Focus: Infection Control

N95 Masks Still Being Rationed At Minnesota Hospitals

State has more than 1 million masks in storage


Some Minnesota hospitals resumed elective medical procedures as early as May, but some nurses say their employers still aren’t giving them enough N95 masks, according to an article on the Star Tribune website.

A survey of Minnesota nurses this summer found 49 percent felt unsafe with the N95 reuse policies in their workplace. 

A typical hospital policy requires wearing a single-use mask for five to seven days.

 “We have a stockpile somewhere in the state. But the hospitals aren’t requesting it,” one nurse said.

An opinion piece in the Annals of Internal Medicine argued that all healthcare workers in hospitals who have to deal with patients who either have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or could have the disease should be equipped with N95 respirators, according to an article. on the Infection Control Today website.

Read the full Star Tribune article.

 

 



September 14, 2020


Topic Area: Infection Control


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