked below is Questions and Answers about H1N1 Vaccine (general information), and a document "Preparing for Vaccination with Novel H1N1 Vaccine", which gives more details on vaccine formulation, clinical trials, and safety/adverse event reporting.
In the News
OSHA Compliance Document Released on Worker Protection from H1N1
OSHA has released its enforcement policies that inspectors will be using to ensure that facilities are adequately protecting those at very high occupational risk for contact with the H1N1 virus. This could be direct care workers, or those handling the virus itself or infectious material. OSHA uses the CDC guidance for infection control in its policies, and outlines how a facility can prove that it is having enough supply problems for PPE to go to a "hierarchy of controls". The document is below.
Back to main H1N1 page.