Hospital Employee Health – February 1, 2004
February 1, 2004
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Will harsher flu season raise rates of health care worker vaccination?
An early and widespread outbreak of influenza prompted hospitals to make an even greater push to immunize health care workers with variable results. -
Taking a toll: Back pain sidelines nurses every day
Editors note: Every day, 150 health care workers suffer musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) that cause them to lose time from work. -
Hospitals escape sting of tough enforcement
The tougher enforcement touted by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) so far has failed to significantly affect the hospital sector. No hospitals have received citations related to ergonomic hazards, despite the fact that overexertion in lifting is the leading cause of injury in the industry. -
Top 10 Standards OSHA Cited at Hospitals in 2003
Here are the standards that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited most often at hospitals in fiscal year 2003: -
Handle with Care campaign targets ergo
The American Nurses Association (ANA) in Washington, DC, is making a major push for zero lift. -
An influx of nurses won’t solve shortage
Older nurses returning to work have helped ease the nursing shortage, but they also create a greater imperative for ergonomic modifications, says Peter Buerhaus, PhD, senior associate dean for research at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, TN. -
Fatal assault on physician highlights violence risk
The fatal assault of a physician at a California psychiatric facility once again has highlighted the need for strong workplace violence prevention programs at hospitals. -
Medicare bill closes needle safety gap
A small section in the massive new Medicare law brings all hospitals into compliance with the bloodborne pathogens standard. State and local hospitals now will be subject to the same provisions including the involvement of front-line health care workers as other hospitals that fall under the purview of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). -
Injured employees can file for smallpox benefits
Employees who have suffered from medical injuries related to the smallpox vaccine now can file for federal benefits. -
Report: States unprepared for bioterrorism response
Despite an infusion of federal money, states are not substantially better prepared to respond to bioterrorism, according to a report by the Trust for Americas Health in Washington, DC. -
ICPs have skills to expand job; do they have resources?
Infection control professionals have the expertise to handle a rapidly expanding job definition, but must have the resources and staff to accomplish the new demands on the profession, a leading ICP recently said in Chicago at a conference held by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. -
JCAHO cites collaboration, adequate resources for 2005
New infection control standards by the Joint Com-mission describe a widely supported and collaborative program that represents one of a hospitals top priorities. -
Between the unknown and the uninformed
Amid increasing sensational press exposés and consumer advocates demanding release of hospital infection rates, comes this cold truth from a leading public health official: Health care-associated infections are fraught with so many variables that epidemiologists dont really know how many occur and how many can be prevented.