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Abortion providers in the South face many challenges, including being outed online, fired from hospitals, and ostracized in professional and social circles, according to the results of a recent study.
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The COVID-19 pandemic affected most women seeking contraceptive care — but those who already are disadvantaged by structural inequities were hit the hardest. The problem worsened as the pandemic continued. The pandemic made reproductive health access disparities worse, creating economic hardship for many women and disproportionately affecting Black, indigenous, and people of color. Recently, researchers found that people were less happy with their ability to access contraceptive care in January 2021 than in July 2020.
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Patients faced difficulties accessing contraceptive care in April 2020 and December 2020, but the steepest drop occurred during the COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020, according to researchers.
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The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions and barriers to contraceptive care in its first year. Reproductive health providers have navigated conflicting and confusing messages about vaccine mandates.
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Are nurses and physicians of color at your facility at risk of occupational racism? Employee health professionals should be aware of two recent reports that cited racial incidents, which negatively affected productivity and emotional wellness.
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The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard has been on the books for decades. But exposure control plans — the principal component of compliance — should be viewed as a “living document” that changes over time, a needlestick prevention expert noted.
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One answer to the healthcare staffing shortages could be a newly developed antiviral that works against SARS-CoV-2 much like influenza antivirals negate the symptoms of flu.
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Hospitals still struggling to vaccinate all workers received good news on Jan. 13, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government can enforce its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. Justices threw out two lawsuits representing more than 20 states, ruling that mandating COVID-19 vaccination of healthcare workers is within the limits of federal law.
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The loosening of COVID-19 policies and shortening duration of precautions signal the emergence of what some call the “inevitability camp”: those who believe everyone will contract the rapidly spreading omicron variant, thereby generating herd immunity. There is one major problem with this view. It is becoming increasingly apparent that 14% (estimated range 2%-30%) of those infected with omicron will develop long COVID, a prolonged set of neurological and physical maladies that have haunted some people since the pandemic began in 2020.
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A California public health policy allowing asymptomatic healthcare workers with COVID-19 to remain on duty sparked outrage among some nurses, who say it threatens their prime mission to protect and care for patients.
