Hospital Employee Health – May 1, 2022
May 1, 2022
View Issues
-
Occupational Health Departments Hit Hard by Pandemic
In 2020, many individual clinical departments were overwhelmed when a series of COVID-19 surges began to inundate hospitals with infected patients. Suddenly, healthcare workers were imperiled. It fell to employee health professionals to work with colleagues and protect the workforce in a situation not seen in a century.
-
Pandemic Violence: HCWs Report Patients Spitting, Coughing on Them
Violent incidents have increased in healthcare facilities since the beginning of the pandemic. Among 833 study respondents, those with the highest rates of physical assault in the prior six months were ED security staff, nurses, and clinicians. -
CDC Paring Down Patient Isolation Guidelines to User-Friendly Format
The CDC is revising its 2007 patient isolation guidelines, going from a ponderous 206-page “textbook” to a simplified “lean” document that healthcare workers can easily access and understand, according to recent discussions at a CDC advisory committee meeting. -
OSHA Finalizing COVID-19 Rule in Healthcare Settings
OSHA has briefly reopened comments and slated a public hearing for April 27 as it moves to finalize its Emergency Temporary Standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19. -
COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Mothers, Newborns
COVID-19 vaccination and pregnancy issues have been clouded by misinformation, leading women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to decline immunization. The accumulating evidence strongly suggests not only does vaccination safeguard pregnant women against severe infection, it confers protective immunity to the newborn baby.