Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 24 announced that its January Quick Safety examines second victim experiences and safety actions to consider, and it also includes an anonymous, personal story of a Joint Commission employee who is a second victim. Though the patient and family are the priority for…

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Editor's Note Though needlestick injuries and exposure to bloodborne pathogens continue to be significant hazards for surgeons and nurses, concern about risk is declining, and the true conversion risk is underestimated, this study finds. A survey was distributed to 358 medical students and 247 department of surgery staff at an…

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Editor's Note This meta-analysis of 61 articles (involving 3,909,152 patients) finds a positive relationship between long-term night shift work and several common cancers in women, including breast, digestive system, and skin cancers. A subgroup analysis found that for every 5 years of night shift work, the risk of breast cancer…

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Editor's Note The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons and interventionalists is high, this meta-analysis finds. Of 5,828 physicians, there was: degenerative cervical spine disease in 17% rotator cuff pathology in 18% degenerative lumbar spine disease in 19% carpal tunnel syndrome in 9%. From 1997 to 2015, the prevalence…

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Violence is much more common in healthcare than in other industries, and although many violent events in healthcare are perpetrated by patients, a notable percentage are not. Individuals other than patients who may cause violence in healthcare settings include family members of patients and other visitors, employees, and criminals. Many…

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Editor's Note A new Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study finds that the body repairs DNA damage more efficiently if workers sleep during the night than if they sleep during the day. Unrepaired DNA damage can lead to cancer and other health problems. Using urine specimens collected during night work…

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Editor's Note This Canadian study finds that nurse managers’ coping strategies may be inadequate and could negatively impact their long-term health. Interviews with 23 nurse managers and 1 focus group found that nurse managers have severely high levels of role stressors that include: Working with limited resources (budget and staff).…

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Editor's Note Needlestick injury and occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens are significant hazards for surgeons and nurses, attitudes about risks are changing, and the true seroconversion risk is underestimated, this study finds. A total of 358 medical students and 247 surgery staff were surveyed, and results were compared with 2003…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced February 15 that it will now evaluate all accredited organizations for compliance with the January 18 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on powdered gloves. Citations will be listed under Leadership (LD) 04.01.01 element of performance (EP) 2: “The organization provides care, treatment and…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 19, 2016, published a final rule banning powdered surgeon gloves, powdered patient examination gloves, and absorbable powder for surgeon’s gloves, effective January 18, 2017. The FDA says it issued the ban because these products present unreasonable and substantial risks to…

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