Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1241832
April 27–June 15, 2020 10 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com ON THE QUICK Nursing & Healthcare News D o you have patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19? Ask them if they would consider donating plasma for an experimental treat- ment protocol. Antibody-Rich Plasma There's still no approved treatment for COVID-19, but the FDA recent- ly approved expanded access to an experimental treatment using con- valescent plasma: blood plasma from patients who have recently recovered from the 2019 novel coronavirus. The theory is that the antibod- ies in the plasma could help the immune systems of other patients to better fight the disease. Donations Needed Mayo Clinic is leading a nationwide effort to further investigate this treatment protocol, but that effort urgently needs plasma donations from former COVID-19 patients. FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D., is asking people who have been diagnosed with and fully recovered from COVID-19 to consider donating plasma for that purpose. "Those individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 could have an immediate impact in help- ing others who are severely ill," says Hahn. "In fact, one donation has the potential to help up to four patients." People interested in donating can visit covidplasma.org, a web- site established by the nonprofit organization AABB (which accred- its blood banks and other institu- tions involved in transfusion medi- cine) that has more information about convalescent plasma and the eligibility guidelines for potential donors. The blood bank locator tool on the AABB website, www.aabb.org, now features the option to search for local donation sites accepting convalescent plasma. Receiving Plasma Therapy Because convalescent plasma ther- apy is a highly experimental treat- ment whose benefits are uncertain and whose hazards are still unknown, the therapy is only avail- able to severely ill adult COVID-19 patients, and only if their physician and medical facility first register with the Mayo Clinic program. Patients or providers interested in learning more should visit www.uscovidplasma.org. There are currently almost 2,300 participat- ing patients and more than 2,200 participating physicians at more than 1,600 registered clinical sites across the U.S. WN SAFETY BACKLASH ANA concerned about reporting retaliation S hortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are a grim reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, but almost as worrisome are widespread reports of hospitals disciplining or even firing nurses for speaking out. The ANA is urging nurses to report such retaliation. Censured for Speaking Up Type the words "COVID-19 PPE retaliation" into your favorite search engine and you'll find a litany of alarming recent stories about healthcare workers being punished for raising concerns about their own safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses at hospitals in multiple states allege that they have been censured or terminat- ed for expressing concerns about inadequate PPE — in some cases, even to their own coworkers. Staff at one Washington hospital filed com- plaints through the state nursing association claiming that their facility actually instructed them to remove the dates from expired equip- ment pressed into use. In New Jersey, DAISY Award-winning ICU nurse Olga Matievskaya, RN, BSN, CCRN, raised $12,000 on GoFundMe to buy badly needed PPE for her colleagues, only to be suspended by her facility, Beth Israel Medical Center, for distribut- ing unauthorized equipment! How to Report Concerns On April 9, the ANA issued a public statement condemning "employers that retaliate against nurses for advocating on behalf of themselves and their patients." The ANA urges nurses who believe they have faced retaliation for voicing legitimate safety concerns to file a complaint with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Visit www.osha.gov. California healthcare workers also have the right to report safety issues, file a whistleblower complaint or report retaliation to Cal/OSHA. Visit www.dir.ca.gov for more information. "Nurses must not be retaliated against for raising their concerns and speaking out," the ANA declares. WN N U R S E S A N D C O V I D - 1 9 CONVALESCENT PLASMA THERAPY Seeking donations from recovered COVID-19 patients } One donation could help up to four patients } More than 2,300 participating patients at 1,663 clinical sites } Therapy still experimental and only given to sickest patients