key: cord-336133-kpzjrj15
authors: Choi, Kristen R.; Skrine Jeffers, Kia; Cynthia Logsdon, M.
title: Nursing and the novel coronavirus: Risks and responsibilities in a global outbreak
date: 2020-04-15
journal: J Adv Nurs
DOI: 10.1111/jan.14369
sha: 
doc_id: 336133
cord_uid: kpzjrj15

In December of 2019, reports emerged of pneumonia clusters of unknown cause at health facilities in Wuhan, China. These cases were linked to a wet animal wholesale market in the region and, after extensive epidemiologic investigation, led to identification of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is among a family of viruses-called coronaviruses-that can affect both humans and animals (Zhu et al., 2020).

In December 2019, reports emerged of pneumonia clusters of unknown cause at health facilities in Wuhan, China. These cases were linked to a wet animal wholesale market in the region and, after extensive epidemiologic investigation, led to identification of a novel coronavirus . COVID-19 is among a family of virusescalled coronaviruses -that can affect both humans and animals (Zhu et al., 2020) . Coronavirus infections are respiratory in nature and can range from the common cold with mild symptoms to more severe infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Perlman, 2020; World Health Organization [WHO] , 2020). The newly identified COVID-19 infection typically presents as fever, tiredness, fatigue, and dry cough . However, more severe symptoms such as dyspnoea, diarrhoea, pneumonia, and others have been reported. As of 9 March 2020, cases of COVID-19 have been reported in countries across the world. The global number of reported cases has surpassed 100,000 with almost 4,000 deaths (WHO, 2020). China remains the highest risk area but, clearly, COVID-19 is a global health problem.

Nurses are central to COVID-19 prevention and response efforts. Nursing is the largest healthcare profession in the US and the world, with approximately 3.8 million nurses in the US and over 20 million nurses worldwide. Nurses are providing front-line care in the most patient-facing role to complex COVID-19 cases that require hospitalization. Individuals who have preexisting health vulnerabilities are at greatest risk for COVID-19 complications or mortality and nursing resources are critical to managing this population. Public health experts predict that healthcare and hospital resources will become even more urgently needed as COVID-19 spreads in communities (Jiang et al., 2020; Pan, Wang, & Huang, 2020) . As one of the most trusted health professional groups, nurses also play a key role in providing public education on disease prevention and reducing the spread of misinformation around the outbreak. There has been widespread misinformation on how COVID-19 is transmitted, who is at risk of transmitting or receiving the virus and where outbreaks are occurring (Wen, Aston, Liu, & Ying, 2020) . For example, in some cases, Chinese and other Asian individuals have been assumed to be at higher risk for being infected with COVID-19 simply because of their nationality or race, resulting in stigma and xenophobia (Wen et al., 2020) . There has also been misinformation about appropriate use of face masks. Some individuals have assumed that Despite these occupational risks and the immediate need for health system interventions to support nurses, nursing also has unique responsibilities in the COVID-19 outbreak. Nurses will continue to be at the front line of patient care in hospitals and closely involved with assessment and monitoring in outpatient and community settings. 

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