The Holiday Season and Healthcare - Considerations for Healthcare Providers
The Holiday Season and Healthcare - Considerations for Healthcare Providers
The holiday season is a wonderful time to celebrate with family and friends. Depending on your level of enthusiasm, you may be someone who prepares for celebrations’ month in advance. Of course, there are varying levels of cheer and excitement when it comes to holiday planning. It is important to consider that not everyone is as enthusiastic about the holiday season. The rising cost of living and expenses associated with holiday celebrations can contribute to increased stress levels for many. We encourage healthcare professionals to be mindful of others to raise awareness of patients and team members who may be silently struggling around them.
Here are a few tips to help identify those in need of warmth and kindness this holiday season:
Administrators and Leaders
- Revisit and repost resources available for inpatients and outpatients who may need follow up care and monitoring. Re-educate healthcare providers on how to reference available resources and contact information if needed.
- Check in with your team members. Be sure to ask how they are doing. Acknowledgement of someone’s well-being goes a long way. This is especially important in extremely busy and stressful healthcare settings.
- Offer flexible scheduling options and split-shifts, if possible, to allow staff to have a fair opportunity to enjoy even a partial holiday with family.
- Allow employees to hold a potluck or a white elephant gift exchange maintaining a minimal cost cap.
- Allow team members to decorate in accordance with regulatory compliance standards. Check on out our previously published newsletter for more information. Employee engagement goes a long way when it comes to boosting spirits!
- Post information about employee assistance programs or resources available for those who may be struggling with depression during the holiday season.
Healthcare Providers
- Be sure to continue to screen patients for depression and risk of suicide. It is okay to deviate from the computer generated EMR tools that you use every day. Feel free to use a warm, more personal touch when talking with patients. There is nothing wrong with asking a patient if there is anything that may be troubling them that they would like to discuss.
- If you determine that a patient may be at risk, be sure to enlist the help of additional support services for both in-patients and outpatients.
- If you determine that a patient is having suicidal ideation, immediately put the appropriate safety measures in place and providers responsible for the care and safe disposition of the patient.
We have immense gratitude for all healthcare professionals, especially those working long and hard hours during the holiday season to keep us safe. From all of us here at HCE Global, we would like to wish you and yours a joyous and safe holiday season!
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OSHA's General Duty Clause and Ergonomic Risks Under Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the General Duty Clause), healthcare employers are legally required to provide a work environment free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Manual patient lifting, transferring, and repositioning represent significant ergonomic hazards. OSHA actively inspects healthcare systems for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and mandates that hospitals implement engineered control solutions, such as ceiling lifts, sit-to-stand devices, and friction-reducing slide sheets.
The Technical Baseline: NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code NFPA 99 (2012 Edition, as mandated by CMS) establishes risk-based categories for electrical and gas systems based on the risk to patients. Category 1 spaces are those where procedures are performed that could result in major injury or death if utility systems fail. Under Chapter 6 (Electrical Systems), facilities must maintain isolated power systems (IPS) and line isolation monitors (LIM) in wet procedure locations to protect patients against electrical shock. Survey Vulnerabilities: CIHQ and Joint Commission Directives During surveys, both TJC and CIHQ closely inspect the testing logs for these specialized electrical environments. TJC Standard EC.02.05.01 requires facilities to manage utility risks, specifically focusing on the routine inspection of ground- fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and the regular calibration of LIM alarms. CIHQ surveyors frequently evaluate surgical staff on their understanding of the LIM panel: if an alarm sounds, do clinicians know that it signifies a critical loss of electrical isolation that could cause patient harm if a second fault occurs? OSHA 29 CFR § 1910 Subpart S Alignment While NFPA 99 protects the patient, OSHA Subpart S (Electrical Safety) safeguards the clinical staff operating the machinery. Employers must ensure all electrical medical devices are free from recognized hazards. Exposed wiring, unapproved extension cords, or failing to lock out/tag out malfunctioning medical hardware violates OSHA standards and places both employees and patients at immediate risk.
CMS Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and the Unified Focus The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) establishes the baseline for safety through the Conditions of Participation (CoPs). Under 42 CFR § 482.41 (Physical Environment), hospitals must ensure that the physical plant is constructed, arranged, and maintained to secure the safety of patients. CMS holds leadership strictly accountable for ensuring that life safety deficiencies do not interfere with clinical intervention. When a surveyor enters a facility, they cross- reference the clinical patient logs with facility maintenance schedules to ensure environment-driven risks—such as positive/negative pressure room failures—did not impact immunosuppressed patients. Accrediting Bodies: CIHQ, Joint Commission and Other Aos’ Interventions Accrediting organizations like The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality (CIHQ) act as the enforcement arms for CMS via deemed status. TJC’s Environment of Care (EC) and Life Safety (LS) chapters explicitly detail how physical space directly impacts clinical delivery. For instance, TJC Standard EC.02.03.05 requires hospitals to maintain and test fire protection and suppression systems, mapping directly back to Life Safety Code compliance. Simultaneously, CIHQ’s structural surveys place massive emphasis on a unified environment. CIHQ approaches physical plant standards as a direct extension of standard clinical operations. They emphasize that blocked egress corridors or improperly stored medical equipment don't just constitute technical facility violations; they are direct barriers to rapid code-blue response and emergency patient evacuations.
