Back to the future: Redefining “universal precautions” to include masking for all patient encounters
Despite recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowing institutions to relax in-facility masking strategies and due to our evolving understanding of respiratory pathogen transmission during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we propose an updated standard for universal precautions in healthcare settings: permanently including universal masking in routine patient-care interactions. Such a practice prioritizes safety for patients, healthcare providers (HCPs), and visitors.
Authors
- Ibukunoluwa C. Kalu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0839-568X)
- Sarah Haessler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7697-8641)
- David J. Weber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1726-4435)
- D.K. Henderson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0549-8260)
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- UNC Libraries
- Published
- 2025-03-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17615/k80a-yy37
- Primary Topic
- Empathy and Medical Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00