Category: Healthcare

Can Pregnant Workers Receive and Administer Flu Vaccines? Yes!

Every flu season, NIOSH gets questions from pregnant workers about the flu and flu vaccines. Here are the answers to some of your most frequently asked questions, including getting the flu shot at work and administering flu shots to patients.   Can I get a flu shot if I’m pregnant? Yes. CDC and the American Read More >

Posted on by Candice Johnson, PhD,;Christina Lawson, PhD; Carissa Rocheleau, PhD; and CAPT Amy Parker Fiebelkorn, MSN, MPH1 Comment

Work Arrangement and Access to and Use of Healthcare Services

Workers Memorial Day is observed annually on April 28 to recognize workers who suffered or died because of exposures to hazards at work. The April 27, 2018, CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) contributed to the Worker Memorial Day remembrance with an article on fatalities in the fishing industry and a QuickStats, highlighted in Read More >

Posted on by Regina Pana-Cryan, PhD; Roger R. Rosa, PhD; and Abay Asfaw, PhD3 Comments

Healthcare Personnel Working with Flu-like Illness

Most of the United States is experiencing widespread and intense influenza activity. Indicators used to track influenza-like-activity are higher than what was seen during the peak of the 2014-2015 season, the most recent season characterized as being of “high” severity. A NIOSH study recently published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that more Read More >

Posted on by Sophia Chiu, MD, MPH4 Comments

Flu Virus Generated in Coughs and Exhalations

It’s flu season. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research on protecting health care providers and other workers from infectious diseases including influenza.   A significant portion of our research deals with understanding how the influenza virus is transmitted. Influenza is known to be transmitted through respiratory secretions containing the virus. Airborne Read More >

Posted on by William G. Lindsley, PhD3 Comments

N95 Day 2017: When to think Beyond the N95 FFR

Buckle your seat belts! Put on your high-speed safety gear! We’re about to blast off on a journey to explore the N95 respirator … and beyond. It’s N95 Day, and that means we are focusing on respiratory protection, and invite you to do the same. We’ll make it easy. NIOSH and our N95 Day partners Read More >

Posted on by Margaret Sietsema, PhD, and Jaclyn Krah Cichowicz, MA 9 Comments

Understanding respiratory protection options in Healthcare: The Overlooked Elastomeric

In the healthcare industry, the importance of respiratory protection is often overlooked. Choosing the correct respirator for the exposure level and work task is a critical component of a respiratory protection program.  Most healthcare workers are aware of the N95 respirator but may not be aware that the re-formable, reusable elastomeric respirators are a viable option Read More >

Posted on by Michael Bach PhD, RN22 Comments

Ambulance Crash Test Methods

Ambulance crashes are a major safety concern for workers and patients. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed data from 45 special crash investigations from 2001-2015, and found that 84% of EMS workers were not wearing a seat belt in the patient compartment.1 For EMS workers, wearing a seat belt can be at odds with Read More >

Posted on by Jim Green and Sydney Webb, PhD 2 Comments

Nonstandard Work Arrangements

Who is looking out for workers in nonstandard work arrangements? As the prevalence of nonstandard work arrangements (such as temporary agency, contract, and “gig” arrangements) rises, so do concerns about workplace safety and health among this workforce. A recent article, “Nonstandard work arrangements and worker health and safety” published in the American Journal of Industrial Read More >

Posted on by John Howard, MD18 Comments

Using Occupation and Industry Information to Better Serve Your Patient Population

Conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes. On average, American workers spend close to half their waking hours at work. As a result, work can have significant impacts on health. As electronic health records (EHRs) are replacing paper medical records in most Read More >

Posted on by Debbie Hoyer, MPH, Nicole Edwards, MS, Christina Socias-Morales, DrPH4 Comments

Help Set the Research Agenda for the Healthcare and Social Assistance Sector

NIOSH wants to hear from you on how to improve workplace health and safety in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry sector. Your insights will be used to inform the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). NORA is a partnership program to stimulate innovative research and improved workplace practices in occupational safety and health.  Since 1996, Read More >

Posted on by LT Megan Casey, RN, BSN, MPH21 Comments

Are Hospital Cleaning Staff at Risk When Using a One-step Cleaner?

  Workers’ health and safety is an important consideration when choosing cleaning and disinfectant products. In health care settings, disinfection products help minimize healthcare-acquired infections.  In January 2015, the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOSH), received a request to conduct a health hazard evaluation at a Pennsylvania hospital using a new surface cleaning product consisting Read More >

Posted on by Brie M. Hawley, PhD45 Comments

N95 Day 2015: The tools to build a culture of proper respiratory protection practices

  Every day is a day to think about worker safety. But today, on our annual N95 Day (09/04/2015), we embrace our dedication to proper respiratory protection practices, shining it with a bit of elbow grease, and displaying it at the very front line of our priorities. Today we find the time necessary to focus Read More >

Posted on by Jaclyn Krah, M.A2 Comments

NIOSH Research Highlights Importance of Rigorous Standards for Gowns Used to Protect Healthcare Workers

  Recent research performed at the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), with support from Nelson Laboratories, suggests that some isolation gowns do not meet the performance standards established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Isolation gowns are the second-most-used piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) Read More >

Posted on by Selcen Kilinc-Balci, PhD, MBA and Maryann D’Alessandro, PhD9 Comments

A Hard Day’s Night: Training Provides Nurses with Strategies for Shift Work and Long Work Hours

“The problem for me became very severe and my head nurse actually called me into her office to discuss it… it had gotten to the point where I was so chronically sleep-deprived that I was falling asleep while I was trying to report off to the on-coming shift. So, I’m sitting there talking about very Read More >

Posted on by Claire Caruso, PhD, RN, FAAN6 Comments

Higher Nurse-to-Patient Ratio Law Improves Nurse Injury Rates by One-Third

  California is the only state with a law governing minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The ratios vary depending on the type of hospital service but are in the range of one nurse for every five patients. (The ratios are available on the California Department of Public Health website.) The law went into effect in 2004. Read More >

Posted on by Paul Leigh, Ph.D.8 Comments

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Workers’ Memorial Day 2015

  On Workers’ Memorial Day we acknowledge the toll that work-related exposures have taken on American workers, their families, and communities. Each year, NIOSH collaborates with the staff of the CDC Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR) to publish the most recent NIOSH analyses of occupational illness and injuries, and investigations of occupational hazards. The Read More >

Posted on by Kerry Souza, ScD, MPH 2 Comments

Violence in Healthcare

  In the healthcare setting, workplace violence may occur in many forms including: an active shooter, a disruptive patient, or as ongoing incivility from a colleague. The most commonly reported form of violence in healthcare is from the disruptive patient or patient’s family member. In 2013, healthcare workers reported an estimated 9,200 workplace violence incidents Read More >

Posted on by Dan Hartley, EdD2 Comments

Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development – How NIOSH is Helping Design Improved Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers

The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest in history and is unprecedented in many ways, including the large number of healthcare workers who have been infected while treating patients. The large scale of the epidemic, as well as the two healthcare workers who contracted Ebola while caring for the first case in Read More >

Posted on by Ronald Shaffer, PhD27 Comments

What Works Best to Prevent Stress Among Healthcare Workers: Changing the organization or educating staff?

  Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) professionals have to make many decisions on a daily basis. These decisions can involve risk assessment methods, preventive workplace measures, workers’ health surveillance or even rehabilitation or return-to-work practices. According to the principles of evidence based practice, such decisions should be guided by high-quality scientific knowledge (van Dijk et Read More >

Posted on by Jani Ruotsalainen, Jos Verbeek and Thais C. Morata10 Comments

Prolonged Standing at Work

  The National Retail Federation forecasts that retailers and merchants will hire between 730,000 and 790,000 seasonal workers this holiday season.[i] Many of these workers, such as sales associates and cashiers, have little, if any, opportunity to sit during their work shift. Increasingly, workers across a variety of occupations are required to stand for long periods Read More >

Posted on by Robert B. Dick, PhD26 Comments