December 24th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Health Policy, Research
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Obesity impacts income, especially among women, according to a report from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services’ Department of Health Policy.
In 2004, wages among the obese were $8,666 less for females and $4,772 lower for males. In 2008, wages were $5,826 less for obese females, a 14.6% penalty over normal weight females, the researchers concluded after examining years 2004 and 2008 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.
The research shows that there are significant differences in wages dependent upon race that couldn’t be accounted for by measuring pre-recession (2004) and recession (2008) measures. In 2004, Hispanic women who were obese earned $6,618 less than those who were normal weight. In 2008, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
January 21st, 2011 by AnneHansonMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
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There’s been a lot of stories in the news lately about homicides committed in hospitals. Just out of curiosity, I went to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website and pulled some data from their Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. It confirmed what I suspected — that homicides of workers in hospitals have increased at twice the rate as correctional facilities, where worker homicides have remained stable. Here’s the graph I was able to make from the BLS data:
The red bars (hospital murders) are up to six and seven homicides per year while the blue bars (correctional facility murders) have remained stable at about three per year. This is only for the employees who have been murdered, not all murder victims.
When we consider the cost and repercussions of increased hospital security, think about this trend. We people wonder if it’s safe to be a forensic psychiatrist in corrections, and I will bring out these numbers. It does seem to be safer to work in prison than in a hospital.
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
April 9th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, True Stories
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With the attention rightly focused on patient safety, what about healthcare workers? It’s somewhat of a hidden phenomenon, but attacks on doctors and nurses are on the rise.
Rahul Parikh writes about this in a recent Slate piece. He cites data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which found “healthcare workers are twice as likely as those in other fields to experience an injury from a violent act at work, with nurses being the most common victims.”
In the article, Parikh goes on to detail an attack on a physician who initially refused to give his patient opioid pain medications. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
