UNCH 2021 Nursing Annual Report - 9

A Letter From Paula Fessler
Magnet® Stories
Nursing Staff Recognition Awards
Professional Accomplishments
MAGNET® STORIES
Throughout COVID, nursing continued to strive for
patient- and family-centered care. In an effort to do
so, COVID visitation was opened in February 2021.
UNC Hospitals was among the first in the area to allow
routine visitation for COVID patients. This was initiated
by nursing staff, who shared families' stress when they
could only connect with patients virtually. In partnership
with infection prevention and other interprofessional
colleagues, a process for safe visitation was
implemented, creating a 'win' for patients, their families,
and teammates.
2021 was challenging, yet successful for the
Occupational Health (OHS) team, which worked to
contain COVID infection among health care personnel.
During multiple surges, OHS staff was supported
by nurses, clinical staff, and advanced practice
practitioners primarily from outpatient clinics, float pool,
and, more recently, shared services and quality areas.
They helped operate the OHS COVID hotline, interview
COVID-positive employees, staff booster clinics for
health care personnel, and provide their regular
essential services to maintain a safe and
healthy workforce.
In the Outpatient setting, novel infusion treatments
were provided to patients at high risk for disease
progression and hospitalization, including at a new site
at Meadowmont. David Wohl, MD, medical director of
the Meadowmont infusion center, stated he was " in awe
of the hard work UNC teammates have been doing
for so long in so many ways to push back against this
pandemic. " Across the system, over 17,000 patients
benefited from this cutting-edge care.
This past year, staff across the organization have
continued to provide the highest level of care to our
pandemic population. Everyone is looking forward to
reaching an endemic state with COVID. Many thanks to
our team for the work they continue to do!
2021 Nursing Annual Report | 9
UNCH 2021 Nursing Annual Report

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of UNCH 2021 Nursing Annual Report
