- Education
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Among hospitalized patients, research frequently reports that the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 include:
Symptoms have been found to differ alongside the severity of the disease, and atypical presentations often occur.
The CDC is also currently investigating variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, several of which appear to spread more quickly and easily than other variants and may be associated with different symptoms and, therefore, treatments.
The American College of Gastroenterology, in partnership with other gastroenterology (GI) organizations, has released a message sharing additional GI-related COVID-19 symptoms:
People who are at a higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 symptoms include:
Additionally, nurse practitioners (NPs) should encourage extra precautions for patients who:
This association has a number of resources available for health care providers who treat patients with autoimmune disease, including free webinar recordings, frequently asked questions (FAQs), informational pieces written by AARDA leadership and much more.
This association offers a COVID-19 hub, with resources including journal articles, webinars, podcast episodes, operational guidance, clinical guidance and more.
ADA has hosted a webinar series for health care providers and people with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from the impact COVID-19 can have on youth with diabetes and families in quarantine to inpatient care questions.
The AHA has helpful resources for health systems, clinics, care providers, patients and the public, including clinical research journal articles, informational videos, podcast episodes, emergency guidance and more.
Patients with addiction are a vulnerable population, facing multiple challenges during COVID-19. The ASAM Caring for Patients During the COVID-19 (CPDC) Task Force was started to provide the most up-to-date resources for clinicians regarding addiction medicine treatment.
Learn from ADCES diabetes experts, who provide insight on topics like telehealth, coping with COVID-19, reducing risk and problem-solving, medication resources, misinformation and disease prevention.
HHS announced a national hotline to connect people with disabilities to information and services to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines. DIAL is now available to help people with disabilities find vaccination locations in their communities, assist callers with making vaccination appointments and connect callers to local services, such as accessible transportation, to overcome barriers to vaccination. Information on DIAL is available through the Administration for Community Living DIAL webpage.
Together with the American College of Sports Medicine®, EIM has created a tool kit of resources and support for keeping your patients active during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A webinar series from NAM and the American Society of Addiction Medicine is designed to provide insight and targeted guidance for health care providers caring for individuals with substance use disorders.
Many of your patients are no doubt experiencing some level of depression or anxiety due to isolation and stress caused by COVID-19. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing has developed resources to help you provide some comfort during this difficult time, along with clinical guidance, information for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics and more.
NORD has on-demand video and webinars, patient assistance programs and weekly state-focused virtual discussion groups, among other resources for vulnerable patient populations.
Neonatologists, obstetricians, midwives, social workers and others have developed comprehensive recommendations for pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The result, Recommendations of the New Jersey Perinatal Care During COVID-19 Work Group, is now being distributed throughout the state to guide clinicians, families and caregivers. The report will be regularly updated.
The Obesity Society has a number of articles available for free detailing the impact of COVID-19 upon patients with obesity. This includes how school closings may lead to the risk of increased weight gain in children, the impact upon bariatric surgery and more.
The ONS has released interim guidelines for the safe handling of hazardous cancer drugs in the context of personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, along with other resources for oncology nurses.
The CDC offers recommendations on viral and antibody testing. CDC guidance reinforces the need to test asymptomatic persons, including close contacts of a person with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The FDA has released Screening for COVID-19: Deciding Which Test to Use When Establishing Testing Programs. The FDA maintains a list of EUAs issued for tests in response to COVID-19. As of August 24, the FDA has authorized 403 tests and sample collection devices under emergency use authorizations (EUAs), which include 283 molecular tests and sample collection devices, 87 antibody and other immune response tests and 33 antigen tests. In addition, there are 58 molecular authorizations and one antibody authorization that can be used with home-collected samples. Finally, there is one molecular prescription at-home test; three antigen prescription at-home tests; six over-the-counter, at-home antigen tests; and two over-the-counter molecular tests.
Before you set up or start working at an off-site COVID-19 testing center, review this infographic from the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement and QUALIDIGM. It lists items you should consider, such as how to determine testing capacity, create a follow-up process for results and get reimbursed for testing.
The CDC is tracking the latest COVID-19 vaccine news, and offers information about vaccine recommendations, how researchers are ensuring the safety of vaccines, how COVID-19 vaccines work and other details.
A number of COVID-19 vaccine resources are now available, including:
AANP is a partner organization of the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, which raises awareness, provides education, promotes the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine and advocates for equitable access to authorized and approved vaccines. Use the #CountMeInCOVIDVx hashtag in all of your social media posts to promote the campaign and share your reason for be "counted in" for COVID-19 vaccination.
The FDA has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine: the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, which will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. Previously available under EUA, this Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine remains available for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals under that EUA.
The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the FDA currently monitors the safety of authorized COVID-19 vaccines. Along with the approved vaccine, the FDA has issued three emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to:
AANP is committed to ensuring that NPs have access to the latest COVID-19 vaccine information so they can educate patients on the importance of vaccination, and the association urges the public to get vaccinated at the earliest opportunity.
The FDA has approved one drug treatment (Veklury/remdesivir) for COVID-19 and has authorized others for emergency use during the public health emergency.
On April 16, the FDA revoked the EUA that allowed for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab, when administered alone, to be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and certain pediatric patients.
The FDA offers both a list of diagnostic tests and medical devices and a list of therapeutics that have been approved to treat COVID-19 under EUAs.
Convalescent plasma has the potential to lessen the severity or shorten the length of illness caused by COVID-19. The FDA is currently encouraging people who have fully recovered from COVID-19 for at least two weeks to contact their local blood or plasma collection center to schedule an appointment to donate plasma.
Based on a patient's age, length of time experiencing symptoms and medical conditions, they may be eligible for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment. As of January 6, HHS had allocated more than 641,000 COVID-19 monoclonal antibody patient treatment courses to states and territories. However, only about 25% of these treatment courses have been used in authorized patient populations. The FDA has authorized two monoclonal antibody treatments for emergency use: bamlanivimab, casirivimab and imdevimab.
Guidelines on the treatment and management of COVID-19 are available from IDSA. The evidence-based guidelines were developed using the GRADE methodology and are frequently updated. A panel of infectious disease clinicians, pharmacists and methodologists with varied areas of expertise created the guidelines.
NCSBN has released a joint statement with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the Federation of State Medical Boards on the inappropriate prescribing and stockpiling of medications, including chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, to prevent or treat COVID-19 for themselves or their family members.
The NFID has released COVID-19 Communications: Promoting Prevention Measures and Vaccine Confidence, a report designed to summarize information from an NFID virtual roundtable and present a scalable communications framework to help leaders ensure that their communications encourage patients and the public to protect themselves, their families and their communities from COVID-19.
The NFID also released a collection of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the COVID-19 vaccines. Health care professionals and the general public can use this resource for information about mRNA vaccines, dosing timeframes, vaccine safety and vaccine administration.
The NIH releases updates on clinical trials, studies, training and other information related to COVID-19. See the current list of clinical trials.
NEJM Group has a free, interactive clinical reasoning resource designed to help health care providers navigate the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. NEJM Group plans to maintain the free case simulations for a number of months.
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Operation Warp Speed's goal is to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines. Initial doses were planned as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
AANP is a founding member of We Can Do This, a HHS campaign to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence while reinforcing basic prevention measures. Learn more about how the campaign is educating the public and find resources for your community, including fact sheets, a podcast, toolkits, tip sheets, messages for social media and more.
The CDC recommends mask wearing in public settings and when people are around others not in their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
All health care providers, including NPs, should take steps to prepare for COVID-19 in their practice as well as follow recommended infection control procedures to protect themselves and others:
CMS released guidance on reopening health care facilities to provide non-emergent, non-COVID-19 care. The first phase includes the continued use of telehealth-delivered care, facility considerations and PPE recommendations for clinicians and patients, among other information.
The American College of Gastroenterology, in partnership with other gastroenterology (GI) organizations, has released a message sharing additional guidelines for infection control in for clinicians and GI practices.
If health care providers are in close contact with a patient confirmed to have COVID-19 while not wearing all recommended PPE, they may be at an increased risk of infection. To limit this risk, health care providers should use appropriate PPE; properly don, use and doff PPE; practice hand hygiene; and review guidance on returning to work after a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection.
The CDC offers two documents designed to help providers cope with stress and build mental resilience during the pandemic: for health care personnel and for emergency responders.
In addition, the CDC recommends health care personnel be among those offered the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The FDA maintains lists of EUAs issued in response to COVID-19, which include ventilators and other medical devices that serve to reduce patient and health care provider contact and exposure to COVID-19. In addition, the FDA offers information on PPE and other resources relevant to NPs, including:
OSHA has updated guidance and resources available on using, reusing and decontaminating filtering facepiece respirators. OSHA also has guidance protecting workers in nursing home and long-term care facilities.
AANP's COVID-19 Telehealth Updates include several Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) documents related to telehealth, as well as information on policies and legislation affecting telehealth-delivered care.
The NIH offers information on both grants and funding opportunities specific to COVID-19, as well as guidance and frequently asked questions for researchers.
AANP conducted three surveys dedicated to understanding the impact of COVID-19 on NPs:
AcademyHealth is supporting a new initiative that aims to build a COVID-19 Patient Data Registry Network. The goal of the network is to provide researchers, policymakers and clinicians with quality information on the impact and progression of COVID-19.
AcademyHealth has also identified priority research questions on COVID-19 for health systems. The report includes questions on how COVID-19 is impacting health system policies, processes, providers and patient care.
The American Association for Public Opinion Research has released guidance for survey researchers and IRBs. The guidance covers risks and benefits for survey participants, informed consent, mandatory reporting and incentives.
AAHRPP has issued guidance how to protect research participants and report any study changes to an Institutional Review Board (IRB). AAHRPP’s suggestions align with the Food and Drug Administration’s guidance on conducting clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Alliance is in the process of creating a secure, de-identified, international case reporting registry in order to help guide rheumatology clinicians in assessing and treating patients with rheumatologic disease and in evaluating the risk of infection in patients on immunosuppression.
The FDA has released guidance for industry, investigators and institutional review boards (IRBs) interested in conducting clinical trials of medical products during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
A collection of preprint journal articles and other resources related to COVID-19 are available from Health Affairs. Additionally, several published journal articles are available at no cost to the public.
IHI offers COVID-19 guidance and resources for health care providers, including a free weekly learning hour on COVID-19, a data dashboard on the trajectory of COVID-19 reported deaths and a daily call for health care providers working in nursing homes.
To assist researchers and clinicians, The Lancet has established a COVID-19 Resource Centre. Articles and podcasts on the effects of the virus on prisoners, misinformation and vaccine development are available for free.
To promote open access and share key information on COVID-19 research, medRxiv is preprinting research articles. While articles should not be used to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior, since they have not yet been peer reviewed, they can be used to start a dialogue on current and future COVID-19 research.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, has launched a COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (COVPN) for vaccines, and other prevention tools, with the aim of enrolling in thousands of volunteers in large-scale clinical trials testing. Individuals can securely volunteer for studies on the NIH website.
Additional Updates:
A number of drugs are under investigation in clinical trials or are being considered for clinical trials to treat COVID-19.
Additional Updates:
The PCORI Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) Registry is a large, national clinical research community. It invites health care workers from across the U.S. to share clinical and life experiences to understand the perspectives and problems they face on the COVID-19 pandemic front lines. HERO Registry participants could have the opportunity to participate in future research studies to improve our understanding of COVID-19 and beyond, generating evidence to help keep healthcare workers safe and healthy. The first study, the HERO-HCQ Trial, will invite 15,000 health care workers from the registry to evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 infections.
In May, the PCORI Health Care Horizon Scanning System (HCHSS) expanded to include information on COVID-19-related preventive measures, diagnostics, treatments and management strategies. The HCHSS will release biweekly COVID-19 briefs for the next 12 months.
Results from the Primary Care Collaborative and The Larry A. Green Center survey indicate that many clinicians do not have adequate testing capabilities and personal protective equipment. The results also reflect that lack of information on the prevalence of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Public opinion research on COVID-19 is being conducted all over the world. Reports from those studies have been collected by WAPOR from Gallup Pakistan, Kstat, Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, Pew Research Center and other research institutes. The list is publicly available and still accepting research studies.
AANPCB, alongside a number of additional NP and nursing organizations and accrediting bodies, has released a statement regarding NP students and direct care clinical hours.
New guidelines are available from the American College Health Association on how to safely reopen college campuses. The guidelines are broad so that small and large institutions can easily modify them to fit their campuses.
AANP has released a position paper on its commitment to addressing health care disparities during COVID-19. As a professional home for NPs, AANP is committed to empowering all NPs to advance high-quality, equitable care while addressing health care disparities through practice, education, advocacy, research and leadership (PEARL).
AANP is a partner organization of the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, which raises awareness, provides education, promotes the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine and advocates for equitable access to authorized and approved vaccines.
CEAL has released information and resources for health care providers to address misinformation, build trust and reduce the impact of COVID-19. From sample social media posts and images to infographics and patient education tools, CEAL can help providers talk with their communities about COVID-19, vaccines under development and the importance of being included in research studies.
OMH has released a video series titled #vaccineready to support racial and ethnic minority populations and American Indian and Alaska Native communities in practicing COVID-19 safety measures, seeking accurate facts about COVID-19 vaccines, sharing accurate vaccine information and getting vaccinated when doses are available.
The United States Census Bureau has created a dashboard to show states' COVID-19 impact planning reports, nationwide demographic and economic analysis and additional data on how the pandemic is impacting communities and Americans across the U.S.
AANP is a founding member of We Can Do This, a HHS campaign to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence while reinforcing basic prevention measures. Learn more about how the campaign is educating the public and find resources for your community, including fact sheets, a podcast, toolkits, tip sheets, messages for social media and more.
The AANP CE Center offers a wide variety of continuing education (CE) activities for nurse practitioners (NPs). Members get more, including access to many free activities and significantly discounted rates on others. The activities are updated frequently, and more than a dozen infectious disease-related options are currently available.
Hepatitis A and B are infections which cause liver inflammation and, in turn, can lead to chronic hepatitis — which may then cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. These infections, responsible for more than 1.3 million deaths annually worldwide, are wholly preventable by vaccination. Unfortunately, only 24% and 34% of adults have been vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, respectively.
These tools are designed to provide clinicians with information for guideline-directed practice, and to assist them in applying strategies to improve vaccine update by engaging adult patients in meaningful discussion about vaccine importance — including those in historically marginalized communities.
This informative handout for the NP has been developed to facilitate conversations about HPV vaccination with patients and their families. It provides an overview of the types of cancers that HPV can cause and discusses the rationale for why the vaccination should be administered during childhood for optimal protection. This handout displays the HPV vaccination schedule and also addresses some common questions and concerns that families may have about HPV vaccination.
This provider tool is a resource for improving influenza prevention and facilitating confident conversations about vaccination. This tool can be printed and shared with office staff responsible for ordering or administering influenza vaccinations.
Adult pneumococcal vaccination rates remain suboptimal, with 1 out of 3 adults age 65 and older being unvaccinated. NPs can make a tremendous impact on the numbers of adults who have their appropriate vaccinations. This tool will guide you through the process of making a plan to increase adult pneumococcal vaccination rates in your practice and walk you through a step-by-step approach to implement a pneumococcal vaccination
program.
This patient tool provides education on hepatitis A disease and prevention using simple language in a visually engaging infographic format. The handout allows the patient and provider to start the shared clinical decision-making process so the patient can make an informed decision about hepatitis A vaccination. This tool is available as a downloadable PDF or place an order for 25-page, full color tear pads.
This two-page patient handout discusses influenza prevention on page one and influenza treatment, including tips for taking antiviral medications, on page two. This handout can be printed and placed in waiting rooms and exam rooms or handed to patients to promote clinical discussions around influenza prevention and treatment.
This visually engaging educational handout will facilitate shared decision-making conversations between NPs and patients regarding shingles vaccination. The handout provides information about shingles presentation, the course of the disease, potential complications and vaccination.
The Infectious Disease and HIV Specialty Practice Group (SPG) offers a unique opportunity to interactively collaborate with colleagues who share an interest or clinical expertise in infectious disease and HIV. As an SPG member, you’ll have access to a cutting-edge, online forum where you can engage in discussions, document sharing and knowledge exchange with fellow NPs. Come learn, share and help progress the development of theory and practice in infectious disease and HIV.
There are many resources available for both patients and providers and we have listed some of them below for your convenience. Inclusion of these links does not imply AANP endorsement.