Hospital Employee Health – November 1, 2010
November 1, 2010
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Needlesticks, sharps injuries dropping but safety device push must continue
With widespread adoption of safer sharps in hospitals, needlesticks declined by more than half for some of the most hazardous devices. Safety has become the norm in phlebotomy. Needle devices are placed in sharps containers instead of being left on bed linens or carts, where someone else may be stuck. -
The needlestick that changed her life
Karen Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, remembers the stick as if it happened in slow-motion, the details still clear to her 12 years later. She had helped a co-worker draw blood from a patient in the emergency department. She turned to reach behind her for the sharps container. Mounted high on the wall, it was overfilled, but she couldn't see it well because it was above eye level. -
CDC: Monitor HCWs for flu symptoms
During last year's H1N1 influenza pandemic, health care workers inadvertently transmitted flu to their co-workers, in some cases triggering a hospital-based outbreak. That and other information about H1N1 transmission helped shape new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that rely on vaccination, respiratory hygiene, and monitoring of ill employees by employee health professionals. -
What HCWs need to know about flu
Training and education of health care workers is an important aspect of preventing transmission of flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this specific recommendation: -
OSHA may crack down on sleepless doctors
The problem of fatigued medical residents has gotten the attention of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. -
Current and proposed resident work limits
Current ACGME standard (2003) -
Fighting fatigue requires more than caffeine
Medical residents aren't the only hospital employees suffering from fatigue.