Bird flu pandemic may not be certainty, but it's not too early to start preparing.
Revisiting your policies and procedures and intensifying your preventive practices will not only enhance the health of your staff, but it also will improve patient safety. Urge all of your staff to have a flu vaccination this winter. Encourage the use of protective gear, such as gloves and masks, when treating patients with coughs or colds. Have staff who are ill stay at home, rather than risk exposure of colleagues and patients.
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D005585:Influenza in Birds; D007251:Influenza, Human; D014481:United States