Recommendations for Orthopedic Surgeons during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Toward the end of 2019, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to create turmoil for global health organizations. The illness, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), spreads by droplets and fomites and can rapidly lead to life-threatening lung disease, especially for the old and those with health co-morbidities. Treating orthopedic patients, who presented with COVID-19 while avoiding nosocomial transmission, became of paramount importance. OBJECTIVES: To present relevant methods for pandemic control and hospital accommodation with emphasis on orthopedic surgery. METHODS: We searched search PubMed and Google Scholar electronic databases using the following keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, screening tools, personal protective equipment, and surgery triage. RESULTS: We included 25 records in our analysis. The recommendations from these records were divided into the following categories: COVID-19 disease, managing orthopedic surgery in the COVID-19 era, general institution precautions, triage of orthopedic surgeries, preoperative assessment, surgical room setting, personal protection equipment, anesthesia, orthopedic surgery technical precautions, and department stay and rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: Special accommodations tailored for each medical facility, based on disease burden and available resources can improve patient and staff safety and reduce elective surgery cancellations. This article will assist orthopedic surgeons during the COVID-19 medical crisis, and possibly for future pandemics.

Beautiful stranger: Voices from the front lines of community practice in Israel.

Over the past few decades, economic, political and cultural forces have altered the development of social policies and affected the life circumstances of oppressed communities in many countries. In response, calls for greater understanding and awareness of macro practice skills and interventions have been increasing within many of the social care professions. These calls have been particularly strong within the social work profession. A major field in macro social work is community practice, which aims to help people organise, plan and act for change. To date, there has been a dearth of studies examining social workers' involvement in community practice at the ground level. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 26 community social workers in public social services in Israel, this qualitative study examines community social workers' everyday experiences of community practice and the meanings they attribute to it. Findings highlight three main themes: (a) the elusive and unbounded nature of community practice; (b) the tense relations that community social workers maintain with various actors within the profession; and (c) the complex relations they maintain with the communities in which they work. We discuss these findings in light of Georg Simmel's concept of 'the stranger'. Implications to community practice are outlined.