Hospital Employee Health
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Threat of Reinfection Includes Long COVID
Accumulating research suggests reinfections with SARS-CoV-2 increase the likelihood of developing long COVID, the horrific post-acute syndrome with indefinite duration and a panoply of neurological, autoimmune, and physical conditions. Moreover, the risk of developing long COVID incrementally increases with each reinfection, according to a study that found this cumulative effect continues in up to three reinfections.
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Return to Light Duty Is Key to Full-Time Work
Healthcare workers’ physical injuries account for almost 50% of all injuries reported nationally. The proverbial insult that follows is that the longer they miss work, the less likely they are to return at all. At six months, there is less than a 50% chance they will return. The key justification for returning injured employees to light duty is that it is significantly associated with a return to full-time work and can positively re-engage workers.
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Wounded Healers: Long COVID Community Helps Its Own
Despite her limitations, Karyn Bishof, MS, founded the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project and began distributing information to others. Hospital Employee Heath reached out to Bishof for an interview.
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CDC Seeks Clarity on Masks, Respirators
An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently completed draft isolation guidelines for respiratory patients, but got a thumbs down and a loaded question for their trouble: “Should N95 respirators be recommended for all pathogens that spread by the air?”
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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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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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Sleep Woes Are a Work Problem, but HCWs Must Be Proactive
Sleep disturbance is an all-too-common problem for healthcare workers, particularly if caused by alternating work shifts from day to night. While the workplace system is the primary driver of insomnia, there are steps healthcare workers can take to reduce the effects, which can be considerable. But has the pendulum swung too far?