Becker's Hospital Review

98 CMO / CARE DELIVERY IU Health caregivers lacked 'empathy and compassion' for Black physician who died of COVID-19, review finds By Mackenzie Bean I ndianapolis-based Indiana University Health is working to address implicit racial bias among staff and improve cultural competency after an external review found a "lack of empathy and compassion" in the care of a Black physician being treated at the system for COVID-19 late last year, CEO Dennis Murphy said May 12. Susan Moore, MD, was diagnosed with COVID-19 Nov. 29, 2020, and admitted to Carmel, Ind.-based IU Health North Hospital. Dr. Moore said the white physician who was treat- ing her downplayed her pain complaints and said he felt uncomfortable giving her more drugs. "I was crushed. He made me feel like I was a drug addict," she said in a Dec. 4 Facebook video taken from her hos- pital bed. "I maintain if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that." Dr. Moore died of complications from the virus Dec. 20 at age 52. After her death, Mr. Murphy called for an external review of Dr. Moore's case. A panel of six healthcare experts determined that medi- cal management and technical care did not contribute to Dr. Moore's death. However, they found a lack of cultural competence among providers and said "several caregiv- ers lacked empathy, compassion and awareness of im- plicit racial bias in the delivery and communication of Dr. Moore's care." "We owe it to our patients to always show up for them, to treat them with dignity and respect, to appreciate their per- spectives, and to validate their feelings when they are in our care," Mr. Murphy wrote in a statement on IU Health's website. "We did not live up to these values with Dr. Moore and acknowledge that we have more to do to become a more diverse, inclusive and anti-racist health system." IU Health is developing a timeline and accountability struc- ture for this work based on the panel's recommendations, which includes refining its patient advocacy system and conducting more staff training and education on diversity, equity and inclusion. n National Nurses United 'outraged' over CDC's rolled-back mask guidance By Erica Carbajal N ational Nurses United, the country's largest nurses union, has condemned the CDC's decision to roll back indoor mask guidance for fully vaccinated people. e agency's guidance, announced May 13, said fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks or follow social distanc- ing guidelines in most indoor settings. "is newest CDC guidance is not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of patients, nurses, and other frontline workers across the country," Bonnie Castillo, RN, executive director of the union, said in a May 14 statement. "Now is not the time to relax protective measures, and we are outraged that the CDC has done just that while we are still in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in a century." e union said that daily U.S. infections in May continued to top 35,000, and that there are still unanswered questions over how long vaccine protection will last, among several other concerns. "CDC issued this new guidance even though the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis- tration emergency temporary standard man- dated by President Biden's Jan. 21 executive order has been delayed for two months," Ms. Castillo added. "is lack of protection com- pounds the dangers that nurses and other es- sential workers continue to face on the job." e California Nurses Association, a member of NNU, urged state officials not to follow the new guidance, the San Francisco Chronicle reported May 16. Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN, CNA president, told the Chronicle the rollback is a "big blow to the safety and welfare of our nurses, front line workers, as well as the patients." "We have to understand that the pandemic is not over," Ms. Triunfo-Cortez said. "ere continues to be high rates of infection and people continue to die, even nurses." e updated guidance is backed by "numer- ous reports in the literature that demonstrate the safety and real-world effectiveness of the authorized vaccines," Rochelle Walensky, MD, CDC director, said when announcing the rollback. She referenced six studies that supported the agency's decision to update guidance, including research that demon- strated vaccines were effective against circu- lating variants in the U.S. Dr. Walensky reiterated that the guidance was only meant for fully vaccinated people during a May 16 interview on Fox News. "If you are vaccinated, we are saying you are safe, you can take off your mask and you are not at risk of severe disease or hospitalization from COVID-19," she said. "If you are not vaccinated, you are not safe. Please go get vac- cinated or continue to wear your mask." People with immunocompromising condi- tions who are fully vaccinated should consult their physicians before forgoing pandem- ic safety guidelines, and communities with high caseloads should consider keeping mask requirements in place, Dr. Walensky told NBC May 16. "is was not permission to shed masks for everybody everywhere," she said. "is was really science-driven individual assessment of your risk." n

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