Masking, distancing, and hygiene are the first steps. The COVID-19 Risk Chart (below) ranks danger levels in many different settings and scenarios.
Every day, it seems, we hear new statistics, directives, warnings, regulations, and predictions related to COVID-19 and the pandemic crisis. Most are reasonable and valid. Some are contradictory. Others are just plain headscratchers.
GRACE is fortunate to have a learned and sensible advisor on board to guide us through. Shirley Roberts, RN, BAS, CCM, is the GRACE Community Clinic Nurse Manager and the staff go-to on all things COVID-19 (and nearly all other medical issues, as well).
Nurse Shirley’s medical foresight and instincts are unerring. For example, the Community Clinic was one of the first medical facilities—not just charitable clinics, but all medical facilities—to switch over to telemed services in March.
Early on, she quickly adopted protective measures to control coronavirus spread. Not only was her patient population at greater risk of contracting and spreading the virus, her staff of nearly all volunteer medical professionals were forming the frontline of COVID-19 treatment, and their protection was key to the health of everyone in the community.
Now, with capacity limits, spacings, phasings, openings, reopenings, pauses, and mandates, we look to Nurse Shirley for guidance. Professionally and socially, daily we are making tough decisions that add up to degrees of risk for ourselves and our loved ones.
Nurse Shirley, and the Texas Medical Association, have ranked the typical types of risks that confront us every day. Of course, safety protocols of masking, distancing, and other measures were factored in the rankings.
For more information, contact Shirley Roberts, RN, at 817-305-4681.
