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Staffing of Neuroanesthesia and Neurosurgery Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Markus M. Luedi, MD, MBA
Bern, Switzerland

Dr. Luedi
Markus M. Luedi, MD, MBA

The health of hospital staff is essential for avoiding a collapse of healthcare institutions and systems during a pandemic such as the one caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). While this is obviously important in intensive care units (ICUs) we hypothesized that staffing models which take the epidemiology of COVID-19 into account can help reducing the number of infected staff and scheduling staff according to COVID-19’s epidemiological characteristics can help to reduce the increase the chances of operational functionality of healthcare facilities. The article including various staffing models and comprehensive statistical modeling was recently published Open Access in Anesthesia & Analgesia.1

Correctly, Dr. Ahmed Habib and Dr. Pascal O. Zinn from the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA commented that such a model, with some modifications, “should be considered for understaffed institutions as well as institutions with lesser logistics stockpile”.2 The Department of Neurosurgery has e.g. divided its residents into two teams with alternating weekly shifts and with minimal contact between the teams to both reduce the risk of exposure and enable rest to avoid burnout.2 They report that none of the acute care services experienced any disadvantage following this logic.2  

While theoretical benefits of epidemiology-adjusted staffing can obviously be helpful during a pandemic, Dr. Steven Boggs, from the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, TN cautions to “calculate the COVID-19 equation with the people’s energy as key variable”.3 Their department installed a “buddy system with daily check-ins” to ensure detecting health problems directly and indirectly caused by the pandemic.3

Obviously, pandemic-adjusted staffing must include all acute care services. In the best case, dividing and changing staff in a parallel schedule. For neurosurgical services, this might include anesthesia, intensive care, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, and other involved specialties.

  1. Mascha EJ, Schober P, Schefold JC, Stueber F, Luedi MM. Staffing with disease-based epidemiologic indices may reduce shortage of intensive care unit staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anesthesia & Analgesia: April 7, 2020 - Volume Publish Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000004849
  2. Habib A, Zinn PO. Optimizing clinical staffing in times of a pandemic crisis such as COVID-19. Letter, Anesthesia & Analgesia: April 22, 2020 - Volume Publish Ahead of Print. doi:10.1213/ANE.0000000000004903
  3. Boggs SD. Calculate the COVID-19 equation with the people’s energy as key variable, Anesthesia & Analgesia: April 16, 2020 - Volume Publish Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000004892

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