Hospital Employee Health
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Infectious Disease Groups Demand Border Patrol Administer Flu Shots to Detainees
Leading clinicians and public health officials are strongly questioning the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) decision not to vaccinate migrants in detention facilities against flu and other infections. The CBP should at the very least immunize employees so they do not bring the virus in to detainees or acquire it, experts say.
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Burnout: The Signs of Onset, Methods of Prevention
Burnout is a systemic problem in healthcare and a test of resilience for the individual worker. In a new book on a problem that has become epidemic, a physician draws on his own experience with burnout and interviews those who are susceptible to the condition or are surprisingly resilient.
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Presenteeism Common in Long-Term Care
Results of a study using active surveillance for acute respiratory infection over a five-month period revealed that 89% of sick staff in a long-term care facility still reported to work. The facility established policies against such presenteeism, but they may need to be revised to minimize the pressure on staff not to miss work, the authors noted.
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Flu Vaccination Rates in Long-Term Care Workers Improving
Improving healthcare worker flu vaccination in long-term care settings remains a challenge, but there are signs of improvement as more facilities are seeking “honor roll” status aimed at reaching higher immunization rates.
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Ensure Flu Vaccine Policies, Exemptions Are Clear, Equitable
As more facilities adopt mandatory vaccination policies, they have to decide whether to allow exemptions. Some require influenza vaccination as condition of employment, while others allow specified exemptions. Medical exemptions may include allergy to vaccine components or a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome. One key to these policies appears to be consistency in making equitable arrangements, as workers denied religious exemptions have successfully sued through the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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Employee Health and Emerging Infections
The CDC is stepping up efforts to fight Ebola in Africa, deploying more personnel and resources to stop an expanding yearlong outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared an international health emergency in the DRC after an Ebola case appeared July 14 in Goma, a city of 2 million people that has connecting flights to global air travel. As of Aug. 18, 2,888 Ebola cases were reported, including 1,938 deaths for a morality rate of 67%. Cases continue to be reported among health workers, with the number infected rising to 153.
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Griefwork: The Experience of Loss in Healthcare
When a patient dies, healthcare workers may experience grief that they barely acknowledge because they know their role is to move on to the next patient. But over time, such grief can build up and contribute to stress and burnout. Healthcare organizations can help their staff cope with grief and prevent workplace burnout by ensuring policies acknowledge the emotional needs of staff.
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A Risk Management Look at Employee Trips and Falls
Falls, slips, and trips were the second most common event leading to workplace injuries and illnesses in hospitals, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, accounting for 25% of all reported employee injuries. Addressing fall prevention with employees is different than with patients. With patients, fall prevention focuses mostly on transfers from beds and wheelchairs, as well as environmental factors. Employee slips and falls tend to be the top workers’ compensation claim in both frequency and severity.
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Measles Woes Lead to Pushback Against Antivaxxers
Measles resurgence coincides with parents citing unsafe vaccines in declining to have their children immunized. However, there is a growing pushback against the antivaccine movement, with herd immunity threatened and the real risk of measles to immunocompromised patients and those who cannot receive immunizations.
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Violence Prevention Begins With Culture of Respect
When a surgeon was shot and killed by a patient at a nearby hospital in 2015, clinicians at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care in Worcester overhauled its comprehensive violence prevention program. The incident that shook the Boston area medical community was the murder of a popular and highly skilled surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital by a relative of a deceased patient.