-
In a legal challenge that could set a precedent for flu shot mandates, the Massachusetts Nurses Association has filed suit challenging a proposed mandatory flu vaccination policy at Brigham & Womens Hospital in Boston. Under the policy, workers can forego the flu shot for medical or religious reasons, but otherwise could be subjected to discipline that could include job termination, the union charges in the suit.
-
As news shows broadcast seemingly endless loops about Ebola, every community in America wanted to know: Is my local hospital ready to safely handle an Ebola patient?
-
The recent Ebola infection of two Dallas nurses raises troubling questions about how prepared hospitals are to protect their employees from infectious diseases and whether the health care industry needs a higher level of worker safety.
-
Nurses nationwide recently expressed fear and anxiety over the possibility of having to treat Ebola patients in hospitals they claim are poorly equipped. In a national teleconference call in October, thousands of nurses called in to hear and share information about how health systems are responding to the Ebola crisis.
-
Hospital employee health professionals should consider using social media and Internet communications and campaigns to electronically promote safety and health for health care workers.
-
While emphasizing that Ebola does not spread by the airborne route, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising in new infection control guidelines that health care workers wear N95 respirators or powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) for treating patients stricken with the deadly virus.
-
Most occupational health nurses learn about respiratory protection on the job. They may manage the program, but still have little time to train their hospitals employees about the difference between a mask and a respirator.
-
Five years after the H1N1 flu pandemic, hospitals and public health authorities are dealing with a difficult aftermath: Stockpiles of N95 respirators are expiring. Rebuilding pandemic stockpiles could cost many millions of dollars and still might not provide enough protective devices.
-
Most errors involving Medicare as a Secondary Payer Questionnaire (MSPQ) can be attributed to two things, according to Kevin Willis, director of Medicare Services in the Harrison, OH, office of Claim Services, a document retrieval company. Willis is a former Medicare Secondary Payer auditor.
-
Sending the correct information to the insurance companies to show the medical need for services has become quite a task for patient access, says Aaron Robison, CHAA, a patient financial advocate at University of Utah Health Care in Salt Lake City.
