As the COVID -19 pandemic wreaked full-fledged havoc in 2020, the healthcare sector was faced with so many challenges. Some of them were beyond comprehension and it took a while for medical faculties to find a way out of them. 2021 did come as sunshine for many countries with the beginning of vaccine administration. However, the struggle continues for many nations like India who saw the actual face of the pandemic in its second wave.

But the lessons from the last year did come in handy and will keep directing the medical sector in the future as well. With the beginning of the vaccination process, medical staff need to take in keynotes of how they can remain safe and secure during such times.

Apart from the challenges for the healthcare sector, COVID-19 also brought to light the amount of violence medical faculties are subjected to. A report stated that healthcare settings see four times more violence than other industries. Precisely, 96% of male nurses and 85% female counterparts face abuse are physically threatened by patients they are treating. Considering the level of impact, it is vital to address this issue on a priority basis. Upgrading technology to better communication in a medical setting can be a potential way to make the staff feel secure in such settings. Here are some ways that can be employed for the same.

·         Emergency Pop Notifying Critical Information

No other industry needs an emergency notification system like a medical one. With multimodal alerts, all the parties, including the hospital staff, patient, emergency room staff, etc. must be sent information in real time.

There are various ways that can be used to send across the notification. Email updates, text messages, call, push notification, etc. are some popular ways of approaching this task. Currently, with the administration of vaccines, staff must be sent details related to its distribution plan. Post COVID, an emergency notification system will prove useful in sending details of situations like a flu outbreak, shortage of medicine, extreme weather change, and the like.

·         Incorporating Incident Collaboration Tools

Hospitals often work through a very complex mechanism. This is because every hospital is divided in building, then in departments, and then comes the governmental jurisdiction that is followed by the system, and so on. The use of an incident collaboration tool in such a setting is to get all the parties involved at one platform. This will help in streamlining work better. As everybody falls in the same loop, you are assured of everyone being informed about the progress and emergency, if any. Having such a tool also ensures that you are governed by laws that are administered for a medical setting.

As this system comes into progress, the flow of work can be very well evaluated and improved in case of any loopholes.

·         Paving Way for Two Way Communication

The global pandemic has made us realise the importance of two way communication. That is the only way of knowing how many patients are coming in, how many are testing positive, what medical course is being adopted, recovery rate, etc. Communicating two ways also helps you understand the availability slots of staff members and how to cater to the rising demand. Even the vaccination process calls for the aforesaid communication as it is critical to note the side effects of vaccination, its effectiveness, and guidelines for second dose.

Wrapping Up

Understanding and valuing the medical staff is important for heightened experience of satisfaction for both parties. In a chaotic situation like the pandemic, abuse against the staff is overlooked. Fear of being unheard and job necessity pop up as two reasons why they do not prefer reporting abusive incidents. Reports have suggested that staff tend to report cases of violence when they are allowed to do so anonymously. Anonymous tip solution is not only effective in reporting cases of violence, but also in putting forth day-to-day situations like shortage of some supply, behaviour of higher authorities, and the like.

The pandemic has set its ground firm as of now. While some months, we saw a consistent decrease in positivity rate, it suddenly took a scary leap. The only way to tackle the emergency of these situations is to have a hands on communication system with the staff.