Articles Tagged With: COVID-19
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Pandemic Fatigue, Disinformation Stunt Uptake of Respiratory Vaccines
A vaccination malaise that has beset much of the public appears to have extended to healthcare workers as well. In addition to citing an abysmal COVID-19 vaccination rate of 17% for healthcare workers during the 2022-2023 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed to a “lack of provider recommendation” as one of four key reasons patients are skipping immunizations, with the others being concerns about serious side effects, the occurrence of minor side effects, and a lack of time or forgetfulness.
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CDC: PPE Should be Readily Available for Workers
New draft patient isolation guidelines recently approved by advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that healthcare workers have N95 respirators, masks, eye protection, and other personal protective equipment readily available.
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As OSHA Violence Regulation Stalls, States Move to Protect Healthcare Workers
After more than a decade of urgent calls for federal labor officials to adopt a standard to prevent violence against healthcare workers, 600 determined nurses came to the massive, dome-capped Texas State Capitol in Austin in February 2023. The bipartisan bill that the TNA and the Texas Hospital Association jointly lobbied for was passed into law effective Sept. 1, 2023. Under the conditions of the legislation, healthcare facilities have until Sept 1, 2024, to enact the key provisions.
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Double Trouble: Vaccines Lag, Virulent Mpox Clade 1 Spreads
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released two health advisory alerts only a week apart, one dealing with the “urgent need” to vaccinate people for seasonal respiratory viruses; the second warning that a virulent type of mpox (monkeypox) virus is spreading in Africa.
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Time to Re-Educate Clinicians on Needlesticks and Sharps Injuries
Needlesticks and sharps injuries once were a hot topic in risk management, but in recent years they may have fallen off the priority list at some healthcare facilities. The risk remains and should be addressed with a comprehensive strategy.
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Calling ED Boarding a Public Health Crisis, ACEP Pushes Policymakers to Act
Too many EDs are bursting at the seams with patients who have been admitted but languish in the emergency setting for hours, days, or even weeks before they are moved to an inpatient bed. That is the message the American College of Emergency of Physicians is urgently sending to policymakers, saying the situation with ED boarding has become a public health crisis.
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Has the Pandemic Increased the Likelihood of Bioterror?
Has the global disruption and widespread death caused by SARS-CoV-2 made biological pathogens a more compelling and/or attainable goal by bioterrorists? There are differing views on this question, although all can agree that this is the last thing healthcare workers need to deal with.
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Peak SARS-CoV-2 Viral Loads Delayed
In an effort to characterize the hypothetical utility of rapid COVID-19 antigen kits, the authors of this study examined cycle threshold values in symptomatic adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 relative to the onset of symptoms.
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New Normal in Occupational Health: Telework, Equity, Humility
What is the post-pandemic “new normal” in occupational health? Changes that seem here to stay for employee health professionals and their colleagues include telework and telehealth.
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Health Worker Burnout Is a Crisis; CDC Calls for Science-Based Steps to Improve Worker Well-Being
It is hardly a news flash to providers and staff in the ED that they often work long hours in a highly stressful environment, but according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the levels of fatigue and burnout that all healthcare workers are experiencing have reached crisis levels, and administrators there are calling for urgent action to address the problem.