Health Care/Social Assistance

In an effort to better protect health care workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is adding $2.7 million in personal protective equipment to its stockpile for hospitals that treat Ebola patients.

Washington – To help protect health care workers and other first responders against Ebola virus exposure, the InterAgency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability has released a new set of recommendations for using personal protective equipment.

Washington – A lack of mandatory standards on Ebola for health care workers leaves nurses unprepared and vulnerable to infection, a registered nurse and union official testified during an Oct. 24 House hearing.

Atlanta – Following two cases in which U.S. nurses were infected with Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tightened its infection-control guidelines for health care workers.

Silver Spring, MD – Hospitals should put in place the “highest standards” for protective equipment and hands-on training to protect health care workers from Ebola, National Nurses United said in a statement issued Oct. 12.

Atlanta – Health care workers who administer certain toxic cancer drugs do not always adhere to recommended safety guidelines, according to a new NIOSH study.

Detroit – Hospital workers can be trained on identifying risk factors for patient violence as well as how to lessen or prevent incidents, according to a new study from Wayne State University.

Sacramento, CA – Occupational injuries among nurses in California decreased by one-third after a 2004 state law implemented nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in acute care hospitals, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.

Atlanta – Influenza vaccination rates among health care workers increased slightly during the 2013-14 season, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Atlanta – Emergency medicine practitioners have an up-close view of the deaths and injuries that can result from texting while driving. Yet when they are not working, physicians, nurses, residents and other emergency health care providers often engage in the same dangerous driving habits, according to a study from Emory University School of Medicine.