Summary Abstracts
Winter 2020 Journal
Staying Current on Government Affairs
In his Journal column, Stephen Burt, MFA, BS, AOHP Government Affairs Committee Chair, provides analysis of recent government affairs activities. For this issue, he examines how the impact of the coronavirus is evolving into a public health emergency of international concern and reviews employment and labor law issues that will be raised by concerns about COVID-19.
Editor’s Column
A standard feature, the Editor’s Column provides commentary from the current Journal Editor, Kim Stanchfield, RN, COHN-S. In this issue, she shares the importance of maintaining a positive attitude during challenging times.
Association Community Liaison Report
This regular Journal article details how AOHP is gaining visibility as an expert regarding occupational health issues. In this edition, author Bobbi Jo Hurst, BSN, RN, MBA, COHN-S, SGE, provides a review of AOHP’s participation on the OSHA Leading Indicators Roundtable, submission of OSHA Form 300A data, collaboration with HHS on immunization strategies for employers, and AOHP’s partnership with Total Worker Health®.
Perspectives in Healthcare Safety
Cory Worden, PhD ABD, MS, CSHM, CSP, CHSP, ARM, REM, CESCO, shares his insights on safety in healthcare in this standing column. This issue's feature – How to Lose a Case
– reviews how overlooking the effective management of safety will cause breakdowns that can lead to significant loses in court, a deposition, an audit, or other matters of oversight.
Blurred Lines: Has the World Become a Battlefield
Author Cory Worden, PhD ABD, MS, CSHM, CSP, CHSP, ARM, REM, CESCO, discusses workplace violence incidents in healthcare and the importance of proper safety preparedness and training, which lead to more effective real-time responses.
Chaos, Teamwork, Compassion, and Leadership: Disasters and Nursing’s Finest Hours
Nurses come from a long history of rising to the occasion whenever there are disasters. Author Karlene M. Kerfoot, PhD, RN, FAAN, examines how, as we brace for endemics, disasters brought on by climate change, natural disasters, disasters induced by humans, and emergencies in our neighborhoods, nurses manage through the chaos to save lives and prevent adverse outcomes.
Sunlight and Vitamin D for Bone Health and Prevention of Autoimmune Diseases, Cancers, and Cardiovascular Disease
Vitamin D is taken for granted and is assumed to be plentiful in a healthy diet. Unfortunately, very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and only a few foods are fortified with vitamin D. This is the reason why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic for all age groups in the United States and Europe. Vitamin D deficiency not only causes metabolic bone disease among children and adults but also may increase the risk of many common chronic diseases. The goal of this review by Michael F. Holick is to provide a broad prospective on the evaluation, evolution, discovery, and many biological functions of vitamin D.
Waiting to Inhale: Factors Associated with Healthcare Workers’ Fears of Occupationally Acquired Tuberculosis (TB)
Fear of TB infection is rooted in historical and social memories of the disease, marked by stigma, segregation and exclusion. Healthcare workers (HCWs) face these same fears today, and even seek to hide their TB status when infected. This study investigates factors associated with HCW fears of acquiring TB while at work, including selected biographic characteristics, TB knowledge, infection control, and perceptions that colleagues stigmatize co-workers with TB/ presumed to have TB. Authors include Michelle Engelbrecht, Asta Rau, Gladys Kigozi, André Janse van Rensburg, Edwin Wouters, Nina Sommerland, Caroline Masquillier, and Kerry Uebel.