Hospital Employee Health – March 1, 2015
March 1, 2015
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CMS now publicly reporting hospital flu vaccination rates
Public reporting is raising the stakes for flu vaccination. For the first time, potential patients can compare health care worker influenza immunization rates as part of the online hospital quality data provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.
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Flu Shot Mandate: It Wasn’t Easy Being First
More than a decade ago, problems with flu vaccination were commonplace. Even in a good year, only about 50% of health care workers received the vaccine.
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A cautionary tale: Why you should ‘think TB’
An employee health nightmare unfolded in El Paso, TX, last year when a patient care technician with active tuberculosis spent months bathing and caring for newborns before she discovered the source of her cough and fatigue. Some 853 babies needed to be tested. At least two developed latent TB infection related to the exposure.
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Clusters of worker illness may be unrelated, but investigation needed to make the call
Many hospital employee health directors have encountered the occasional report that a number of employees have gotten sick and there might be something in the work environment causing it. With media reports over the years of sick building syndrome and cancer clusters, people are alert to anecdotal reports that suggest such a trend.
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Nurses report bullying, disrespectful behavior by other nurses similar to ‘hazing’
A common perception is that a lot of the bullying and disrespect that can create a toxic work culture in health care settings is directed by physicians toward nurses. Surprisingly, nurses appear to observe a hierarchy within their own ranks that may be just as mean-spirited, says Elaine Larson, PhD, RN, FAAN, CIC, associate dean for research at the Columbia School of Nursing in New York.
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A matter of trust? Job security, comorbidities are top ‘Return to Work’ predictors
Concerns about job security and comorbidities are two important predictors related to whether or not injured workers return to work, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) of Cambridge, MA.
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Only 1 HCW confirmed as occupationally infected with HIV in last 15 years, with 12 ‘possible’ cases
In the 1990s, tragic cases of health care workers who acquired AIDS and hepatitis on the job helped propel the movement for sharps safety. The evidence now shows the success of safer devices, standard precautions and post-exposure prophylaxis: In the past 15 years, only one health care worker developed HIV in a confirmed occupational exposure, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1