William Charney

Medical error as defined in Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections: Systemic and Social Causes encompasses many categories including, but not limited to, medical error, hospital-acquired infections, medication errors, deaths from misdiagnosis, deaths from infectious diarrhea in nursing homes, surgical and post-operative complications, lethal blood clots in veins, and excessive radiation from CT scans. When the deaths from these categories are counted they become the leading cause of fatality to Americans, outpacing cancer and heart disease. Add the numbers of fatalities (mortality) to the millions each year who are injured (morbidity) and whose quality of life is forever effected, and an epidemic of harm is defined. The book describes the many systemic and social causes of medical error and iatrogenic events, all of which are cited in the peer-review science, that have a direct effect on the epidemic of patient injury, but are rarely or never considered. These systemic causes include factory medicine (for-profit medicine), staffing ratios in clinical and non-clinical departments, shift work, healthcare working conditions, lack of accountability, legal issues that conflict with patient safety issues, bullying and hierarchical relationships, training of healthcare workers that never rises to the level of risk, and injury to healthcare workers. The premise of the book is that if the systemic or social causes are not considered or changed, then medical error will continue to be an epidemic and no substantial impact in the numbers will be realized. An expert with 30 years of experience as a health and safety officer in healthcare and as an activist for community health and safety issues, editor and author William Charney explores the issues surrounding medical errors and examines the science behind possible solutions. He presents an efficient dialogue that produces a more systemic exploration and targeting of the causes of medical error and drives an exacting message: we are dealing with an epidemic of harm, and unless systemic issues are solved, little will change to subdue the epidemic. Information on the June 2012 Conference on the Epidemic of Medical Errors & Hospital Acquired Infections in the US and Canada: the Systemic Causes can be found on the CRC Press Issuu page.

Systemic and Social Causes

Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections

It is ironic that those whose job it is to save lives often find themselves injured in the course of performing their duties. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers have higher injury rates than agriculture workers, miners, and construction workers. The Handbook of Modern Hospital Safety, Second Edition covers exposure paradigms and offers solutions and models of protection for these individuals, presenting the latest science and intervention strategies that have proven successful in the scientific community. Extensively revised, this second edition explores a host of hazardous conditions that are faced by healthcare workers in today’s hospitals, including: infection and infectious diseases back injuries needlesticks workplace violence slip, trip, and fall injuries ergonomic issues electrocautery smoke toxic drugs ethylene oxide aldehydes pentamidine ribavirin In this long-awaited update to William Charney’s seminal work, experts from leading hospitals, universities, and health organizations explore these health risks and suggested preventive measures, discuss recent research and new information on technology to protect workers, cover new legislation and regulations, and provide insight into the philosophy of creating a safe hospital culture.

Handbook of Modern Hospital Safety

Anne Hudson

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently calculated nearly 60,000 musculoskeletal injuries to healthcare workers resulting from heavy lifting during attempts to move patients. Often the nurses, aides, orderlies, and attendants who suffered permanent injuries were forced out of the profession, straining an already inadequate pool of workers and

Causes, Solutions, and Impacts

Back Injury Among Healthcare Workers

As the need for attentive health care becomes more important than ever, on-the-job risks to physicians, nurses, and related professionals have continued to relentlessly increase. Ever-changing technology, new and unforeseen hazards, the dramatic shift to managed care, and a lack of skilled workers have only heightened the difficulties of maintaining safe environments for caregivers and patients alike. For guidance on health care worker protection, safety specialists have found definitive advice and guidance in William Charney's Essentials of Modern Hospital Safety, Volumes I to III -introduced by Lewis Publishers during the early 1990s. Charney now offers all the important details of that three-volume series, combined with an additional volume's worth of information, in a convenient, single-volume Handbook of Modern Hospital Safety. It's a tragic irony: the industry dedicated to healing and recovery has now become the second highest compensable injury sector-even more hazardous than manufacturing. Make sure your health care professionals have the skills, tools and awareness to protect themselves-and, in turn, their patients-with the Handbook of Modern Hospital Safety.

William Charney

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