Why Healthcare Workers Should Never Work While Sick

In this episode of The Infection Control Exchange Podcast, Wayne Tucker explores an important but often overlooked infection prevention risk in healthcare settings: staff working while sick.

While healthcare workers are deeply committed to their patients/residents and colleagues, reporting to work with symptoms can unintentionally increase the risk of respiratory viruses and other infectious diseases transmission within healthcare settings, and could lead to an outbreak.

In this 15-minute episode, Wayne discusses:

• Why presenteeism remains common in healthcare organizations

• The infection prevention risks associated with symptomatic staff

• How workplace culture and staffing pressures can influence decision-making

• The critical role of leadership in reinforcing safe practices

• Why protecting patients, residents, and colleagues must always be the priority

This episode highlights how everyday decisions made by healthcare workers play a key role in preventing the spread of infections within healthcare settings.