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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) updated its recommendations for influenza vaccination with these key points.
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Surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are putting an unprecedented emphasis on infection controls most frustrating problem hand washing.
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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.
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Health care epidemiologists are reporting an increase in bloodstream infections (BSIs) due to the use of needleless mechanical valve devices that connect to central venous catheters. Originally intended to prevent needlesticks and protect health care workers from bloodborne infections, the devices now appear to be increasing the risk of BSIs in patients.
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See one; do one; teach one isnt an adequate training plan for medical residents when it comes to sharps safety. Reducing needlesticks requires a sustained, comprehensive approach with ongoing opportunities for training, notes Annemarie Leyden, EdD, RN, chief of learning resources at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare (NYH) System, Brooklyn campus.
