Biomedical subjects

Patricia M McGovern

Publications and source records attributed to Patricia M McGovern.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The future of health promotion/disease prevention programs: the incentives and barriers faced by stakeholders.

According to Healthy People 2010, 95% of employers with more than 50 employees reported that they offered at least one health promotion activity by 1999. Employment-based health promotion/disease prevention (hp/dp) programs have significantly increased in frequency and scope since 1985. Yet, 20 years later, the reported results for employee health lag behind the literature documenting the impact of lifestyle-related health risks on morbidity, healthcare utilization, and costs. In this article, we consider the key stakeholders involved-employers, health plans, and employees-and explore their legitimate and feasible roles in employment-based hp/dp programs, including the incentives and barriers they face to program participation. We argue for the integration of hp/dp programs into the traditional health protection mission of occupational health and safety professionals.

Disease Management↗

PubMed2005

Impact of training on work-related assault.

Although training is often recommended as a part of a comprehensive approach to address occupational violence, little empirical literature exists to support this recommendation. Over 40% of nurses responding to the Minnesota Nurses Study reported being trained about occupational violence, involving seven different training topics. Although at the univariate level, an increased risk was identified for nurses trained in managing assaultive/violent patients, no statistically significant results remained at the multivariate level. This lack of protection from training is consistent with previous research, although the explanations for this lack of effect remain unclear. Additional research is necessary to obtain more specific details on occupational violence training, including training content and methods, to understand more thoroughly the impact of training on occupational violence.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Risk factors for work-related assaults on nurses.

BACKGROUND: Work-related homicides have been the subject of considerable study, but little is known about nonfatal violence and relevant risk factors. METHODS: We surveyed 6300 Minnesota nurses who were selected randomly from the 1998 licensing database and determined their employment and occupational violence experience. In a nested case-control study, we examined environmental exposures and physical assault. Cases of assault in the previous 12 months and controls randomly selected from assault-free months were surveyed about prior-month exposures. RESULTS: After adjustment by multiple logistic regression, incidence of physical assault was 13.2 per 100 persons per year (95% confidence interval = 12.2-14.3). Among 310 cases and 946 control subjects, odds ratios for assault were increased: in nursing homes or long-term care facilities (2.6; 1.9-3.6), emergency departments (4.2; 1.3-12.8), and psychiatric departments (2.0; 1.1-3.7); in environments not "bright as daylight" (2.2; 1.6-2.8); and for each additional hour of shift duration (1.05; 0.99-1.11). Risks were decreased when carrying cellular telephones or personal alarms (0.3; 0.2-0.7). CONCLUSIONS: These results may guide in-depth investigation of ways protective and risk factors can control violence against nurses.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Work-related violence policy: a process evaluation.

This study describes one employer's approach to evaluating employees' knowledge of a violence prevention policy and experience with work-related physical and non-physical violence. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from a random sample of current and former employees of a Midwest health care organization via a specially designed mailed questionnaire and the employer's internal database. While 7% of employees reported experiencing physical violence in the workplace, almost half of all employees had experienced non-physical violence. Most employees were aware of the organization's violence policy; however, few reported violence or used organizational resources (e.g., employee health) following the violence. Employees experienced symptoms and productivity losses in association with both types of violence. Process evaluations are an effective means of evaluating whether violence policies are used as intended and can provide organizations with considerable information to make effective programmatic changes.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Reporting violence to a health care employer: a cross-sectional study.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify individual and employment characteristics associated with reporting workplace violence to an employer and to assess the relationship between reporting and characteristics of the violent event. Current and former employees of a Midwest health care organization responded to a specially designed mailed questionnaire. The researchers also used secondary data from the employer. Of those who experienced physical and non-physical violence at work, 57% and 40%, respectively, reported the events to their employer. Most reports were oral (86%). Women experienced more adverse symptoms, and reported violence more often than men did. Multivariate analyses by type of reporting (to supervisors or human resources personnel) were conducted for non-physical violence. Reporting work-related violence among health care workers was low and most reports were oral. Reporting varied by gender of the victim, the perpetrator, and the level of violence experienced.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2003

Providing notice to employees on leave: Implications of Ragsdale versus Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.

Occupational health nurses must develop a perspective on implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that supports the provision of quality nursing care to employees and regulatory compliance by the employer. Public policy related to the FMLA continues to evolve with the states acting more rapidly than the federal government as laboratories for social change. Occupational health nurses must identify resources for staying current about new legislation and proposals to advise employers and facilitate regulatory compliance. Occupational health nurses should advise employers to provide written notice to employees designating leave taken under company leave policies as counting as employees' FMLA leave entitlement. These issues are important for regulatory compliance, and also for communication with and fair treatment of employees.

Employment↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Auxotrophic markers pyrF and proC can replace antibiotic markers on protein production plasmids in high-cell-density Pseudomonas fluorescens fermentation.

The use of antibiotic-resistance genes as selectable markers in transgenic organisms is coming under increased scrutiny, for fear that they may spread to human pathogens, thereby reducing the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy. A current Pseudomonas fluorescens protein expression system uses a tetracycline resistance gene (tetR/tetA) to maintain an expression plasmid under control of a repressible promoter and a kanamycin resistance gene (kanR) to maintain a plasmid carrying a repressor gene. We investigated using auxotrophic markers to replace these two antibiotic resistance genes: pyrF (encoding orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase) in place of tetR/tetA and proC (encoding pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase) in place of kanR, complementing their respective precise chromosomal deletions created by allele exchange using a suicide vector carrying pyrF as a counterselectable marker. The resulting strains, devoid of antibiotic-resistance genes, were shown to achieve high productivity of nitrilase and thermostable alpha-amylase equal to that of the former antibiotic-resistant production host. The production plasmids were stable. The pyrF (uracil-dependent) background of the production host strain also allows us to sequentially alter the genome to incorporate other desired genomic changes, deletions, or insertions using 5'-fluoroorotic acid counterselection, restoring the selectable marker after each step.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

False-positive cancer screens and health-related quality of life.

By design, screening tests are imperfect-unresponsive to some cancers (false negatives) while occasionally raising suspicion of cancer where none exists (false positives). This pilot study describes patients' responses to having a false-positive screening test for cancer, and identifies screening effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The pilot findings suggest issues important for incorporation in future evaluations of the impact of screening for prostate, lung, colon, or ovarian (PLCO) cancers. Seven focus groups were conducted to identify the nature and meaning of all phases of PLCO screening. Minnesota participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial who had completed screening, with at least 1 false-positive screen, participated (N = 47). Participants' reactions to abnormal screens and diagnostic work-ups were primarily emotional (eg, anxiety and distress), not physical, and ultimately positive for the majority. Health distress and fear of cancer and death were the major negative aspects of HRQoL identified. These concepts are not typically included in generic HRQoL questionnaires like the SF-36, but are highly relevant to PLCO screening. Clinicians were regarded as underestimating the discomfort of follow-up diagnostic testing. However, relief and assurance appeared to eventually outweigh the negative emotions for most participants. Implications for oncology nurses include the need to consider the emotional consequences of screening in association with screen reliability and validity.

Aftercare↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Crosscutting competencies for occupational health and safety professionals.

A change from a quarter system to a semester system presented a convenient opportunity for faculty at the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (a 27-year-old National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-sponsored education and research center) to evaluate the current curriculum. As part of this process faculty identified both individual and crosscutting competencies for four programs: Occupational Medicine, Occupational Health Nursing, Industrial Hygiene, and Occupational Injury Epidemiology and Control. Faculty identified potential competency sets using published literature, course objectives, and content summaries. Common themes, termed crosscutting competencies, were identified. Seventy program graduates (58%) responded to a survey designed to assess the value of, and proficiency in, these competencies based on their postgraduation job experience. All 29 crosscutting competencies were rated as valuable or very valuable by respondents in each of the four programs. There was less agreement between respondents in proficiency ratings, with 24 of 29 competencies rated either proficient or very proficient. Comparing value and proficiency provided an opportunity to further refine the curriculum and a model for enhancing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes of future environmental and occupational health professionals. With further testing, we propose this set of crosscutting competencies be considered for adoption as a set of interdisciplinary core competencies for Occupational Health and Safety professionals.

Adult↗