Hospital Employee Health
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Some ill doctors would still care for immune-compromised patients
In an unpublished study of physicians presented recently in San Diego at the 2015 IDWeek conference, researchers found that doctors are willing to work with symptoms and maladies that would debilitate most people.
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The sick treating the sick: HCWs pressured to work ill
Employee health professionals must work with clinical colleagues to develop clear, supportive policies that clarify when ill healthcare workers should take a sick day rather than expose vulnerable patients and co-workers, researchers recommend.
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Expert report: PPE changes, confusion preceded Dallas nurses’ Ebola infections
Healthcare workers trying to save a patient dying of Ebola last year at a Dallas hospital were confused and “lost confidence” trying to protect themselves with PPE guidelines that were in flux at that critical time, an expert investigative panel concluded.
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EPINet relaunch: New leadership, expanding mission to go beyond hepatitis, HIV exposures
The International Healthcare Worker Safety Center has made a dramatic transition to an independent non-profit center that is widening the net beyond bloodborne pathogens to include worker exposures to Clostridium difficile and MRSA.
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Healthcare workers on antibiotics at risk of Clostridium difficile
With C. diff at epidemic levels, workers may acquire the bug from patients if they take antibiotics that wipe out the commensal bacteria in the gut and open a path for the pathogen.
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Ebola, chronic PPE woes give OSHA momentum for infectious disease rule
Whether you are pro regulation or not, it is hard to imagine that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will find a better time than the present to issue its long-awaited infectious disease rule to protect healthcare workers.
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PPE use contaminates workers as training, compliance lax
Research spurred by the Ebola crisis continues to reveal that healthcare workers are poorly trained in the use of personal protective equipment, frequently contaminating themselves with pathogens that can endanger their personal health and subsequent patient contacts.
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Violent threats to healthcare workers include patients, hospitalized criminals
Though we certainly wish otherwise, these are dangerous times in healthcare due to escalating violent behavior toward healthcare workers and threats to patients.
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Going to a passive needle safety system reduces injuries and costs
Switching from active to passive needle safety device dramatically reduced needlesticks in an 11-facility healthcare system, creating cost avoidance in reporting, treating, and follow-up that justified the additional expenditure for the devices.
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Healthcare workers urged to be vaccinated against seasonal flu
After last year’s poor flu vaccine efficacy, public health officials think they have a much better match for the 2015-2016 season and are urging healthcare workers to be immunized to protect themselves and patients.