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Hospital Safety Connection

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Hospital Safety Connection

Issue 21, May 31, 2012

• OSHA hits four Veterans Administration clinics with safety notices

  OSHA issued 30 notices of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions to four U.S. Department of...

• Surgical residents impaired by fatigue

  Some sleep-deprived surgical residents are fatigued to the point of being the equivalent of legally...

• From Mac’s Safety Space: Sign of the times

  I recently received a question regarding the bona fides for the person(s) in an organization who...

• Weekly poll: Random safety inspections, improved safety or burdensome expense

  With regard to healthcare do you believe that random safety inspections, such as from OSHA, do...

• Weekly tip: Past disasters give clues into the recovery process

  Managing a large-scale disaster can be difficult enough, but without long-term recovery plans, your...

Issue 20, May 24, 2012

• Study: Work experience related to increased use of PPE for flu

  Proper use of PPE for protection against H1N1 comes with healthcare worker experience, but not as...

• From Mac’s Safety Space: House of the rising survey findings

  Something worthy of your consideration, particularly if you have chosen to inspect, test, and...

• Weekly poll: Hepatitis B protection for healthcare workers

  Of the workers in your healthcare facility with reasonably anticipated risk for exposures to blood...

• Weekly tip: Double-gloving can be both safe and effective

  A study published by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) in March focused on...

Issue 19, May 17, 2012

• Major mobile operators to support free text alerts

  Major mobile operators in the U.S. will support wireless emergency alerts that will not cost...

• Blog: Can't get no protection . . .

  I’m not sure if you folks follow my HCPro colleague David LaHoda’s OSHA Healthcare...

• Weekly poll: Domestic violence in the workplace

  Federal employers will be required to create policies to prevent domestic violence in the...

• Weekly tip: Understand waiver for 2012 Life Safety Code® partial adoption

  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) memo released in March offers some flexibility...

Issue 18, May 10, 2012

• Report shows U.S. hospitals improved disaster preparedness

  The 2012 National Preparedness Report (NPR) shows areas of national strength as far as...

• Weekly poll: Nurses and workplace safety

  Nurses Week, May 6th – 12th, the focus of the Weekly Poll is on nursing, of course. Compared...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Gaining some Perspectives on The Doors of Perception

  I’m going to guess that you all out in the audience do not necessarily place The Joint...

Issue 17, May 3, 2012

• Psychiatric patients face much longer wait in EDs

  Patients who show up at the emergency room for psychiatric emergencies wait on average 11.5 hours...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Taking care of business

  Earlier today, I was conducting an EC/EM interview session with a very participative group and I...

• Weekly poll: Can OSHA pick up the pace?

  In reporting on why OSHA takes so long to complete standards, the U.S. Government Accountability...

• Weekly tip: Protecting employees from norovirus

  Hospitals should develop a sick leave policy for staff members who exhibit norovirus symptoms. The...

• Weekly tip: Train and educate staff about new Hazard Communication Standard

  It was only a matter of time, but OSHA has officially revised its Hazard Communication Standard to...

Issue 16, April 26, 2012

• How hospitals can save water and big bucks too

  For more than a decade, Geoffrey W. Glass, director of Facility and Technology Services at...

• Weekly poll: Color-coded scrubs for nurses

  A health system’s switch to color-coded scrubs is receiving push-back from nurses, according...

• Mac's Safety Space: Dry your eyes--but don't dry those wipes!

  A quick note of interest from the survey world –

• Weekly tip: Know the risks for Legionella in fountains

  One of the major risk factors for Legionella growth is water temperature. Warm, stagnant water is...

Issue 15, April 19, 2012

• Model hospital tested during fake quake

  Structural engineers at the University of California San Diego shook an 80-foot-high model hospital...

• Weekly poll: Personally speaking up on hand hygiene

  A report on a study about the continuing reluctance of patients to question healthcare providers...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Do you remember? Or even yesterday?

  Way back in September of last year, we were chatting about the importance of appropriately managing...

• Weekly tip: Be prepared for a celebrity visit by ensuring privacy

  The primary concern when housing a VIP patient is privacy and confidentiality.

Issue 14, April 12, 2012

• "Crisis standards of care" urged by Institute of Medicine

  A recent report by the Institute of Medicine released in March states that the country is in need...

• Weekly poll: Surviving an OSHA inspection, right now

  OSHA’s recently announced National Emphasis Program  (NEP) for nursing and...

• Mac's Safety Space: Panic in Detroit--Panic at the Disco--Panic at the Surgery Center. . . Fire in the Hole!

  I’m presuming (and please don’t attempt to disabuse me of this notion) that you are all...

• Weekly tip: Understand equipment maintenance requirements

  On December 2, 2011, CMS released a statement clarifying hospital equipment maintenance...

Issue 13, April 5, 2012

• Weekly poll: Safety compliance and regulatory sources

  From what sources do you regularly obtain information about healthcare staff and facility safety?

• Blog spotlight: Shock the monkey (part x + y to the 10th power) -- here we go again...

  OK, so now it appears that we’re going to have to rethink how we schedule preventative...

• Weekly tip: Using heat to kill bedbugs

  Bedbugs are an issue that many hospitals encounter, but few want to talk about. Usually the tiny...

Issue 12, March 29, 2012

• Understanding hospital emergency preparedness from Japan earthquake and tsunami, one year later

  On March 19, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) departments of psychiatry and...

• Weekly poll: Training time for HazCom 2012

  Changes to the Hazard Communication standard, which incorporate the Globally Harmonized System...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Shoo beedoobee--splattered, splattered!

  In the never ending discourse on the subject of emergency eyewash stations, I’d like to take...

• Weekly tip: Protect staff from miscarriage risk

  It's no surprise that highly toxic chemicals, found in chemotherapy drugs and sterilizing agents...

Issue 11, March 22, 2012

• OSHA announces amended Hazard Communication standard

  OSHA’s changes to the Hazard Communication standard will improve safety by making it easier...

• Weekly poll: Staff safety training and education

  What percentage of your job do you spend on staff safety training and education? Take the OSHA...

• Blog spotlight: She's a laughing, giggling whirly bird -- oh heli!

  Interesting development on the survey front in the last couple of weeks. I’m not at all sure...

• Weekly tip: How to test fountains for Legionella

  "Many hospitals already have decorative fountains in their waiting rooms, and some have...

Issue 10, March 15, 2012

• Blog spotlight: CMS allows for certain 2012 LSC standards

  This one has the potential to be the game-changer we’ve been hoping (waiting) for – the...

• Weekly poll: OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard enforcement in non-hospital settings

  As part of a call to action statement, 19 nursing and healthcare organizations have asked OSHA to...

• Weekly tip: Don’t overlook the importance of training staff on violence issues

  Although security is in place to help de-escalate potentially violent situations and protect...

Issue 9, March 8, 2012

• Illinois hospital endures tornado

  At Harrisburg Medical Center, staff rushed to move its 42 patients into hallways and away from...

Issue 6, February 9, 2012

• Mac’s Safety Space: You’ve got a new favorite?

  Generally speaking, we in Safety Land don’t get too involved with Centers for Medicare &...

Issue 4, February 2, 2012

• Mac's Safety Space: And I'll return to claim your hand - as the King of California

  I generally don’t single out any of the myriad potential demographics of this portion of the...

Issue 9, March 8, 2012

• Weekly poll: Preferred safety training methods

  For your healthcare facility or department, what is your preferred method for staff safety...

• Weekly tip: Recognize delirium in patients to avoid violence

  Preventing delirium is a difficult task, but ­recognizing and managing it is essential to...

Issue 8, February 23, 2012

• Needlesticks law accounts for drop in injuries

  Law and order has led to a decrease in needlestick injuries among hospital workers.

• Hospital maintenance worker shoots two supervisors

  A hospital maintenance worker shot and wounded two of his supervisors on February 22, according to...

• Weekly poll: Progress from Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act

  With the report of a 38% decrease in needlesticks, has the passage and enforcement of the...

• Weekly poll: Healthcare as a dangerous job

  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses in 2010...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Things can only get better?

  As we sprint rapidly toward March and beyond (it seems like it was just January!), I suspect that...

• Mac’s Safety Space: And your bird can sing?

  One of the topics that resurfaces every once in a little while concerns those most critical...

• Tip of the week: Keep healthcare workers safe in psychiatric facilities

  Training healthcare workers to recognize and defend themselves against the threat of violence is...

• Weekly tip: Provide data to reduce red bag waste

  Red bag waste is expensive and ­harmful to the environment, and training staff members to...

Issue 7, February 16, 2012

• Drug shortages making storage, infection control regulations tough to comply with

  As drug shortages, particularly of cancer-treating drugs, continue to occur, pharmacists are having...

• Weekly poll: Needlestick safety devices

  The OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard requires employers to “Document annually consideration...

• Mac's Safety Space: Manufacturer recommendations?!? We don't need no stinkin' manufacturer recommendations...

  As you’re no doubt aware, there is some movement afoot relative to the inclusion (or...

• Weekly tip: Collaborate with community on bioterrorism preparedness

  For those hospitals that are interested in ­improving or revamping their bioterrorism...

Issue 6, February 9, 2012

• OSHA considers update of infectious disease standard

  In July 2011, OSHA held stakeholder meetings to hear comments from leaders in the healthcare...

• Weekly poll: Safety on Super Bowl Monday

  Human resources experts estimate that U.S. workplaces lose $820 million in productivity and absorb...

• Weekly tip: Use CDC’s all-in-one document for immunization recommendations

  In November 2011, the CDC released new guidelines that should be particularly helpful for safety...

Issue 5, February 2, 2012

• CEO admits to significant problems to handling discovery of child pornography

  University of Michigan Health System CEO Ora Pescovitz has admitted the health system had...

• Weekly poll: Yes or no on mulitdose vials

  A recent recommended practice for medication safety by the Association of periOperative Registered...

• Safety tip: Transition to a tobacco-free campus

  Before you can successfully transition from a tobacco-free facility to a tobacco-free campus, there...

Issue 4, January 26, 2012

• Study: Workplace exposures put nurses at risk for lost pregnancies

  Nurses exposed to cancer treatment drugs or chemicals used to sterilize medical devices may be at...

• Weekly poll: Workplace safety and performance evaluations

  How important is workplace safety in the written performance evaluations for employees in your...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Breaker, breaker . . .

  Recently I received a question from a colleague regarding a survey finding an RFI under...

• Tip of the week: Be compliant with Bloodborne Pathogen standard

  OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard took effect in March 1992 and was designed to protect...

Issue 3, January 19, 2012

• "Wall fountains" may be spreading Legionnaires to patients, visitors

  The calming, soothing modern-style wall fountains found in many hospitals may be getting patients...

• Weekly poll: Workplace safety now and then

  The results from a survey by the American Nurses Association that shows improvement in workplace...

• Mac's Safety Space: From the muddy banks of compliance

  Let’s break from form a little bit and start with a question: How often are you (and by you...

• Tip of the week: Positively change safety climate in your facility

  A new study published in BMJ Quality and Safety in October 2011 shows that "climate" is a...

Issue 2, January 12, 2012

• State health officials will not investigate heightened security during celebrity’s delivery

  Shortly after famous pop singer Beyonce Knowles gave birth at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital on...

• Mac's Safety Space: In your eyes-- the light, the heat . . . the chemicals?

  A couple of weeks ago, a client was asking me about who should be performing the weekly checks of...

• Weekly poll: The Feds and healthcare worker mandatory flu shots

  A post about Recommendations on Strategies to Achieve the Healthy People 2020 Annual Goal of 90...

• Tip of the week: Prepare for the unthinkable

  As many emergency planners already know, The Joint Commission asks facilities to identify their top...

Issue 1, January 5, 2012

• Triaging and treating during disaster

  Physicians facing medical disasters will face ethical concerns not always taught during emergency...

• Weekly poll: Prediction on bloodborne pathogens exposures

  How well will your facility do in preventing occupational bloodborne pathogens exposures in...

• Mac’s Safety Space: Now be thankful?

  As we begin 2012, I am curious as to how folks fared with their EC programs last year (2011...

• Tip of the week: Find guidance for surgical fire prevention

  No surgery is risk-free, but some surgeries are more high risk than others.  Materials that...