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Many hospitals would be happy to lift their rate of health care worker influenza immunization past 60% or 70%, but in Iowa, the bar is quite a bit higher than that. In fact, it is near perfection.
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It just takes an evening of viewing the television drama E.R. to know that hospital work is stressful. But the stress that evolves into an occupational hazard isn't from treating trauma victims or mysterious illnesses.
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OSHA has proposed wording changes to the following sections of standards that related to the health care industry:
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No more needlesticks. That sounds like a laudable goal that could prevent health care workers from being exposed to deadly diseases. But, in tandem, hospitals need to maintain another important message that could actually cause their numbers to rise: Report all needlesticks.
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Imagine a disposable respirator that fits well right out of the box. Or perhaps even a respirator that's inexpensive and requires no annual fit-test.
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When removing personal protective equipment, it's important for health care workers to realize that the gowns, gloves, masks, and goggles are contaminated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) have slightly different protocols, but both are designed to prevent health care workers from becoming ill from contaminated PPE.
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The problem is a common one: Patient handling leads to back strain and pain and even to serious injury. The solution is less obvious: Empower health care workers to analyze the tasks and come up with their own corrective plan.
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It can be a vicious cycle: Turnover causes undue stress to personnel due to staffing shortages, plus the added burden of bringing new personnel up to speed. This leads to more turnover.
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Happier employees that's what Holly Hiryak, MNSc, RN, CHAM, director of hospital admissions/access services at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR, would like to see.
