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A new guide from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration answers a myriad of questions about monitoring workspaces where ethylene oxide (EtO) is used.
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The operating room poses unique challenges for patient handling.
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All the shouting (Death panels! Rationing!) has gotten the press attention in health care reform. But in the behind-the-scenes effort to create a new paradigm, occupational health physicians have promoted prevention, workplace- based wellness, and the link between workplace health and productivity.
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Health care workers in New York hospitals are all rolling up their sleeves this fall for the flu vaccine. It's no longer a choice. It's a mandate.
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Reducing bloodborne pathogen exposures remains a primary concern for employee health nurses, according to a survey of members by the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP).
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There's more to needle safety than a safety device. That conclusion, simple as it may sound, led BJC Healthcare in St. Louis to analyze the environment of care and clinical technique as it seeks to reduce injuries from subcutaneous injections.
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Some hospitals have virtually eliminated annual fit-testing by relying on powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs). But the advent of novel H1N1 brings into focus a reality of pandemic preparedness: You're going to need to conduct just-in-time fit-testing despite the PAPR use.
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The rural Iowa community of Marshalltown may seem an unlikely place to be an epicenter of a new pandemic. But this spring, the town of about 26,000 coped with a sudden outbreak of novel H1N1, demonstrating why pandemic preparedness is so important for every hospital.
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Should health care workers wear respirators when caring for patients with novel H1N1? In mid-June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was considering a shift from airborne precautions to droplet precautions, which would mean that health care workers would wear surgical masks when caring for patients. Respirators would still be recommended for aerosol-generating procedures.
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Amid the backdrop of a worldwide influenza pandemic, hospitals received a new model for protecting health care workers from airborne diseases: Landmark regulation from California that provides a comprehensive approach to the hazards of airborne infectious diseases.