Safety Related Information Needs

Building on the revolutionary Institute of Medicine reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Keeping Patients Safe lays out guidelines for improving patient safety by changing nurses' working conditions and demands. Licensed nurses and unlicensed nursing assistants are critical participants in our national effort to protect patients from health care errors. The nature of the activities nurses typically perform â€" monitoring patients, educating home caretakers, performing treatments, and rescuing patients who are in crisis â€" provides an indispensable resource in detecting and remedying error-producing defects in the U.S. health care system. During the past two decades, substantial changes have been made in the organization and delivery of health care â€" and consequently in the job description and work environment of nurses. As patients are increasingly cared for as outpatients, nurses in hospitals and nursing homes deal with greater severity of illness. Problems in management practices, employee deployment, work and workspace design, and the basic safety culture of health care organizations place patients at further risk. This newest edition in the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine Quality Chasm series discusses the key aspects of the work environment for nurses and reviews the potential improvements in working conditions that are likely to have an impact on patient safety.

Despite many advances, 20 American workers die each day as a result of occupational injuries. And occupational safety and health (OSH) is becoming even more complex as workers move away from the long-term, fixed-site, employer relationship. This book looks at worker safety in the changing workplace and the challenge of ensuring a supply of top-notch OSH professionals. Recommendations are addressed to federal and state agencies, OSH organizations, educational institutions, employers, unions, and other stakeholders. The committee reviews trends in workforce demographics, the nature of work in the information age, globalization of work, and the revolution in health care deliveryâ€"exploring the implications for OSH education and training in the decade ahead. The core professions of OSH (occupational safety, industrial hygiene, and occupational medicine and nursing) and key related roles (employee assistance professional, ergonomist, and occupational health psychologist) are profiled-how many people are in the field, where they work, and what they do. The book reviews in detail the education, training, and education grants available to OSH professionals from public and private sources.

Every organization must comply with occupational health and safety regulations. Yet it is frequently unclear which actually apply in a given real-life situation, plus the field is loaded with technical terminology and complicated regulations. Many managers, trainers, even safety and health professionals therefore find it hard to know how to comply, with exactly what. Written to make this important discipline more understandable, Concise Guide to Workplace Safety and Health: What You Need to Know, When You Need It systematically addresses, for each of the 34 topics covered, core issues such as relevant regulations, required program elements, and definitions of key terms. Organized for quick access to information, this handy reference book demystifies required documentation, training elements, medical requirements, recordkeeping, and more. Conveniently, the author uses the same 20-part format for every topic. For example, if you want to know only about the documentation required, you can immediately turn to a topic’s Section 9 (Written Documentation Required). If training requirements are the issue, simply go to a chapter’s Section 12 (Training Requirements). Also provided for each topic are links to quality background and training information, with sample forms and programs where available. The guide covers safety and health topics of interest to a wide cross section of industries and businesses. The author’s relaxed, yet focused approach and consistent format allow efficient access to a broad range of occupational health and safety information. The topics covered include not only those that are currently regulated, but also emerging issues such as injury and illness prevention programs, and the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology.

Mirroring a worldwide phenomenon in industrialized nations, the U.S. is experiencing a change in its demographic structure known as population aging. Concern about the aging population tends to focus on the adequacy of Medicare and Social Security, retirement of older Americans, and the need to identify policies, programs, and strategies that address the health and safety needs of older workers. Older workers differ from their younger counterparts in a variety of physical, psychological, and social factors. Evaluating the extent, causes, and effects of these factors and improving the research and data systems necessary to address the health and safety needs of older workers may significantly impact both their ability to remain in the workforce and their well being in retirement. Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers provides an image of what is currently known about the health and safety needs of older workers and the research needed to encourage social polices that guarantee older workers a meaningful share of the nation's work opportunities.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

The first comprehensive reference work covering safety professional terminology A convenient desk reference designed to fill a serious gap in the system safety body of knowledge, the Concise Encyclopedia of System Safety: Definition of Terms and Concepts is the first book explicitly devoted to defining system safety terms and concepts and designed to help safety professionals quickly and easily locate the definitions and information which they need to stay abreast of research new and old. Definitions for safety-related terminology currently differ between individual books, guidelines, standards, and even laws. Establishing a single common and complete set of definitions for the first time, with examples for each, the book revolutionizes the way in which safety professionals are able to understand their field. The definitive resource devoted to defining all of the major terms and concepts used in system safety and reliability in a single volume, Concise Encyclopedia of System Safety is the go-to book for systems safety engineers, analysts, and managers as they encounter new terms, or need an exact, technical definition of commonly used terms.