Jill:

This is the Accidental Safety Pro bought to you by Vivid Learning Systems and the Health and Safety Institute. This is a special edition of the podcast recorded on March 17th, 2020. My name is Jill James, Vivid's Chief Safety Officer. Today, I'm joined by two guests, both of whom have had long and experienced careers in nursing, public health, and as educators.

Jo is a registered nurse with a master's in public health. She has been certified in infection control and served as president of Minnesota's Association of Infection Control Prevention. She's organized regional infection control conferences and consultation through her career, as well as serving as adjunct professor at Minnesota State University St. Cloud in the Department of Nursing Sciences since 2006.

Sue, our other guest, is also a registered nurse and a nationally certified pediatric nurse practitioner. She, too, has a master's in public health and a doctorate in educational administration. Sue's past work includes department chair of nursing at the University of South Dakota and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing in Eau Claire. She's the founding director and professor in the Department of Nursing Science at Minnesota State University Saint Cloud, meaning both Jo and Sue have taught public health nursing to college-level nursing students, and combined, they have a lot of years of experience.

I've asked both of them here today to bring their unique perspective as nurses on issues of infection control and how what they've been practicing and teaching throughout their careers is critical and relevant today for all of us whether we're at work or with our families. If you want to know how you can play a personal role in flattening the curve in spread of COVID-19, our guests today will give us some confidence on how we can all do that together.

Welcome to the show, ladies, and thank you for making the time today.

Jo:

Thank you.

Sue:

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Jill:

First question, just to set the stage for our audience, what is infection control?

Jo:

Infection control is the prevention of infection, as well as stopping the spread of infection. The original focus was in healthcare, but, as you can see, in the current world we live in, it's throughout the community.

Sue:

In nursing, we go way back. Florence Nightingale, who is kind of the founding of nursing, that was one of her major activities that she discovered, that during the war that if they kept some of the soldiers that were hurt father apart and just prevented and did handwashing, that they prevented the soldiers from getting sicker. So this goes way back in nursing. It's one of the bases of nursing care.

Jo:

Certainly, one of the things Florence Nightingale discovered during the Crimean War when she was in Istanbul was not just that social distancing, but the environment, the important of handwashing, as well as the cleaning of environmental surfaces.

Jill:

So infection control practices, have they really changed that much over time, or it sounds like maybe things have kind of stayed the same like what was discovered way back then is still what we're practicing today?

Jo:

I think so, but I think that people maybe back when they knew people died of Diptheria, when the people lived through the polio outbreak, and before we had antibiotics, people realized what a frontline activity good hand hygiene was. I think that that focus in our technical world had gotten a little codified, but the hope is right now, as people are really beginning to realize that in spite of all the other options that we have, the frontline defense is still good handwashing.

Jill:

It sounds too good to be true, right?

Jo:

Yeah, it does, but one of the things I certainly have noticed is one of the quality measures in hospitals was monitoring people's, what they called, foaming in/foaming out. It got to the point they began to educate patients to look for that person when they entered your room. Foam in. When they left, did they foam out? I think we need to extend that into our community. I think that the unfortunate thing about what's happening right now is that we're returning to those basic principles, not just in healthcare settings, but in the community itself.

Jill:

When you say foam in and foam out, you're talking about the hand sanitizing foams that we all see in hospital, nursing home, clinic settings, right?

Jo:

That was a fast thing to do, and there was a thought for a while there that the alcohol in it gave you sustained protection, but as you're beginning to realize more and more, soap and water is far more effective. Everybody has access to soap. When we're looking at this run of hand sanitizers, I don't hear that there's a run on bar soap, and, truthfully, it's far more effective.

Jill:

Wow, interesting. Yeah.

Sue:

That should be the first thing that people do is just wash their hands, and you don't have to worry about having sanitizer. It's great to have it, but just your basic soap and water that we have in every home.

Jill:

Yeah. Can you both talk about, as long as we're talking about handwashing right now, can we talk about the real how-to practice of that because it sounds like we all know how to wash our hands, but do we?

Jo:

It's interesting because I think both Sue and I do notice that. One of the first things that I'm always struck with is, first of all, take your paper towel and turn on the faucet and wet your hands before you put soap on because that's what helps the surfactant of the soap become more effective. It needs that water to change that surface tension, so take your paper towel. Turn on your faucet, or, if you're lucky enough, put your hands under the sink. Wet your hands. Put soap on, and then remember for those 20 seconds, you're rubbing everywhere.

Don't forget, all surfaces of the fingers. Somebody reminded me the thumb, as well. It's a good time to keep your fingernails short.

Sue:

And the top of your hands and in between your fingers. One of the things I notice the most is that people don't wash it long enough. They should go for 20 seconds. I think a lot of people run and put their hands under the water, and then they pull it out. 20 seconds is about the amount of time you sing the ABC song or you sing Happy Birthday twice, or whatever song you want to decide to use. But I think people tend to not do it long enough. That's kind of crucial is to do it for 20 seconds or more.

Jill:

Yeah, Sue, can you talk about, we've talked about in healthcare settings, but let's take it home for just a moment. When people are coming and going from their homes, and frankly, we should all be not coming and going from our homes much right, but as you're coming in and going out, talk about what that hand hygiene looks like at home. You've just walked in your door. Then what?

Sue:

Well, in these days now, and maybe anytime, I think when you walk in your door, you should go wash your hands. Be sure that anything that you've touched in your car or any mail or anything you're bringing in, just when you walk in the door, go wash your hands. I think it's also important to wash your hands before you eat, after you eat, after you're going to the bathroom, if you're playing with pets. We always tell children if they're playing their pets, they should wash their hands, and especially if you're preparing food. Before you prepare and then when you're going from different kinds of preparation to others, you should be washing your hands just to make sure that you're not spreading any viruses or bacteria that are there.

Jill:

Jo, you had mentioned paper towels earlier. We're thinking about public places and workplaces and the use of paper towels. What about at home with towels and family members, can you talk about that and things? Yeah.

Jo:

I think it's always I know some families that have separate towels for every family member, and that's your towel. Then it gets laundered, and then it's your towel again. The biggest thing is, no one wants to pick up a towel that's dripping or obviously soiled. The importance of making sure laundering your towels, laundering your clothes. If you are working and you come back in, and you've been out in the community, the importance again of reminding all of us to reduce the bioload. That means things like bathing, showering, but also laundering.

If you're in healthcare, we really encourage people, don't go out in the community and run your errands. Leave that scrub at home or change your clothes before you go, and then wash your scrubs when you get home. Think about where you've been and where you're going.

Jill:

When people are laundering their clothes, does it make a difference if the water is hot or cold or drying?

Jo:

Some of us still like hot water, but the important thing is that you've got to launder according to the fabric. The important thing is using that detergent to break up that surface tension. Again, that surface bioload, and that can be reduced by cold water also. So we talk about if somebody's ill in the family, we often encourage wash clothes in the highest temperature. Dry clothes on the highest temperature, but the important thing is just reducing the bioload. Hot, cold, any of it works.

Sue:

If you have someone that's sick in the family, you may well, if they're quite sick, you may want to launder their clothes separately just while they're quite sick, anything you can do to prevent spread.

Jill:

Ladies, backing up to we're talking about infection control practices. We jumped right into handwashing. What else in the nursing profession that have been those gold standards forever would you include in infection control that are things that our listeners in their workplaces and at home can take away?

Jo:

Wipe down, wipe down, wipe down. Clean surfaces, and clean surfaces that are frequently touched. At home, that can be your remote control, your refrigerator and faucet handles, your desk, your doorknobs, your railings, computer keyboards, light switches, phones, and toys. And to remember, soap and water first because you want to remove that surface soil because the disinfectants can't get at the germs if you've dirt and impurities.

Cleaning doesn't kill the germs, but it lowers them, and it lowers the number and lowers the risk of spreading various types of infection, not just Coronavirus. The chemical disinfectants kill germs, but you've got to get the cleaning step done first.

Sue:

I think it's really important to do your cell phone. I've seen studies. A lot of research studies have been where, when you do the study, where do you find the most microbes? Often times, it's on the cell phone because people's hands are there, and they're touching it, and they're touching it multiple times a day. It'd be a good practice to get in, to start to learn to just clean that cell phone quite often during the day.

Jill:

Yeah, and can we talk about what to clean with because that's not necessarily ... There's lots of different cleaning agents, and so what should people be looking for?

Jo:

The biggest thing again, remember, touch. Touch and you've left soil on it. So ordinary soap and water reduces a lot of the bioload. Then if you're looking at things that are going to disinfect, remember the EPA standards. You want to look for things that have either quaternary ammoniums in them, sodium hypochlorite, or hydrogen peroxide. So remember to read labels.

Sue:

Basic bleach. Basic bleach and then-

Jo:

Is sodium hypochlorite.

Sue:

Yeah.

Jo:

Yep, that's sodium hypochlorite. But remember, use that in the appropriate-

Sue:

Dilution.

Jo:

Don't use straight bleach.

Sue:

No.

Jo:

Mix one-third cup with a gallon of cold water or four teaspoons with a quart of cold water. And to remember, if you're going to use it for disinfecting, it's got to be cold water. Hot water, the sodium hypochlorite will become ineffective. Remember that bleach can degrade over time, so don't stockpile it. To make sure your bleach and water mixture is effective, mix it the day you use it and protect it from sunlight.

Only use it to clean surfaces as organic materials inactivate bleach. Remember, bleach is a disinfectant. It's not meant for humans. It's not a skin antisepsis. If you're going to use skin antisepsis, remember, use the products that are meant for that, not the disinfectants.

Jill:

Sure, that goes into some of the crazy things we're hearing right now about people spraying Lysol on themselves or dipping their hands in the bleach water you're talking about. Sue, talk about, you had mentioned cleaning your phone, and obviously, we wouldn't do that with soap and water. So talk about what are some of those agents that could be used [crosstalk 00:15:16].

Sue:

Again, any of the ones that Jo mentioned you could use for those because it's a hard surface, so you can use the hard surface, and just the basic cloths, wipes that you have, or the Lysol wipes. Again, those that are on the EPA-approved and it's on the CDC website. So people can go look and see.

Jill:

Yeah.

Jo:

[crosstalk 00:15:39].

Sue:

Anything for hard surfaces.

Jill:

Sure. I'll share those.

Jo:

The other thing-

Jill:

I'll share those.

Jo:

... people could use is alcohol, but just remember, it's 70% alcohol to disinfect. But to remember that alcohol is flammable, so to use it as a surface disinfectant in small surface areas and make sure and use it in well-ventilated spaces.

Jill:

Sure. That's what I've been using to clean my phone and have for years is alcohol, rubbing alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, the 71% that you're talking about. I used to spray it on a paper towel and wash my phone with that, and let it evaporate. Yeah, that's what I've been doing my-

Jo:

Some people have begun to think the alcohol you drink is a substitute. It's not. You have to look at things that are 70% and over, and none of us should be drinking any alcohol that's 70% or over.

Jill:

Right, exactly, so that's another myth.

Sue:

I know some of the distributors are basically saying, "Do not use our alcohol." They're having to go out and tell people not to use it, and just understanding the basics, but that's true.

Jill:

Yeah, right, right. In our show notes today, we'll share links to CDC's lists of recommended cleaners they have right now.

Jo:

Yeah, there's some great links.

Jill:

Yeah, and they have two specific links, one for cleaning agents that are EPA-approved right now for porous surfaces, and also for those surfaces that are non-porous. When people look at those links, ladies, could maybe each of you take a turn and describe what's a porous surface and what's a non-porous surface, so people understand what that is in case they're not familiar?

Jo:

I always think about things like tabletops, hard surfaces as being non-porous. And you're right. Things that if you wipe them down, you can feel the liquid on it afterwards, that's non-porous. That means it's going to soak in. You are right. You don't want something that absorbs some of that chemical, so you want to be very careful about your selection, as well as what we referred to earlier, and that is the website also is great if a family member is sick as to handle dishes and laundry. It gives some good, common sense hints for what to do during that time.

Jill:

Yeah, good. Sue, how about you?

Sue:

Yeah, so basically, to follow-up on that, a dishwasher is really good to use and put your dishes in there because that gets hot enough, and it sanitizes. You're actually saving water when you use a dishwasher. Sometimes people might want to wash up a few dishes on their own, and you can, but if you have a dishwasher, this would be a great time to just say, especially your utensils and your plates and things, to really just go ahead and use your dishwasher now because it does get cleaner and it gets more sanitized.

I would say that-

Jo:

If you use something to wipe down surfaces like a sponge, when you run the dishwasher, the sponge goes in also.

Jill:

Good to know.

Sue:

Yes, because that's another place where if you're rubbing it and it sits and sits there, then it could grow the microbes, so that's [crosstalk 00:19:03].

Jo:

It's wet. It's warm. It's a perfect surface to grow, so that's definitely an example of a non-porous surface.

Jill:

The sponge itself. Yeah, got it. Got it. Another thing that is happening right now as our healthcare institutions, especially our hospitals and our long-term care facilities, have closed their doors to visitors. That causes a little anxiety for people who have family members who may be in a long-term care facility or who may be hospitalized right now. Can you talk about what that means from an infection control perspective and why that's important right now and it's not intended to make people feel bad?

Jo:

No, and again, we talked about the bioload. We all have a bioload, but the unfortunate thing with the current Coronavirus is you could be incubating it for a day or two before you even are feeling badly, and you're exposing other people. So we do know that you increase the mass, you increase the exposure. To try and flatten the curve, this is an aggressive stance. But a lot of times, people think, "Oh, that little cough," but that little cough could be the death of someone else.

Sue:

You're really preventing. It's really for the people that are there. We know that this virus is harder on elderly, so the rates of having problems or having it be more serious go up after 60, go up even more after 70, and significantly more over 80 years old. What we're trying to do is keep the people that, if you're in a hospital, you probably have-

Jo:

You're ill.

Sue:

... and underlying condition. So you're going to be more at risk. The prevention of visitors or stopping visitors is really to really protect those people that are already ill.

Jo:

And people who are in long-term care facilities it's age and often other comorbidities, so they're in a very vulnerable state.

Jill:

What you're describing are what we've been hearing about, at-risk populations, at-risk communities. Sue, you just mentioned, kind of age break downs. Would you mind kind of reviewing that piece with us, and how that kind of goes up with age considering if they have other health issues as well?

Sue:

Right. Well, basically, as we age and as we get over 60, our immune system does not work quite as efficiently as it did when we were younger, even if you're well. Basically, we just know that if you're between 60 and 70, they say that your risk rises 4%. If you're 70 to 80, it's up to 10%. Over 80, about 15% of people that get the virus are really at risk for serious illness. It's just a matter of the aging process.

There's also some factors. How well are you? What kind of self-care are you doing? A lot of people that are older are in quite good health, but still, the risk goes up. If you have an underlying condition, which is like if you have heart disease, or if you have been a heavy smoker, or if you have lung disease, or if you have diabetes, or if you have high blood pressure, any of those conditions will make you at higher risk in addition to your age.

Jo:

As well as when you think about people with certain cancers, blood cancers, you're more vulnerable. We know that Coronavirus seems to have a significant impact on the lungs, so anybody who has any kind of asthma, any kind of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, those are the kinds of comorbidities that you hear being discussed as being risk factors in this particular situation.

Jill:

Yeah, it's so-

Sue:

The good news is that it doesn't seem to affect children very much. When they get the disease, it seems to be mild. But they can transmit it. 80% of people that get it at any age are going to have a very mild or moderate disease. It's just like a bad cold. That's the good news on it is that 80% of people will have a mild cold probably and be fine.

The bad news is that when you are transmitting it, and it can be transmitted to these people that are older or vulnerable. That's why we have to be so careful.

Jo:

I think that's why what we're really seeing a call to be as community activists. Not just for you or me, but our entire community. Somebody just recently described it as if we look at not beyond ourselves, but looking at the three Cs of being caring, being a community, and showing compassion. If we, each day, take a moment to do something for someone else other than ourselves, that is compassion. That's the one thing this virus gives us a chance to do, is step forward and shine in all three of these characteristics.

Sue:

I think that's really-

Jill:

So talk about ...

Sue:

... really a good point. Also, buy what you need, but don't more than you need. Most people will not need a mask because those need to be saved for the health professionals and the first responders. Really, for the most part, people do not need to buy masks and worry about masks. You should buy, but you don't need to overbuy because we want to share and make sure that everybody gets basically their needs met.

Jo:

It's a time to step back. You don't have to be in the community. You can step back into your home and look in your home, how you can reach out and do something for somebody else.

Jill:

Yeah, so let's talk more about that. I love how both of you set this up from the beginning, thinking of Florence Nightingale. We may even have a picture in our minds of who Florence Nightingale was and how we can be those good stewards. You're talking specifically about compassion, and that goes hand in hand with the profession that you both chose for your careers. Talk about what compassion looks like right now, particularly when it's like well, we're not necessarily going over to our friend's house to sit with them. What does compassion look like right now?

Jo:

Compassion can mean leaving food on the doorstep of your neighbor who's working in a nursing home. You know that they're stressed with staffing. They're trying to calm their residents who can't see their family members, and so they're giving, giving, giving. So you can walk over and slip something on their doorstep to give some gas back into their tank to continue their work.

Sue:

I think another thing is just call, especially those ... Some people like private time. Some people really love to be with people, and it's really harder for them. Making a phone call to people and just say, "How you doing? Is there anything you need? Can I run to the store for you?" Those kinds of things are really, really helpful.

Jo:

And just checking on people you know that either, as Sue alluded too, need people or people who are vulnerable in your neighborhood.

Jill:

Yeah.

Jo:

Or people who they don't have to be in your neighborhood, but people that you know deserve a little check-in.

Jill:

Yeah, let's talk a bit more about social distancing. Sue, you just mentioned running out to grab something for someone. Obviously, we're doing that as limited as possible, the running out and grabbing something, but if we have to go somewhere for something critical, talk about what that social distancing should feel and look like.

Jo:

I try to look at stores in their quiet times, so if I absolutely have to go, and really try to be mindful about go in for what you need. No longer is it a time to kind of shop. For the routine shopping, is it something that I need to do, or can it wait? And I choose to wait.

Jill:

Yeah, that's so important.

Sue:

Again, washing your hands before you go, washing your hands when you come back. I have hand sanitizer in my car because I don't have running water there, so I use that when I don't have running water to just kind of frequently before you go in somewhere and out, but limiting where you go. I know some of the grocery stores have started saying in the first part of the day now, it's going to be limited to seniors, and they've washed. I think stores are being careful to clean much more significantly than they were.

Then, not going at busy times is an important part too. Some stores will deliver, and that's nice too. If you're really high-risk, call a friend and say, "Could you pick this up for me," or call your grocery and say, "Can you deliver" because I think that's starting to happen more and more.

Jill:

Yeah, it can be frightening time right now as we're all thinking and hearing about things happening around the world. We're talking about what we all can do as individuals because it really will take all of us to flatten this curve. But those stressors take a toll on people, so I'm wondering, from a nurses' perspective, Sue, I know that you've got some thoughts on this. When kids have questions right now, specifically as they're listening and hearing the adults in their lives acting and reacting, how should we be with our children right now?

Sue:

Oh, I think the first most important thing is to be a good role model because children always learn by what they see probably more than by what you tell them. If you are role-modeling washing your hands and wiping things down and just doing relaxing things and trying to take care of your own personal health, I think that's number one.

I think number two is, for the younger child, just answer their questions briefly. Sometimes people go on and on and on with a lot of data, and children at the younger ages just need a brief answer. You could even say, "Do you have any questions?" Because they're hearing things on the TV and from people, and then answer it briefly like, "It's like a cold." Answer. Don't go overboard on answering to young children with more information than they need.

Then reassure them like, "We're working to keep you safe. We're doing these things to be safe." Just reassure them that the adults in their life will be taking care of them. Then also teach them so they can be in control too. Say, "That's why we wash our hands, and let's do it." Make it fun. Do a new song, or do it together, and teach them the correct way. Then it's something they can do, and it gives them a little more control.

When they get a little older, then you can start to say, especially, "This is the virus. This is scientifically what's happening. This is why we're doing ... What questions do you have?" Because they may be hearing things from friends, or they may be hearing things on social media that aren't accurate, so you can give them information that's accurate, so they're not worried about things that are unnecessary.

Jo:

Kids are black and white too, and this is a very fluid situation. To model that, this is what I know now, and it could change.

Sue:

Yeah. The other things you can teach them is the basic things. Like I said, handwashing, coughing into your sleeve, or doing an elbow bump. You can teach them things that they should be doing too so that they've got the basics, and that gives them something that they can feel good about.

Jill:

Yeah, what about mental health considerations for adults right now from a nurses' point of view?

Sue:

From a mental health perspective, I think one of the things you should do is really think about practicing self-care. Interestingly enough, exercise and just getting out of the house and moving, that's one of the things. You can walk in the park. You can go for a walk. It's interesting how so many studies have shown that just basic walking can increase your endorphins and make you feel better. It's better for your mind, body, and spirit. That's a basic something that most everyone can do.

Eating healthy. We say it all the time, but this is a really good time to have your fruits and vegetables and making sure that you're not overdoing it on like the sweets and the donuts and those kinds of things. Then basic things like for some people it's prayer, that prayer is helpful, or meditation or yoga or whatever spiritual activity you believe in can be really helpful now. Just taking care of all your physical ... We're talking a lot about physical, but there's also the mind, body, spirit that we need to think about.

Jill:

Yeah, that's a-

Sue:

Some other things, we need to listen to media, and we need to hear what's going on. We need to stay up to date, but sometimes, I think we need to pull away and just take a break. Turn that off. Put on some quiet music or something relaxing, and then go back and listen again, so we get the information we need but not just bombard ourselves with ... Because it's hard to hear about all the cases and all of this, and sometimes it gets kind of overwhelming.

That's kind of true for kids too. I think it's good to live it. You want them to watch some of their favorite programs and everything, but, after a while, maybe just turn off that TV for a while or the radio for a while and have some quiet time or have something that isn't so intrusive.

Jill:

Yeah, right. I know I've been doing that myself too as an adult. It's like how can I break away? And doing many of the things that you're suggesting, Sue, as well to try to give your mind a chance to have a rest and breathe back into ourselves and calming ourselves down.

Sue:

And calling a friend. We thrive on our friendships. I kind of thought, "Well, one thing I'm going to do is just call a different friend every day." Just stay connected. Or a family member or something, just to stay ... Because we need that personal connection too, and then we can find out how is somebody doing. If we know they're doing okay, then we feel better too.

Jill:

Absolutely. Absolutely. For our listeners who are wondering, "Well, what happened to Jo's voice now?" Jo had to duck out of our recording at this point. All of your voices are so well needed right now, and so I just want to thank Jo for her time on the podcast today.

Sue, I'm wondering, as you were saying, giving ourselves a break from some of the media and you were also mentioning reliable sourcing, can you talk about maybe some of the myths that people have been ... If you want to do some myth-busting, now would be a nice time maybe if you want to mention some of those things.

Sue:

Well, I think one of the really sad myths that was out there is that people of different ethnics groups like this disease when we first recognized it coming out of Wuhan, China. I think people were starting to say, "Oh, if they someone that looked Chinese or looked Asian," that they were afraid of them and wanted to stay away from them.

First of all, this disease is not limited to any ethnic group or any age group. I think a myth is that we need to be supportive of each other, all ethnic backgrounds, and we also need to be careful with some of the things we've talked about, but it's a myth that it just would be coming from one race or one ethnic group too. I think that's one of the things to think about.

I think it's a myth, like some of the things we talked about, that you if you use alcohol. There are some things on the internet. This is a vaccine. This will fix you if you use this. This will be fine. There isn't. There isn't any cure. There isn't any known treatment. There isn't any vaccine yet, although people are working on it. If something sounds too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true, and you should just go back to those basics that we talked about. I think that's another concern.

Jill:

And home remedies as well, like if you do this, you won't get it, right?

Sue:

Right, right.

Jill:

There's some of that too.

Sue:

Right, there's some of those home remedies, but go back to, like we said, to those websites you've talked about, the CDC and the World Health Organization because there are some home remedies that you can mix up and can be good. But follow the guidelines and have it be from a known source that you trust.

Jill:

Right, right.

Sue:

I think we're fortunate that we've got a lot of people working on this. There's a lot of experts and epidemiologists and people really working hard to give us the data. I think one of the things that's hard about this virus is it's new. It's called a novel virus because it's new. So we don't have a lot of long-term research or data to tell us exactly.

We're getting kind of changes in real-time. We're learning new things all the time, but the basics are standing true, the basic handwashing and keeping things disinfected and limiting contact with people. Those are standing true.

Jill:

Doing the things that Florence Nightingale discovered so long ago.

Sue:

Like we talked about, sometimes it's so simple it doesn't seem like that's all you can do, but some of these simple remedies are just very useful and very powerful and something everyone can do. So everyone can play a role, and everyone can play a part in kind of keeping this virus at bay, keeping it from taking and taking over.

Jill:

Yeah. None of the things that you've shared today are things that are out of reach for any of us, whether we're at work or whether we're at home or whether we're a child.

Sue:

Exactly. Yep. Everyone can play a role, and I think everyone needs to play a role. Like Jo mentioned, this is a time to show compassion to each other and for each other. Some of the things we're doing are helping ourselves, but they may be helping the most vulnerable in our community even more than ourselves. That's what we need to be thinking about.

Jill:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Sue, are there any other things that you'd like to share with our audience today from a nurse's perspective that may be helpful, things people can do, or reassurances?

Sue:

Well, again, like I said, I think we're well-positioned in this country to have the resources we need to combat this virus, but it is going to take everyone. Going back to nurses, I think we had mentioned that some of the protections that we're doing like not over-buying masks is so that these things can be there for our nurses and our first responders. You're just showing that compassion and checking in with people and listening to the experts, listening to the experts and following their guidance, and not second-guessing or saying, "I don't want to do that," or it doesn't affect you because this affects everyone. It's not just about one person. This does affect everyone.

Jill:

Yeah, the whole human family.

Sue:

The whole human family. That's right.

Jill:

Sue, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today.

Sue:

Yeah, very much enjoyed it. Thank you.

Jill:

Yeah, and thank you all for spending your time listening today. More importantly, thank you for your contribution, making sure your workers, including your temporary workers and your family members, make it home safe every day. If you'd like to join the conversation about this episode or any of our previous episodes, follow our page and join the Accidental Safety Pro community group on Facebook.

If you're not subscribed and want to hear past and future episodes, you can subscribe in iTunes, the Apple Podcast app, or any other podcast player that you'd like. You can also find all of the episodes with transcriptions at vividlearningsystems.com/podcast.

We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review us on iTunes. It really helps us connect the show with more and more safety professionals like you and I. And share this episode as you wish with any of your friends. If you have a suggestion for a guest or a topic, including if it's you, please contact me at [email protected]. Special thanks to Will Moss, our podcast producer. Until next time, thanks for listening.