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Hospital Employee Health – September 1, 2005
September 1, 2005
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Vaccinate health care workers first in pandemic flu outbreak
If pandemic influenza strikes, health care workers with patient contact should be the top priority for vaccination, two federal advisory panels have recommended. Keeping health care workers on the job will be critical if the nations health care system is stressed by a new influenza strain, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) agreed in a July meeting. -
More antivirals are needed in the national stockpile
The national stockpile isnt enough. That is the alarm being sounded by at least two organizations concerned about pandemic influenza preparedness and the stockpile of antiviral medications. -
Hospitals should move to declination statements
Asking health care workers to sign a declination statement if they dont receive their annual influenza vaccine soon may become the standard of care. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an advisory panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, voted overwhelmingly to recommend the use of declination statements, along with other measures, to improve health care worker vaccination rates. They did not specify the wording of declinations. -
ACIP issues its 2005-2006 influenza recommendations
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) updated its recommendations for influenza vaccination with these key points. -
Why can’t we have better respirator fit?
Why cant N95 filtering facepiece respirators fit better? Amid the turmoil over annual fit-testing, employee health professionals are asking for better products and product information. It may be a while before they get them. -
JCAHO Update for Infection Control: JCAHO moving to change historical hand hygiene failures
Surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are putting an unprecedented emphasis on infection controls most frustrating problem hand washing. -
JCAHO Update for Infection Control: JCAHO: Adopt strongest hand hygiene measures
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that health care facilities adopt the most strongly recommended hand hygiene measures in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. -
JCAHO Update for Infection Control: Federal patient safety legislation signed into law
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations hailed the enactment of federal patient safety legislation that will encourage the voluntary reporting of medical errors, serious adverse events, and their underlying causes. -
Voluntary questionnaire tracks chemo effects
Hospitals are using questionnaires as a way to monitor the possible health effects on employees who work with chemotherapeutic agents. But there are no guidelines that tell hospitals what to ask or how to implement the program. -
NIOSH recommends medical surveillance of HCWs
In an alert on the handling of hazardous drugs, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health included the following recommendations related to medical surveillance. -
Tackling depression: The opportunity no one takes
On any given day, depression may be sidelining one in 20 of your workers. They may call in sick, or they may show up but struggle through the day with lower productivity.