Hospital Employee Health – May 1, 2016
May 1, 2016
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HCWs on frontlines of risk in national opioid epidemic
In terms of availability, access, and cruel temptation, healthcare workers are on the front lines of addiction risk in a national opioid epidemic that has reached epic proportions.
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Thousands of patients seek testing after HCW charged with drug diversion
In an all-too-familiar scenario, a hospital worker charged with diverting drugs in Colorado had a history of moving from hospital to hospital, prompting several other facilities to advise thousands of patients to get tested for bloodborne pathogens.
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CDC timeline of drug diversion outbreaks
The CDC assisted state and local health departments in the investigation of the following infection outbreaks stemming from drug diversion activities that involved healthcare providers who tampered with injectable drugs.
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Look for weak links to prevent drug diversion
There are many common areas of weakness in hospital drug diversion prevention programs.
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Better late than never? FDA proposed ban on powdered gloves welcomed, questioned
The FDA’s recently proposed rule to ban powdered latex gloves was welcomed by occupational health advocates, but there was some sentiment that the FDA was finally addressing a problem clinicians long since had to solve themselves.
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HCWs remain at risk of TB exposures
After two decades of steady, incremental decline, tuberculosis in the United States has leveled off at some 3 cases per 100,000 people — a rate that will not result in the goal of TB elimination (less than 1 case per million), the CDC reports.
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Hospitals ranked sixth in industry for serious injuries
In the first year of a new reporting requirement, medical and surgical hospitals in select states reported 221 serious injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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Breaking the ‘conspiracy of silence’ about problem providers
Consider the following scenario – does this healthcare worker sound like someone in your facility?