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Health care workers exposed to hazardous chemicals in the workplace often lack training or awareness of safety measures, according to the largest-ever federally sponsored survey on health and safety practices in health care.1
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Sharps safety is widespread in U.S. hospitals, thanks in large part to the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act in 2001. However, a recent study shows a persistent hazard: A high proportion of sharps are being discarded unsafely.
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Sixteen years have passed since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the 1998 Guideline for Infection Control in Health Care Personnel. Occupational health professionals and infection preventionists may soon get the updated, user-friendly guidance they need.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued five general duty clause citations against hospitals in Fiscal Year 2013, based on a provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act that requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
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Its no longer enough for case managers to create a discharge plan and forget about the patient as soon as he or she is out the door, advises Jackie Birmingham, RN, BSN, MS, CMAC, vice president emerita of clinical leadership for Curaspan Health Group, a Newton, MA-based transition management software company.
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When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) changed the way in which it would reimburse hospitals based on the number of Medicare 30-day readmissions they had, hospitals began a long journey of discovery.
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By analyzing heart failure readmissions and collaborating with post-acute providers and community organizations, Essentia Health-St. Josephs Medical Center in Brainerd, MN, cut its readmission rate from 18% to a low of 6%.
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Using a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation grant, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston launched a program to prevent readmissions.
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Nurses are at high risk of stress caused by work-family conflict (WFC) partly because of the physical and emotional demands of their long shifts. One solution could be to permit some worker self-scheduling, an expert says.
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The discharge planning worksheet that surveyors will use to assess hospitals compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation highlights the need for case managers to be more proactive in discharge planning and identifying the right post-acute setting in a timely fashion, says Laura Jacquin, RN, MBA, managing director for Huron Healthcare, a Chicago-based consulting firm.
