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The Use Of N95 Masks Versus Surgical Masks

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At OHSU’s Bone Marrow Transplant unit (BMT) and at the outpatient center for Hematologic Malignancies (CHM) clinic, BMT patients are not fitted for N95 masks, yet they are being asked to wear them. Therefore, the current issue is whether or not the unfitted N95 masks are actually more beneficial than surgical masks for the patients. This is because we are asking them to be worn while not fitting them. I selected this topic because I noticed there were inconsistencies within the practice of each nurse regarding the use of N95 masks versus surgical masks. When I probed deeper, I realized that some of the nurses didn’t know OHSU policy and were using best practice from another institution, which stated to use surgical masks when transporting patients off of the unit. This made me wonder why different institutions would have different policies and what the actual best practice is according to evidence. The OHSU Policy #HC-NSG-BMT-205-POL Infection Control Policy for Adult and Pediatric Oncology/Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) Units states that patients shall wear an N-95 mask when outside the HEPA-filtered environment (OHSU, 2016).
This is important to me from a leadership role development because as an informal nurse leader, it is my responsibility to own my own practice. In order to do this appropriately, I must fully understand the policy of my place of employment and if that policy is not aligned with current best evidence, it is my responsibility to

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