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As waves of novel H1N1 influenza swept communities across the country, hospitals struggled to avoid the potential impact of infected health care workers: Absenteeism, short-staffed units, and severe illness.
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Surgical masks do not provide protection from aerosolized viral particles, respiratory protection experts told an Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel that was considering personal protective equipment and novel H1N1.
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has decided against a streamlined Bitrex protocol that would have made fit-testing faster.
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Hospitals are boosting incentives for wellness programs, with the hopes that healthier employees will have lower medical claims and better productivity.
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Health care workers contracted the novel H1N1 influenza A pandemic virus from undiagnosed patients with respiratory symptoms and from fellow employees who came to work sick. But even when they knew they were caring for patients with novel H1N1, many health care workers did not use all of the personal protective equipment [PPE] that is recommended.
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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.
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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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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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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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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.
