TDS - Health Care Worker Safety Checklists: Protecting Those Who Serve

Health Care Worker Safety Checklists: Protecting Those Who Serve

2nd Ed.

Joint Commission Resources

Carolyn Schierhorn, MA

ISBN-13: 978-1-63585-443-5

eISBN-13: 978-1-63585-444-2

Healthcare Administration, Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Description

Health care organizations are committed to the safety of their patients, clients, and facility residents receiving care, treatment, and services. Health care organizations are also committed to the safety of those who serve those patients, clients, and residents—health care workers, whether they be nurses, physicians, therapists, medical technicians, pharmacists, lab workers, or housekeeping staff. Indeed, the safety and well-being of patients and other individuals served depend on the safety and well-being of health care staff.

This new edition of Health Care Worker Safety Checklists: Protecting Those Who Serve provides a completely updated collection of checklists to keep those health care workers safe. The book covers chemical and physical hazards, infectious agents, workplace violence, ergonomic problems, work-related stress, and more. The checklists are built upon authoritative guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the World Health Organization (WHO), and others and are intended to simplify health care worker safety. Most of the checklists are designed for use by health care workers themselves, depending upon their clinical or other responsibilities. Some of the checklists are intended for management to ensure that policies, procedures, engineering controls, and resources are in place to foster health care worker safety in all areas of the organization.

All the checklists are straightforward and easy to understand. They cover the key areas of risk for health care workers across health care settings. Each section of checklists is introduced by compelling statistics that demonstrate the importance of proper precautions when working in the health care environment. The checklists provide the procedures or must-do activities to ensure that health care workers are as safe as can be.

Key Topics:

• Infectious agents
• Chemical and physical hazards
• Ergonomic solutions
• Workplace violence prevention and mitigation
• Staff well-being
• Stress and workplace-related behavioral health issues

Key Features:

• Checklists for health care staff that provide procedures or must-do activities to keep themselves safe
• Checklists for managers to ensure that effective engineering and administrative controls are in place to safeguard health care staff
• Compelling statistics that show the need for precautions when working in the health care environment