key: cord-0978192-k7q3ja2t
authors: Stannard, Daphne
title: Learning and Leading: The Impact of COVID‐19 in Perioperative Areas
date: 2021-02-03
journal: AORN J
DOI: 10.1002/aorn.13315
sha: 905e6f2893de2084e81f75de10519f9979b10ebf
doc_id: 978192
cord_uid: k7q3ja2t

nan

Because the science is still evolving, there is much we do not know. However, as clinicians, we cannot wait for definitive answers; patients and their families need our care and expertise now. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and countless other agencies have issued varying levels of guidance, AORN has rapidly disseminated targeted perioperative information in the form of joint statements with other professional organizations 3 and a digital tool kit available on the AORN web site. 4 Early published peer-reviewed reports have described operational changes in perianesthesia and perioperative areas that have been implemented in the face of this new infectious threat. 5, 6 Additionally, articles are now widely available that show innovative ways to safely adapt anesthesia machines into ventilators and methods to transform blue surgical wrap into much needed surgical masks. 7, 8 Because of the transmissibility and virulence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, many reports have focused on personal protective equipment and safety measures related to aerosolizing procedures and surgical smoke. [9] [10] [11] The articles and research papers referenced in this editorial were carefully selected to represent larger bodies of inquiry and advancements, but the situation on the ground is far from settled. The virus mutates; our therapies improve; the science continues to inform; and clinicians nimbly adapt to the ever-changing practices, surgical populations, and safety protocols. Early groundbreaking research has demonstrated that surgical patients with COVID-19 are at higher risk for postoperative mortality. 12 As such, we must continue to learn, improve, and innovate.

The articles selected for this special issue of the AORN Journal are the start, not the end, of describing improved care for perioperative patients with COVID-19 and their families, environmental safeguards for our workplaces, and enhanced training and professional development to ensure that all clinicians are competent to safely deliver care during this extraordinary time. This issue is dedicated to our brave patients and their families and to the perioperative nursing heroes who deliver excellent, evidence-based perioperative care daily and, often, against all odds.

WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 -11

COVID-19: impact on perianesthesia nursing areas

Joint Statement: Roadmap for Maintaining Essential Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) AORN Tool Kit. AORN

Surgery in COVID-19 patients: operational directives

COVID-19: initial perioperative and perianesthesia nursing response in a military medical center

Anesthesia machines provide lifesaving support. Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Create your own surgical masks. Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Peri-procedure attire in the age of COVID-19

An update on the perioperative considerations for COVID-19 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Operating during COVID-19: is there a risk of viral transmission from surgical smoke during surgery?

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study