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Just as the Center for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) granted hospitals new latitude to place alcohol-based hand rub containers in hallways, new fire concerns emerged that could restrict the use of alcohol-based surgical preparations in the operating room.
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If terrorists spread pneumonic plague in your community, will surgical masks be sufficient to protect health care workers? That question has renewed a controversy over respiratory protection, this time whether surgical masks are appropriate for some diseases while fit-tested N95 filtering facepiece respirators are required for others.
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Here are excerpts of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) disease-specific guidance on whether health care workers should use surgical masks or respirators.
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Its never just an accident when someone gets hurt. Even an unusual accident can shed light on weaknesses in your processes and procedures, says Linda Haney, RN, MPH, COHN-S, CSP, clinical director of Diligent Services, a consulting division of Arjo Inc., the health care ergonomics firm based in Roselle, IL. If you ask the right questions after an accident or a near miss, you may be able to prevent future incidents, she says.
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Here are some questions identified by the Veterans Health Administration for conducting an After-Action Review. The program emphasizes the need to engage in open discussion based on objective facts without blaming individuals.
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With alarms sounding, helicopters landing, dishes clashing in a washer, compressors whirring, hospitals are noisy places.
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The Joint Commission has launched a new web-based patient safety initiative that continues its strong emphasis on infection control. JCAHOs International Center for Patient Safety web site (www.jcipatientsafety.org) is designed to serve as a central repository of resources and information related to all aspects of patient safety. Also, its aimed at both patients and health care workers.
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A new patient safety center founded by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will include an emphasis on infection control. Not surprisingly, improving hand hygiene was the most frequently cited problem area cited by ICPs in a poll posted shortly after the web site debuted.
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The Joint Commission is applauding the public release of information on hospital clinical performance by the Hospital Quality Alliance. The measures used to produce this information meet the highest contemporary standards for reliability and validity.
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently developed an e-tool to help employers assess noise and create hearing conservation programs.
