Reflect on what you learned from the John’s Hopkins University COVID-19 Contact Tracing Course. In a thoughtful, one- to two-paragraph post, describe ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Describe some of the common barriers to contact tracing efforts as well as strategies to overcome them. How will you apply what you learned to your future nursing practice?
Completing the John’s Hopkins Contact Tracing course has allowed me to have a deeper understanding of new vocabulary and practices that are used in public health emergencies. To some the words of ‘isolation’ and ‘quarantine’ may mean the same, but this course has laid out the foundation to understand the concepts more. There can be many barriers when an individual is notified that they may be a close contact of an individual with an illness such as COVID-19. The different examples of contact tracer phone calls and zoom sessions showed a marked difference in how the individual felt after the call and if they felt like they were educated and supported in the phone call. Having more contact tracers in the community can allow for more people to keep safe and be notified in a timely fashion. When approaching each conversation with a potential contact or positive case, the top things I noted to remember are: tell them this is a private and confidential space, that you are there to support them and help them find resources and to have a calm and warm presence over the phone to make them feel valued. If an individual is receiving a phone call there is a high chance they are already under a great deal of stress so attempting to lessen the burden and help them in any way that you can is essential. I will apply these concepts of approaching patients in a caring manner and make each person feel valued during each interaction. I also now have a better understanding of the terms that are used and can help differentiate and provide up-to-date information for my patients.
