Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

60 CLINICAL LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT How clinicians can combat anti-Asian racism: 3 takeaways By Mackenzie Bean T he COVID-19 pandemic has spurred an alarming jump in racial descrimination and violence against Asian Americans that physicians must address by tailoring their care practices, James Lee, MD, wrote in a commentary published March 24 in The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Lee, a psychiatry resident at the University of Washing- ton in Seattle, cited research from Pew showing 58 percent of Asian Americans believe this racism has increased since the pandemic started. Thirty-one percent reported being subjected to racist jokes or slurs, and 26 percent said they've feared being threatened or attacked in the last year. As a result, many Asian Americans have experienced sub- stantial distress amid an already challenging year of social isolation and financial hardship amid the pandemic. "Physicians can tailor their practices to meet this moment by creating a welcoming environment" for their Asian American patients and "identifying symptoms that stem from living in a racist environment," Dr. Lee wrote. Below are three ways clinicians can combat anti-Asian sen- timents and ensure Asian American patients feel safe. 1. Create a safe physical space for patients and staff. Since hate crimes can occur anywhere, some Asian American patients could feel unsafe or uncomfortable in healthcare settings, according to Dr. Lee. He said health- care facilities can make simple changes such as displaying information pamphlets in other languages and putting up signs that translators are available to make patients feel more comfortable and welcome. Creating a safe space for Asian Americans also means protecting Asian-American healthcare workers, Dr. Lee said. Organizations should implement cultural competency training — coupled with bystander intervention and crisis deescalation training — to empower healthcare workers to effectively respond to descrimniation in the workplace. 2. Have open discussions with patients about racism during visits. Creating a safe healthcare environment for Asian Americans can open the door for physicians to speak openly about racism with their patients. "I believe physicians should become comfortable asking whether patients have experienced racism — a question that could both signal that the physician is open to discuss- ing race and reframe a conversation to permit consider- ation of the effects of racism on health," Dr. Lee said. He added that clinicians can gently introduce the topic by asking whether Asian Americans feel safe in their homes or on public transit. 3. Connect patients to treatment and resources to reduce psychological strain. Patients who've experienced a hate crime or display symptoms linked to this racism should be connected to treatment. "Physicians can prophylactically address harms from anti-Asian sentiment, in part, by connecting patients with resources that might not have been considered if the con- versation were not directed toward race," Dr. Lee said. These small changes will allow clinicians to capture diagno- ses they might otherwise miss and to connect Asian Amer- ican patients with resources essential to their well-being, thereby providing holistic care that accounts for patients' lived experience of race, Dr. Lee said. n How Ochsner Health achieved zero COVID-19 deaths among nurses: Tracey Moffatt, CNO By Gabrielle Masson N ew Orleans-based Ochsner Health hadn't reported any COVID-19 deaths for its nursing staff across the entire system as of April 6. In March, Becker's highlighted results from an investigative report by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News that found nurses make up the highest per- centage of known U.S. healthcare staff deaths attributed to COVID-19. After seeing the report, Tracey Moffatt, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer at Ochsner, reached out to Becker's, knowing Ochs- ner's outcomes were remarkable compared to the rest of the country. With New Orleans being a COVID-19 hot spot early on, the 40-hospital system worked overtime to ensure its nurses were safe. Infection rate among Ochsner nurses Systemwide, Ochsner Health has more than 7,000 nurses, Ms. Moffatt said. Of those nurses, about 900 have had COVID-19 as of April 6, though it's unclear how many infections were contracted in the commu- nity. In the initial days of the pandemic, if an employee was potentially exposed to COVID-19, they were tested, and, while waiting for the results, put on paid leave. Employees now use their earned paid leave if affected by COVID-19, said Ms. Moffatt, adding that Ochsner doesn't want to have a loss of income associated with safety precautions. e system also provided staff guidelines for what symptoms to watch for and what precautions to take at home if infected with COVID-19. Systemwide safety protocols Infection control preventionists, leaders

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