"Cookbook medicine": Exploring the impact of opioid prescribing limits legislation on clinical practice and patient experiences.

Opioid dependence and overdose are serious public health concerns. States have responded by enacting legislation regulating opioid-prescribing practices. Through in-depth interviews with clinicians, state officials, and organizational stakeholders, this paper examines opioid prescribing limits legislation (PLL) in North Carolina and how it impacts clinical practice.

Heat-related fatalities in North Carolina 1999-2017.

Objectives: Research shows the highest rates of occupational heat-related fatalities among farm laborers and among Black and Hispanic workers in North Carolina (NC). The Hispanic population and workforce in NC have grown substantially in the past 20 years. We describe the epidemiology of heat-related fatal injuries in the general population and among workers in NC.

Forty years of struggle in North Carolina: Workplace segregation and fatal occupational injury rates.

Objective: To assess workplace segregation in fatal occupational injury from 1992 to 2017 in North Carolina.

Methods: We calculated occupational fatal injury rates within categories of occupation, industry, race, age, and sex; and estimated expected numbers of fatalities among Black and Hispanic male workers had they experienced the rates of White male workers. We also estimated the contribution of workforce segregation to disparities by estimating the expected number of fatalities among Black and Hispanic male workers had they experienced the industry and occupation patterns of White male workers.

Twenty-five year occupational homicide mortality trends in North Carolina: 1992-2017.

Introduction: Determining industry of decedents and victim-perpetrator relationships is crucial to inform and evaluate occupational homicide prevention strategies. In this study, we examine occupational homicide rates in North Carolina (NC) by victim characteristics, industry and victim-perpetrator relationship from 1992 to 2017.

Methods: Occupational homicides were identified from records of the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner system and the NC death certificates.

Forty-year trends in fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina.

Background: We describe progress in the control of deaths on-the-job due to fatal occupational injury in North Carolina over the period 1978-2017.

Methods: Forty years of information on fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina has been assembled from medical examiners' reports and death certificates, supplemented by newspaper and police reports. Cases were defined as unintentional fatal occupational injuries among adults.

Efficacy of a Novel Telehealth Application in Health Behavior Modification and Symptomology in Military Service Members at Risk for Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis.

Introduction: Mobile applications (apps) may be beneficial to promote self-management strategies to mitigate the risk of developing post-traumatic osteoarthritis in military members following a traumatic knee injury. This study investigated the efficacy of a mobile app in facilitating behavior modification to improve function and symptomology among military members.

Materials And Methods: This is a preliminary pre and post hoc analysis of a randomized control trial.

Fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina, 1992-2017.

Objectives: After declining for several decades, fatal occupational injury rates have stagnated in the USA since 2009. To revive advancements in workplace safety, interventions targeting at-risk worker groups must be implemented. Our study aims to identify these at-risk populations by evaluating disparities in unintentional occupational fatalities occurring in North Carolina (NC) from 1992 to 2017.

Prevalence of fentanyl in methamphetamine and cocaine samples collected by community-based drug checking services.

Background: Overdose deaths involving stimulants and opioids simultaneously have raised the specter of widespread contamination of the stimulant supply with fentanyl.

Methods: We quantified prevalence of fentanyl in street methamphetamine and cocaine, stratified by crystalline texture, analyzing samples sent voluntarily to a public mail-in drug checking service (May 2021-June 2023). Samples from 77 harm reduction programs and clinics originated in 25 US states.

Disparities in Fatal Occupational Injury Rates in North Carolina, 1978-2017: Comparing Nonmanagerial Employees to Managers.

Background: We examined fatal occupational injuries among private-sector workers in North Carolina during the 40-year period 1978-2017, comparing the occurrence of fatal injuries among nonmanagerial employees to that experienced by managers.

Methods: We estimated a standardized fatal occupational injury ratio by inverse probability of exposure weighting, taking nonmanagerial workers as the target population. When this ratio measure takes a value greater than unity it signals settings in which nonmanagerial employees are not provided as safe a work environment as that provided for managers.

Trends in fatal occupational injury rates among older workers before and after the Great Recession of 2008.

Background: Older workers experience higher rates of fatal occupational injury than younger workers worldwide. In North Carolina, the population of older workers more than doubled between 2000 and 2017. In 2008, the Great Recession changed occupational patterns among all age groups.

Association of Traumatic Knee Injury With Radiographic Evidence of Knee Osteoarthritis in Military Officers.

Objective: The association between knee injury and knee osteoarthritis (OA) is understudied relative to its importance, particularly in younger populations. This study was undertaken to examine the association of knee injury with radiographic features of knee OA in military officers, who have a physically demanding profession and high rates of knee injury.

Methods: Participants were recruited in 2015-2017 from an existing program that enrolled 6,452 military officers during 2004-2009.

Challenges with misclassification of American Indian/Alaska Native race and Hispanic ethnicity on death records in North Carolina occupational fatalities surveillance.

As frequently segregated and exploitative environments, workplaces are important sites in driving health and mortality disparities by race and ethnicity. Because many worksites are federally regulated, US workplaces also offer opportunities for effectively intervening to mitigate these disparities. Development of policies for worker safety and equity should be informed by evidence, including results from research studies that use death records and other sources of administrative data.

Trends in fatal occupational injuries in Latino/a workers relative to other groups, North Carolina 2000-2017.

Background: Latino/a workers may experience higher fatal occupational injury rates than non-Latino/a workers. In North Carolina, the Latino/a population more than doubled between 2000 and 2017. We examined fatal occupational injuries among Latino/a and non-Latino/a workers in North Carolina over this period.

Abuse-Deterrent Opioids: A Survey of Physician Beliefs, Behaviors, and Psychology.

Objective: Evaluate beliefs and behaviors pertaining to abuse-deterrent opioids (ADFs).

Design: Survey in 2019 by invitation to all licensed physicians.

Setting: Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Implementation of mandatory opioid prescribing limits in North Carolina: healthcare administrator and prescriber perspectives.

Background: Recent increases in state laws to reduce opioid prescribing have demonstrated a need to understand how they are interpreted and implemented in healthcare systems. The purpose of this study was to explore the systems, strategies, and resources that hospital administrators and prescribers used to implement the 2017 North Carolina Strengthen Opioid Prevention (STOP) Act opioid prescribing limits, which limited initial prescriptions to a five (for acute) or seven (for post-surgical) days' supply.

Methods: We interviewed 14 hospital administrators and 38 prescribers with degrees in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, business administration and public health working across North Carolina.

Differences in Robbery Prevention Strategies Across Retail Business Types.

Objective: To compare implementation of robbery prevention strategies between gas station/convenience stores with liquor stores/grocery stores/pharmacies, restaurants/bars, and other retail businesses.

Methods: One hundred forty-nine retail businesses were evaluated by police personnel across four police departments for adherence to robbery prevention strategies. Assessment of these strategies occurred between November 2012 and October 2014.

Workplace violence and hospital security programs: regulatory compliance, program benchmarks, innovative strategies.

The authors describe the issue of workplace violence in hospitals, a New Jersey state law and regula- tions regarding workplace vio- lence in healthcare, and some innovative strategies that are being utilized to help reduce the occurrence and risk of violence. The authors also discuss compli- ance with the New Jersey regula- tions.

Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Infants and Young Children With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: To examine the use of intracranial pressure monitors and treatment for elevated intracranial pressure in children 24 months old or younger with traumatic brain injury in North Carolina between April 2009 and March 2012 and compare this with a similar cohort recruited 2000-2001.

Design: Prospective, observational cohort study.

Setting: Twelve PICUs in North Carolina.

Characteristics of workplace violence prevention training and violent events among home health and hospice care providers.

Background: In the rapidly growing home health and hospice industry, little is known about workplace violence prevention (WVP) training and violent events.

Methods: We examined the characteristics of WVP training and estimated violent event rates among 191 home health and hospice care providers from six agencies in California. Training characteristics were identified from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines.

Effectiveness of a Statewide Abusive Head Trauma Prevention Program in North Carolina.

Importance: Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a serious condition, with an incidence of approximately 30 cases per 100,000 person-years in the first year of life.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a statewide universal AHT prevention program.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In total, 88.

A statewide nurse training program for a hospital based infant abusive head trauma prevention program.

Successful implementation of universal patient education programs requires training large numbers of nursing staff in new content and procedures and maintaining fidelity to program standards. In preparation for statewide adoption of a hospital based universal education program, nursing staff at 85 hospitals and 1 birthing center in North Carolina received standardized training. This article describes the training program and reports findings from the process, outcome and impact evaluations of this training.

Understanding small business engagement in workplace violence prevention programs.

Purpose: Worksite wellness, safety, and violence prevention programs have low penetration among small, independent businesses. This study examined barriers and strategies influencing small business participation in workplace violence prevention programs (WVPPs).

Approach: A semistructured interview guide was used in 32 telephone interviews.

How to engage small retail businesses in workplace violence prevention: Perspectives from small businesses and influential organizations.

Background: Small retail businesses experience high robbery and violent crime rates leading to injury and death. Workplace violence prevention programs (WVPP) based on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design reduce this risk, but low small business participation limits their effectiveness. Recent dissemination models of occupational safety and health information recommend collaborating with an intermediary organization to engage small businesses.

Does employee resistance during a robbery increase the risk of customer injury?

Objective: Retail business robberies can lead to employee and customer injury. Previous work demonstrates that employee resistance increases employee injury risk; limited research has investigated customer injuries. This study examines associations between employee resistance against perpetrators and the risk of customer injury.