Archive for: Weekly Poll Questions
Weekly poll: Who do you trust for N95 recommendations
Health officials, the CDC, OSHA, and just about every healthcare worker in contact with H1N1 patients have been debating the effectiveness of N95 respirators over surgical masks for protection against the flu.
It seemed everyone had a final answer when the CDC updated its interim recommendations in support of N95, and OSHA said enforcement would reflect CDC guidance. But retractions of N95 research have left some a little confused.
Now some state health departments, such as Ohio, have begun operating under their own guidelines, allowing healthcare workers to wear surgical masks instead of N95s.
What guidelines to you trust more, the CDC or your state health department? Which one is your facility following? Take the poll and let us know in the space below.
Weekly poll: Hand hygiene games
We’ve all heard it 1,000 times: Hand hygiene compliance is the number one way to reduce infections.
Despite that fact, medical facilities continually struggle with hand hygiene compliance. Many facilities have found that games and lighthearted competition usually create an atmosphere where employees are easily motivated to wash their hands. Some others believe handwashing is strictly serious business.
What do you think? Does your facility use games to improve hand hygiene?
Weekly Poll: Patients or workers first?
On Friday New York Governor David A. Patterson announced that Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines would suspend the regulation mandating influenza vaccines for healthcare workers.
The state maintained that he decision had nothing to do with impending lawsuits, rather the shortage of H1N1 vaccines.
In a released statement Daines said the state had told hospitals that because the H1N1 vaccine is in short supply, its more important to vaccinate patients before healthcare workers.
Who do you think should get priority with the H1N1 vaccines?
Weekly poll: State mandated quarantine
Last week the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that updated the state’s emergency powers, according to the Boston Globe.
According to the article Massachusetts governors and public health commissioners have always had the power to quarantine people suffering from communicable disease, but the issue has come to the forefront this flu season. Those concerned about swine flu vaccinations oppose the bill although the law specifically forbids forced vaccinations. However health officials do have the power to quarantine those who refuse vaccines during extraordinary health emergencies.
We’ve seen both sides of the required vaccination issue, what do you think about forced quarantine measures? Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments section below.
Weekly Poll: OSHA and GHS
A new rule in the Federal Register indicates OSHA has proposed aligning the hazard communication standard with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
OSHA says the alignment will improve the quality and consistency of information. Although this will affect manufacturers and importers rather than healthcare facilities, are you aware of the GHS system?
Weekly Poll: Flu shot or mask?
Last week we wrote about a roundabout way that some major hospitals are using to “force” flu shots for healthcare workers. Essentially employees have the choice to get the flu shot or wear a mask for the entirety of their shift. Think Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, only it’s a procedural mask.
Other hospitals that have tried to enforce flu vaccines have run into trouble with unions (see Iowa University Hospitals and Clinics in that same post). Unless you have no union employees or the vaccine is state mandated, its difficult to make the flu shot a requirement of employment, which is why hospitals have turned to this loophole for help.
We’ll leave it up to you. Would you rather get a flu shot or wear a mask for every shift? Take our poll and as always, comments are welcome.
Weekly poll: Workplace violence
The startling story about the death of Yale graduate student Annie M. Le, whose body was found in the wall of a laboratory, has been a shocking reminder that workplace violence can be more serious than we’d all like to believe.
Between unruly patients and the high stress environment, workplace violence can be especially prevalent in the healthcare setting, which makes it even more important to have policies and training to recognize and prevent violence so that employees feel safe coming to work.
Does your facility have these policies in place? Do you feel safe coming to work?
Weekly poll: Just one shot for H1N1
Despite the fact health experts have anticipated the H1N1 vaccine will come as two shots, clinical trials have shown that might not be the case, according to a New York Times article. Trials published online on Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine showed positive response with just one dose.
Weekly poll: IC and safety market
Both the infection prevention and safety markets are expected to grow 4.8% annually, reaching $23.5 billion in 2013, according to a study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., in Cleveland.
Some might see this as a beneficial development, translating into more products, safer options, and better technology to prevent infections and ensure healthcare worker safety.
Others might argue this market growth will drive up prices when healthcare facilities are already struggling financially.
What do you think? How will this market growth affect how you do your job?
Weekly Poll: Sick leave policies
When it comes to protecting employees from seasonal flu and influenza A H1N1 this winter, much of attention has focused on vaccinations and proper PPE, including whether to use N95s or surgical masks.
However adjusting sick leave policies to allow employees to stay home if they experience flu symptoms is quickly becoming a major part of healthcare pandemic plans. Federal guidance released this month urges employers to make appropriate adjustments in their employee policies to allow sick healthcare workers to feel comfortable staying home. The CDC also says workers should be sent home if they develop flu symptoms.
On the other hand, a recent survey by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) found that 65% of hospitals do not have guaranteed adequate sick leave.
Has your facility addressed this issue? Take our poll and let us know in the comments section below.
