Remind clinical staff and others about sharps safety now that the CDC has confirmed an emergency department nurse contracted monkeypox in Florida from a needlestick. 

The majority of the racist incidents involved patients and family members making inappropriate comments related to race or ethnicity. These comments can have a negative impact on the mental health of healthcare providers—leading them to consider leaving their jobs at a time when workforce shortages are a significant problem at healthcare organizations.

The Pip Care app, developed by a company spun out of the Pittsburgh-based health system, improves care management for patients before and after surgery.

This should be a relatively quick news item that will impact organizations being surveyed by our friends in Chicago starting January 1, 2023. So, starting with the new year (as announced in the November issue of Perspectives), there will be a “quick” (I guess I already used that, but sometimes…) safety briefing included with the opening conference of the survey visit.

Dale Lyman, CFPS, has lived and breathed fire and other kinds of safety for decades. He spent most of his career in various roles for the city of Greeley, Colorado. That 35-year stint included roles as firefighter, fire lieutenant, battalion chief, deputy fire marshal, city emergency manager, fire marshal/division chief, and fire chief. He went on to become an Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) life safety surveyor for nine years, and for the past 19 months he has been busy as a Life Safety Code^® (LSC) consultant with Lyman Code Consulting.

Dale Lyman, CFPS, Life Safety Code^® consultant at Lyman Code Consulting, says “Fire extinguishers are required by code in all healthcare occupancies, but where to locate them in the facility—and more specifically, the required mounting specifications—can be a little more confusing.” He offers the following tips on fire extinguishers as well as requirements from the NFPA.

The U.S. healthcare staffing crisis is severely impacting patients. Among other effects, it is causing a dramatic increase in the length of expensive hospital stays.

Four in 10 hospitals have struggled to appropriately discharge patients due to staffing shortages (Reed, 2022). Moreover, 86% of hospitals say COVID-19 has made it harder to secure placement for discharged patients. With the lack of postacute care staffing, health systems are under pressure to extend the length of hospital stays—making the cost of care dramatically more expensive.

OSHA Program Manual for Medical Facilities - October 2022 Revisions

OSHA Program Manual for Dental Facilities - October 2022 Revisions

But since 2020, patient engagement has become more important than ever—especially for those with complex care needs. Providers must find ways to engage patients and keep them in-network. The alternative risks worse outcomes and lost revenue.

The Joint Commission is training a lot of new Life Safety surveyors as it tries to catch up with the backlog and limit split surveys in which clinical surveyors may show up weeks before their LS colleagues.

During new lab employee orientation, safety training should be one of the first items, and it should include information about fire prevention and preparedness. Orient the new staff to the layout of the department. Show them the exits and the designated evacuation meeting location.