Hospital Employee Health
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Study: In actual clinical practice, N95 respirators no more protective to HCWs than surgical masks
In a study certain to stir controversy, researchers in Canada report that N95 respirators were no better than surgical masks in preventing respiratory infections in healthcare workers in clinical settings.
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Vanderbilt makes it easy to complete fit-testing
At Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, complying with respiratory protection is convenient, education-based — and mandatory.
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Required elements in respirator training
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires the following elements in training of employees in respiratory protection:
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Are you prepared for the next airborne disease?
Ebola. H1N1. MERS. SARS. The stakes are high when health care workers care for patients with an emerging infectious disease, and gaps in respiratory protection can have deadly consequences. Yet studies show those gaps persist.
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AOHP national survey finds ‘disturbing’ increase in sharps injuries, blood exposures to HCWs
Needlesticks and blood exposures appear to be increasing, threatening healthcare workers with bloodborne infections and the attendant mental anguish of awaiting test results for themselves or source patients, researchers report.
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OSHA inspector: ‘What is the decision logic for use of lift, transfer, or repositioning devices?’
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new instructions to inspectors includes a section on musculoskeletal disorders.
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OSHA: Patient handling injuries, other top worker hazards targeted
All inspections of hospitals and nursing homes will include a focus on musculoskeletal disorders and injuries related to safe patient handling and four other top hazards in healthcare: workplace violence, bloodborne pathogens, tuberculosis, and slips, trips and falls, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced.
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Health care stress: It’s rampant, but employee health interventions supported by scant evidence
Stress reduction is a key employee health challenge, and intuitively one would think that any of the common approaches would help de-stress healthcare workers. It turns out to be surprisingly difficult to quantify the effects of the various interventions.
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Norovirus may spread by airborne route — are current precautions enough to protect HCWs?
Noroviruses — a leading cause of highly disruptive gastroenteritis outbreaks that often include infected healthcare workers — may transmit through the air, meaning currently recommended contact precautions may not be completely effective at stopping spread from patients to staff, researchers report in a fascinating new study.
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Nurses association pushes for federal, state nurse-to-patient ratio laws
When healthcare employers fail to recognize the association between RN staffing and patient outcomes, laws and regulations become necessary, the American Nursing Association argues.