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Obamacare, You're Fired - December 2016 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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N urses con- tinue to have the highest job-related injury rates of any occupation. Surgical nurses? You could argue that they deserve hazard pay. Take a look around your ORs at all the injuries just waiting to happen. A partial list from the ground up: cords to trip on and bodily fluids to slip on. Then there's surgical smoke and waste anesthetic gases to breathe in. The slice of a scalpel, the prick of a needle or the splash of blood can expose staff to a number of diseases, including HIV and hepatitis. Their backs take a beating from handling heavy patients and being on their feet for hours on end, much of the time hunched over operating tables. Are you doing all you can to protect your employees? "As a manag- er, you have the ultimate responsibility to ensure their safety," says David Kasprzak, RN, MSc RNFA, former director of surgical services at Easton (Pa.) Hospital. "You have to put your foot down and take a stand, taking whatever measures are necessary to be sure you main- tain a safe environment." 8 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 Keep Your Employees Free From Harm A number of hazards are lurking in your operating rooms. Dan O'Connor Editor-in-Chief • WORKPLACE DANGER The OR floor is a tripping and slipping hazard. Pamela Bevelhymer, RN, BSN

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