Hospital Employee Health
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Oregon Healthcare Violence Prevention Law Takes Effect
In the absence of long-sought federal legislation to prevent violence in healthcare, Oregon becomes the latest state to enact protections for healthcare workers against workplace violence. Effective Jan. 1, the law requires healthcare employers to conduct comprehensive security and safety evaluations using state or nationally recognized workplace violence prevention methods.
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Don’t Call It Burnout: Clinicians Are Suffering ‘Moral Injury’
“Burnout” is a term that tends to blame the victim — in this case, healthcare workers — overwhelmed by a system that often puts them at odds with their duty to protect patients. A more accurate term for this condition is “moral injury,” an expert explains.
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More Than 3,000 HCWs Infected With COVID-19 in China
More than 3,000 healthcare workers in China have suspected or confirmed novel coronavirus infections, raising the stakes considerably as employee health professionals brace for community spread to begin in the United States. The authors of a published report from China described a COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital in Wuhan, which resulted in 40 infections in clinical staff caring for patients. In addition, about one-fourth of the healthcare workers contracted the coronavirus from a single patient.
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Preserving Respirators and Extending Use
CDC guidelines for extending respirator supplies for the emerging novel coronavirus include excluding or limiting patient visitors and considering cohorting patients or staff. A standard face mask — not an N95 respirator — should be used as source control on a suspected COVID-19 patient. Regarding cohorting, when single patient rooms are not available, patients with confirmed COVID-19 may be placed in the same room.
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Tampa General Hospital COVID-19 Screening Questionnaire
Tampa General Hospital developed a screening tool to use for patients and healthcare workers suspected of COVID-19 infection. Patients can be screened via phone or in person.
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COVID-19 Outbreak in Nursing Home Includes HCW Infection, Resident Deaths
An outbreak of novel coronavirus COVID-19 at a long-term care facility near Seattle has killed at least five elderly residents and infected two healthcare workers. The situation was changing rapidly as this report was filed, but other residents and workers at the facility were under investigation for COVID-19 infection. More cases were expected as the Seattle area is experiencing the largest community outbreak in the United States.
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Continuous Visible Lighting Disinfection May Offer Benefits
The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center recently replaced traditional light bulbs in its operating rooms with antibacterial LEDs for a visible-light continuous environmental disinfection system. Research suggests the fixtures can continuously kill harmful bacteria on high-risk surfaces, which should be an improvement over intermittent cleaning. Another common option, ultraviolet lighting, is not safe for human exposure and can only sanitize spaces once patients and staff leave the room.
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Surveillance Programs for Staff Working With Hazardous Medications
Looking for guidance on best practices for a hazardous medication surveillance program? Many employee health professionals may be making changes to their hazardous medication surveillance program in response to United States Pharmacopeia <800> standards.
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NIH Developing a Vaccine for 2019-nCoV
The National Institutes of Health has fast-tracked vaccine development to stop a novel coronavirus emerging from China, but it will be months before it can be administered safely to an anxious public. While promising, vaccine development and testing is a time-consuming process, both to ensure that it works and that it is safe in humans.
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First Case of Person-to-Person Transmission in the United States
The first case of person-to-person spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus emerging in the United States has occurred, as the husband of a previously identified case in Illinois has been hospitalized, the CDC reported on Jan. 30. The man is the first U.S. case with no history of travel to China. Public health officials announced the woman became ill after returning from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of what is threatening to become a global outbreak. She has been hospitalized, and her husband became ill and also was hospitalized. They both are in stable condition.