Angelbee Nursing & Other Home Care Services  Jamaica

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our personal and professional lives in ways that none of us could have foreseen. We must empower ourselves by the lessons learned and continue to protect ourselves, our families, and those with whom we come in contact. Remaining vigilant and taking necessary precautions whenever we feel at threat of an upper respiratory tract infection must now be our default setting.

 

As service providers who take personal care of our clients (nurses/caregivers) or come in contact with our client's personal belongings (housekeepers, cooks, Gardeners/Groundskeepers/Caretakers) through which infections can be easily transmitted, we must be alert and take the necessary actions to prevent this.

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Two sets of infections that are easily spread from service providers to their clients, based on the level of access they have to these clients, are respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections. For this reason, we have outlined two sets of protocols that must be observed by all Angelbee Nursing & Other Home Care Services’ service providers when in service to our clients, for the safety of all.

 

UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT SYMPTOMS/INFECTION PROTOCOLS

 

All service providers must observe the following:

 

1. Wear a properly fitting mask when you have symptoms of an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection or when you are in prolonged, close contact with anyone with such an infection.

2. If you are at home and develop symptoms of an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, report to your supervisor/client and ask if you may come in wearing a mask, then follow their directives. Do not show up at work with these symptoms without your supervisor/client knowing and agreeing that you should come in. Once in, assist to ensure that all necessary actions are taken to protect the household from any microorganism (germ) you might be carrying.

3. If you are on duty and develop symptoms of an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, discuss the matter with your supervisor/client and follow directives. If it is decided that you should remain on duty, put on a mask.

4. Where sneezing and/or coughing is present, sneeze and/or cough into a tissue large enough to cover both mouth and nose, discard it, and sanitize your hands thoroughly.

5. Sanitize your hands by washing with soap for 10-20 seconds or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer between activities, when you use your hands to touch anything that is not newly sanitized; and when you are not sure if your hands are clean for any reason.

6. If you take public transportation, sanitize your hands thoroughly when you get off the bus as microorganisms abound in public places.

7. Change your shoes when you arrive at work and before entering the inner house. This is best done at a spot designated for this and cannot be a part of the house where you go back and forth while you are in the home. This should be a spot beyond which shoes worn on the outside do not pass.

8. Wash or sanitize your hands after changing your shoes and before entering the house.

9. Remove the clothing worn to work and wash hands and exposed arms before putting on clean clothing that you will work in.

10. Stand upright and avoid leaning against surfaces when in public spaces. If this is impossible, sanitize and change clothing before engaging with clients, colleagues, or your household.

11. If you share a telephone, clean the phone with alcohol swabs frequently.

12. Use headphones or Bluetooth with your cellphones rather than taking the phone close to your mouth to speak as you frequently place your phone on surfaces that are not sanitized and any of these surfaces may be contaminated.

13. When you get home, remove your clothing, place it directly into the washing, and leave the shoes worn on the street outside the safe area in your home.  Bathe and change before interacting with your home and family.

14. Nurses escorting their clients to keep appointments outside of the home, please take along masks for yourself and your client and put them on if you are forced to remain in an enclosed space with anyone coughing, sneezing, or exhibiting any other upper respiratory tract signs. Do so discreetly and voice no comments about the person coughing/sneezing unless you are empathizing.

15. Sanitize yourself and the client when you return home.

 

GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT SYMPTOMS/INFECTION PROTOCOLS

 

All service providers must observe the following:

 

1. If you are at home, develop symptoms that include vomiting and/or diarrhea (running belly), are supposed to report to work, and your job includes handling food; stay home. Report this to your supervisor/client and stay away from work until your diarrhea stops.

2. If the symptoms start when you are already on duty, report this to your supervisor/client and go home. Do not provide any food service: no cooking and no uncooked meals.

3. If you have these symptoms and your job does not include direct patient care or food service, report to your supervisor and come to an agreement that suits both of you.

4. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and running water after each stool as this is the most effective thing a service provider can do, to prevent the spread of gastrointestinal infections. 

5. To help your recovery, replace your fluids. Drink, or sip if you are vomiting, sufficient fluid after each episode of vomiting or visit to the toilet as this will help to flush the organism (germs) from your body and prevent dehydration, which will weaken your body.

 

The gardener/Groundskeeper/Caretaker may question how their upper respiratory or gastrointestinal tract symptoms/infection could affect the client. Consider this; if you are reaping vegetables from the garden and supplying the kitchen, the chances of infecting someone in the house with an upper respiratory tract infection may be small, unless you breathe directly on the person to whom you make the delivery or contaminate a surface with which they will later come in contact, as the vegetables will be thoroughly washed and probably cooked. However, imagine reaping cherries, soursop, or some other such fruit, which can be a challenge to wash thoroughly, and will be used in their raw state. The chances of delivering an infection to the kitchen, if you have one, are multiplied, so please observe these protocols.

 

The button to take you to the Code of Conduct | Terms of Service, the next step of the application process is below.​

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