Dean M. Hashimoto, Associate Professor at Boston College Law School and Chief Medical Officer for Workplace Health and Wellness at Mass General Brigham, gave a presentation supporting mask use and further measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Based on his upcoming book, his lecture for the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College explains why masks are the most critical public health tool for controlling the pandemic. His legal research revolves around recognizing and enforcing rules within organizations, primarily hospitals, and has recently focused on coronavirus masking policies.
Purpose – In this commentary, the authors consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted immigrant education and professional communities in schools, discussing the implications of these shifts for school leaders in the United States.
Design/methodology/approach – After providing an overview of relevant issues, the authors explore four specific areas for leaders to reflect on in their work.
Findings – The pandemic presents so many challenges to immigrant communities and educators. The reshaping of professional community in schools can help ameliorate these issues.
Originality/value – Our commentary contributes some initial insights to the evolving equity issues emerging in the midst of pandemic
As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, it is becoming increasingly evident that many on the frontlines are, understandably, distressed. Distressed by the high volumes of patients and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). Anxious about not having enough ventilators as they face unprecedented resource allocation decisions. Grieving from watching patients die alone, health care workers, first responders and chaplains may experience moral distress due to the COVID-19 crisis, and this can affect them psychologically, morally and spiritually. It is incumbent on Catholic hospitals and long-term care facilities to care for their personnel, with particular focus on the frontliners who are experiencing more of this kind of harm.
Journal of the Catholic Health Association of the United States
In the fall of 1918, the influenza pandemic tore across the world. Public health nurses in cities throughout this country cared for some of the most vulnerable—sick children and families from poor communities, their fragile economies further devastated by this scourge. At that time, nurses’ practices were governed by Florence Nightingale’s precepts of good hygiene, nutrition, fresh air, and rest. They worked to do right by their patients, but their ability to make a difference was tempered by the lack of existing knowledge and resources needed to provide the most efficacious care possible
COVID-19 fatalities exemplify “bad deaths” and are distinguished by physical discomfort, difficulty breathing, social isolation, psychological distress, and care that may be discordant with the patient’s preferences. Each of these death attributes is a well-documented correlate of bereaved survivors’ symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger. Yet the grief experienced by survivors of COVID-related deaths is compounded by the erosion of coping resources like social support, contemporaneous stressors including social isolation, financial precarity, uncertainty about the future, lack of routine, and the loss of face-to-face mourning rituals that provide a sense of community and uplift. National efforts to enhance advance care planning may help dying patients to receive care that is concordant with the preferences of them and their families. Virtual funeral services, pairing bereaved elders with a telephone companion, remote counseling, and encouraging “continuing bonds” may help older adults adapt to loss in the time of pandemic.
