Hospital Employee Health – August 1, 2023
August 1, 2023
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Reduce Risk of Long COVID Nightmare: Get Vaccinated
Healthcare workers and millions of other Americans are suffering from the ghost of COVID-19, a seemingly endless or remittent continuation of a disturbing panoply of symptoms that could have been lifted from Dante’s Inferno: cognitive decline, chronic pain, shortness of breath, intense fatigue, and neurological attacks on the body’s organs. This is long COVID, about which there is little consensus on diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. However, evidence is accumulating suggesting vaccination can prevent or reduce the impact of long COVID.
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The Face of the ED Boarding Crisis Is a Child’s
The boy was 9 years old, wearing makeshift operating room garb that included cut-off paper scrubs. His parents did not want him. The Department of Social Services said there was nowhere to place him. His last four “homes” had been EDs, including one that kept him for months. Given such tragic incidents, ACEP and the Emergency Nurses Association are aggressively lobbying Congress to address the situation. They gathered on Capitol Hill to underscore the crisis and push for passage of the Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act.
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Is There Racial Tension Among Your Staff?
A sweeping survey on racism by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation yielded some damning findings about nurse-to-nurse racism. A staggering 72% of Black nurses reported experiencing racial discrimination from their own nurse colleagues. The patient level was higher at 88%, but racial incidents involving so many colleagues is disturbing, considering nurses are perennially voted the “most trusted” profession.
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Peter Hotez Stands Against Antivaxxers
Distinguished scientist and vaccine advocate Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, is battling the antivaccine movement and ubiquitous misinformation campaigns that have science on the run at the cost of thousands of lives annually.
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Violence Continues to Threaten Hospital Workers and Patients
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities struggle daily with the threat of violence from patients and visitors, requiring more effort to identify potentially violent people and take steps to prevent injury.