Objective: to understand the meaning of humanized care in intensive care units considering the experience of the multidisciplinary team. Method: descriptive and exploratory qualitative research. For this purpose, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 professionals of the heath-care team, and, after transcription, we organized the qualitative data according to content analysis. Res...

Costs for workers’ compensation benefits in California have increased sharply in recent years, following periods of decline and stability. California was already one of the most expensive states for total costs per injured worker and for a number of types of testing and treatment in the midto late 1990s. For example, a series of multi-state studies revealed that California has the second highes...

INTRODUCTION The prevalent use of computer systems in medical settings is part of a general shift in medicine towards the digitization of information and the incorporation of digital technologies into medical practice (Heath & Luff 2003). In the U.S., this shift has significant institutional support including incentives for the purchase of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems, the implementa...

BACKGROUND Nursing managers have to meet expectations of patients despite economic pressures, an increasing burden of disease and nursing shortages. Shifting health care-related tasks to lower categories of staff, including non-nursing support staff, has become one solution to address this dilemma. Patient care workers are a specific group of non-nursing support staff working in South African h...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of care provided by mid-level health workers. METHODS Experimental and observational studies comparing mid-level health workers and higher level health workers were identified by a systematic review of the scientific literature. The quality of the evidence was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria and da...

BACKGROUND Control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission has been unsuccessful in many hospitals. Recommended control measures include isolation of colonized patients, rather than decolonization of carriage among patients and/or health care workers. Yet, the potential effects of such measures are poorly understood. METHODS We use a stochastic simulation model in w...

The ageing population of the United States is generating an increasing demand for care and foreign-born workers will supply an important part of that demand. This article discusses the ways in which U.S. healthcare and immigration policies affect the supply of the foreign born to professional and lesser skilled, direct care jobs. The U.S. market for long term care is shifting away from hospital...

Outbreaks of infectious diseases or multi-casualty incidents have the potential to generate a large number of patients. It is a challenge for the healthcare system when demand for care suddenly surges. Traditionally, valuation of heath care spatial accessibility was based on static supply and demand information. In this study, we proposed an optimal model with the three-step floating catchment ...

OBJECTIVES To describe the nationwide occurrence of work related musculoskeletal injuries among all home care service workers in Sweden, and to identify relative risks and risk factors of the injuries. METHODS The study was based on work related injuries reported to the Swedish occupational injury information system in 1990-1. The work related musculoskeletal injuries were divided into overex...

OBJECTIVES Home care workers provide care without the normal protections afforded in the hospital. This study describes the prevalence of abuse and violence experienced by home care workers and its relationship to workers' depression. METHODS A two-wave telephone survey (N=1,643) was conducted to assess the prevalence of abuse and prevalence/incidence of workers' depression. RESULTS Abuse w...