A newly hired health care worker tests positive in the tuberculin skin test. She comes from a country where TB is endemic, and she received the BCG vaccine as a child.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) continues to emphasize that the historic lack of compliance with hand hygiene practices by health care workers will no longer wash.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is listed as a co-authoring agency on a recently published book that urges patients to demand that health care workers wash their hands.
The Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety has launched a new "in-development" Patient Safety Practices resource on the center's web site.
More than 8,800 nurses suffered from a back, shoulder, or other musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) injury in 2004.
The moments after a needlestick are filled with stress and anxiety for health care workers.
As of January, Joint Commission surveyors no longer notify hospitals when they will arrive; their survey approach has changed as well.
Surveyors enter a hospital with a unique set of priorities that relate to the hospital's needs and attributes. But as infection control issues rise to the forefront, employee health may receive a greater focus.
It's official: The CDC has recommended collecting declination statements from health care workers who do not receive the flu vaccine, along with other measures to improve flu vaccination rates.
In a unanimous vote, described as a "slam-dunk" by one committee member, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that hospitals and ambulatory care settings offer free pertussis vaccination to health care workers.
