You are the infection control nurse of a 100-bed inpatient healthcare facility. With the increasing potential for a communicable disease exposure in your facility, the chief clinical officer has tasked you with the creation of a hospital response plan for a communicable disease outbreak in your healthcare facility.
Instructions:
Create a hospital response plan that effectively addresses a healthcare facility’s actions in response to a communicable disease outbreak of your choosing. The response plan should:
Identify a communicable disease and explain why this particular disease necessitates a response plan.
Be supported by current evidence.
Include guidance on the following:
Logistics: adequate physical resources and services required
Triage: appropriate protocols and location
Communication: timely and effective contact internal and external of the facility regarding a suspected or confirmed outbreak
Infection control: sufficient measures to protect hospital employees, patients, and the public
Human resources: efficient management of human capital in response to a suspected or confirmed outbreak
Responsibilities of various hospital departments: effective interventions by primary and ancillary departments in response to a suspected or confirmed outbreak
Reflect the nurse’s ability to:
Assess and identify the disease outbreak
Support containment and treatment of the disease
Facilitate timely communication regarding the outbreak
