Clinical Screening and PPE Policy: Inova Facilities

Guidelines for Returning to Inova Health System for Clinical Rotations

 

1. Clinical rotations will resume June 29
2. Students will be held to the same daily check-in and screening requirements as Inova team members, which include:
   • In the last 24 hours have you had:
     • a temperature of > 100.0 degrees F
     • shortness of breath
     • a new cough
   • if they answer "yes" to any of these questions they are not allowed on site for clinical and must follow up with their school representative.
   • If they should develop symptoms during the clinical day, the student must inform the leader of the unit for possible exposure follow up, leave the clinical site and follow up with their school representative.
3. Students who have a recent diagnosis of COVID should follow the CDC criteria for returning to clinical which include:
   • Respiratory symptoms are resolving AND Afebrile (<100 F) for 72 hours without antipyretics (Advil, Tylenol, etc) AND 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms
4. The school is responsible for having each student sign an Inova Acknowledgement of Risk form prior to starting rotations, the form is to be kept on file at the school and is considered back up documentation to the required Documentation of Compliance form that is submitted to Professional Practice prior to the start of clinical rotations.
5. Students will not be allowed to care for COVID positive patients or PUIs. Students will not be assigned to dedicated COVID units. For the units with COVID positive patients and PUIs co-horted with non-COVID patients, students should only care for non-COVID positive patients.
6. Students will continue to be provided the same level of PPE prior to the outbreak of COVID which will include isolation gowns, gloves and surgical mask for patients with other infectious diseases requiring precautions. They will not be fitted for or provided an N95 mask which is why they will not provide care to COVID + patients.  Like Inova team members it is the expectation that all students wear a surgical mask throughout the clinical day, including entering and leaving building as well as in the elevators. Update 6/26 - all students will also be provided one face shield for their entire clinical rotation- see next page for directions.
7. Social distancing needs to be maintained during meal breaks and post-conference discussions.

Directions for Face Shield

It is vital that the school and students follow the below directions on face shields distribution as this is a financial consideration as well as a PPE conservation request so that Inova team members have adequate PPE as well.

Face shields are recommended for all direct patient care. Students will only be provided one face shield per clinical rotation, they will not receive a new one each clinical day. Below are directions for cleaning in between patient use and at the end of the day to include directions for storing at home and returning to campus.

During Clinical Day

• Face shields are reusable, and should not be shared between students.
• After patient care, the face shield should be safely removed and cleaned with an Inova-approved disinfectant. After the appropriate disinfectant dwell time, they should be wiped off with a clean cloth to help prevent fogging.
• Students working in areas with a Plexiglas partition between the student and the patient do not require a face shield.
• Personal eyeglasses and contact lenses are not considered PPE.

Preparing to Bring Face Shield Home at the End of the Clinical Day

• Face shields are not to be stored at Inova, there is no space, all face shields need to be cleaned and brought home.
• At the end of the clinical day, the face shield should be safely removed and cleaned with an Inova-approved disinfectant. After the appropriate disinfectant dwell time, they should be wiped off with a clean cloth to help prevent fogging.
• Students need to supply their own large paper bag. After appropriate cleaning, they can place face shield in a paper bag. It will need to be a larger bag. They will bring bag and face shield back to campus their next clinical day.