Burnout among health care workers is recognized as an organizational risk contributing to absenteeism, presenteeism, excessive turnover, or illness, and may also manifest as decreased patient satisfaction. Pediatric health care may add stressors including worried parents of ill or dying children, child custody issues, child abuse, and workplace violence. The purpose of this study was to measure burnout among workers in a regional pediatric health care system and report whether burnout in a pediatric health care system is different from previously published data on human service workers. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) were used to measure burnout. Pediatric health care workers expressed significantly less burnout as compared to published MBI-HSS scores and client-related CBI scores. Personal burnout CBI scores were not different, but work-related CBI scores were significantly higher than normative scores.

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in hospital cleaners. Methods. Injury data on all hospital employees were extracted from occupational health records and compared. Additionally an interview-based modified Nordic Questionnaire (response rate 98.14%) was conducted. Results. The mean total injury rate for cleaners was 35.9 per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE), while that for other employees was 13.64 per 100 FTE. Slips/trips/falls and MMH contributed 4.39 and 2.37 per 100 FTE among cleaners and rest of the hospital employees, respectively. The most common type of injury was strain while the most common cause of injury was a striking object. Conclusion. The cleaners have higher injury rates and morbidity as compared to other employees of the hospital. The lower back was most commonly affected.

Transmission of influenza among health care workers is a well-documented problem. Influenza vaccination is an effective intervention to reduce the influenza burden; however, vaccination rates remain low among health care workers. The challenge for occupational health nurses is how to increase health care workers' vaccination rates. This article describes the key components of a successful influenza program at a large integrated health care system. A multidisciplinary team developed and implemented an evidence-based, leadership-modeled program that led to improvement in health care workers' vaccination rates from 66% to 77% in year one and from 77% to 84% in year two.

Women of childbearing age must carefully consider the risks and benefits of working in the field of health care prior to becoming pregnant.

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