-
Be proactive and get ready for an onslaught of questions from critical inquiries to the out-of-the-blue variety if youre preparing for a visit from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, advise two infection control professionals who recently went through the process.
-
The Joint Commission is adding a new infection control standard for health care facilities that requires them to prepare for an influx of infectious patients. As part of emergency management activities, institutions must prepare for such an influx or the risk of an influx effective Jan. 1, 2005.
-
Ceiling lifts save backs. That is what Salina (KS) Regional Medical Center concluded, and the investment paid off.
-
While much of the country struggles to comply with the new requirement for annual fit-testing of N95 filtering facepiece respirators used to protect against tuberculosis, hospitals in Washington state have some advice: Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are an important tool in decreasing the burden of fit-testing, employee health and safety professionals say. They have had many years to learn that lesson. Based on a rule of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries in Olympia, they have conducted annual fit-tests since 1995.
-
Worried that the future clout of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is in jeopardy, occupational health advocates are pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to alter its reorganization plans.
-
Is your respiratory program ready for an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection? As of July 2, an OSHA inspector can ask about your use of respirators to protect against tuberculosis and when you last fit-tested health care workers who are caring for TB patients.
-
Chemotherapeutic agents are colorless, odorless, and hazardous. How do you know if your employees have been exposed as they prepare or administer the drugs or clean in contaminated areas?
-
Barb Maxwell, RN, MHA, COHN-S, CCM, CWCP, and her colleagues had braced themselves for the new survey process of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). They knew they had to be ready for the unexpected.
-
Red rules have earned Sentara Norfolk (VA) General Hospital a golden award. The hospital won the American Hospital Quest for Quality Prize from the American Hospital Association for creating an institutionwide cultural transformation with a commitment to safety. The prize: $75,000.
-
You cant manage workers compensation costs if you cant track those costs. That basic truth led OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria to rethink its system, beginning with the first report of a work-related injury.
