Staffing Shortages at Nursing Homes Persist 全美療養院人員短缺議題 持續延燒

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2024/04/26 第482期 訂閱/退訂∣看歷史報份

紐時周報精選 Staffing Shortages at Nursing Homes Persist 全美療養院人員短缺議題 持續延燒 Dozens of Top Scientists Sign Effort to Prevent Artificial Intelligence Bioweapons 頂尖科學家簽協議 阻AI生化武器問世

Staffing Shortages at Nursing Homes Persist 全美療養院人員短缺議題 持續延燒 文/Andrew Jacobs 譯/羅方妤 全美療養院人員短缺議題 持續延燒 Many Americans prefer to believe the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past. But for the nation's nursing homes, the effects have yet to fully fade, with staffing shortages and employee burnout still at crisis levels and many facilities struggling to stay afloat, according to a report by federal investigators. 許多美國人寧願相信新冠疫情已是過去式。但聯邦調查人員報告指出，對這個國家的療養院而言，疫情帶來的影響尚未完全消逝，人員短缺和員工過勞等問題仍處於危機水平，且許多機構難以維持運作。 The report, by the inspector general's office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that the flawed infection-control procedures that contributed to the 170,000 deaths at nursing homes during the pandemic were still inadequate at many facilities. And while the uptake of COVID vaccines was initially robust when they first became available, investigators found that vaccination booster rates among staff workers and residents have been badly lagging. 這份美國衛生及公共服務部總督察長辦公室的報告發現，有缺陷的感染控制程序，在疫情期間導致療養院有17萬人死亡，如今在許多設施相關程序仍不足。而儘管新冠疫苗一開始投入使用時接種踴躍，但調查員發現療養院工作人員和住民疫苗追加劑接種率嚴重落後。 The findings were directed at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency under the department's jurisdiction that oversees 1.2 million nursing home residents whose care is provided mainly by the federal government. The inspector general's report described the staffing problems as "monumental," noting high levels of burnout, frequent employee turnover and the burdens of constantly training new employees, some of whom fail to show up for their first day of work. For nursing homes, the inability to attract and retain certified nurse aides, dietary services staff and housekeeping workers is tied to federal and state reimbursements that do not cover the full cost of care. 這些調查結果是針對美國聯邦醫療保險和補助服務中心，這個單位隸屬衛生部、監管全美共120萬名主要接受聯邦政府提供照護的療養院住民。這份總督察長報告描述，人員問題「很重大」，並指出極度勞累、人員流動率高及訓練新員工的壓力持續存在，甚至有新員工首日上班就沒出現。對療養院而言，無法吸引和留住經專業認證的護理員、飲食服務員工和房務員，與聯邦和州政府補助未涵蓋全部護理費用有關。 Rachel Bryan, a social science analyst with the inspector general's office, said the report sought to ensure that key lessons from the pandemic were not lost, especially now that the acute sense of urgency has faded. 衛生部總督察長辦公室社會科學分析師瑞秋．布萊恩表示，該報告希望確保新冠疫情帶來的重大教訓不被遺忘，特別是在急迫感已消逝的狀況下。 "Just as airplanes cannot be repaired while in flight, nursing home challenges could not be fully repaired during the pandemic," she said. "We feel very strongly that as we come out of emergency mode, we take the time to reflect, learn and take real steps toward meaningful change." 她說：「就像飛機無法在飛航中修理一樣，療養院的挑戰可能也無法在疫情期間完全修復。我們強烈地感覺到，隨著我們走出緊急模式，我們要花時間反思、學習並真正採取行動做出有意義的改變。」 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials asked that some of the proposed recommendations be removed from the report, saying improvements were already in the works. 美國聯邦醫療保險和補助服務中心官員要求，報告中提出的一些建議應該刪除，並稱改善措施已經開始發揮作用。 The agency, for example, cited a new federal program that will provide $75 million in scholarships and tuition reimbursement for those pursuing careers in nursing. 例如，該機構舉出一項聯邦計畫，將提供7500萬美元獎學金和學費補助，給有意從事護理職業的人。 Dozens of Top Scientists Sign Effort to Prevent Artificial Intelligence Bioweapons 頂尖科學家簽協議 阻AI生化武器問世 文/Cade Metz 譯/羅方妤 頂尖科學家簽協議 阻AI生化武器問世 Dario Amodei, CEO of high-profile artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, told Congress last year that new AI technology could soon help unskilled but malevolent people create large-scale biological attacks. 備受矚目的人工智慧新創公司Anthropic執行長阿莫戴去年告訴美國國會，新的人工智慧科技，可能很快就會幫助沒有相關技能但心懷惡意的人製造大規模生化攻擊。 Senators from both parties were alarmed, while AI researchers in industry and academia debated how serious the threat might be. 美國兩黨的參議員都感到震驚，而業界和學術界的人工智慧研究員正在爭辯威脅會有多嚴重。 Now, more than 90 biologists and other scientists who specialize in AI technologies used to design new proteins — the microscopic mechanisms that drive all creations in biology — have signed an agreement that seeks to ensure that their AI-aided research will move forward without exposing the world to serious harm. 現在，超過90名生物學家及其他專精人工智慧設計新蛋白質的科學家，已簽署一項協議，尋求確保他們由人工智慧輔助的研究能在不對世界造成嚴重損害狀況下繼續發展。在生物學中，蛋白質是驅動萬物的微觀機制。 The biologists, who include Nobel laureate Frances Arnold and represent labs in the United States and other countries, also argued that the latest technologies would have far more benefits than negatives, including new vaccines and medicines. 這些生物學家包括諾貝爾獎得主弗朗西絲．阿諾德和美國及其他國家代表性實驗室，他們也主張這些最新科技帶來的好處遠大於壞處，包括新疫苗和藥物問世。 "As scientists engaged in this work, we believe the benefits of current AI technologies for protein design far outweigh the potential for harm, and we would like to ensure our research remains beneficial for all going forward," the agreement reads. 這份協議寫到：「身為投入這項工作的科學家，我們認為關於蛋白質設計的當前人工智慧科技，帶來的好處遠大於可能的危害，我們願意確保未來我們的研究仍然對所有人有利。」 The agreement does not seek to suppress the development or distribution of AI technologies. Instead, the biologists aim to regulate the use of equipment needed to manufacture new genetic material. 這份協議不尋求抑制人工智慧發展和傳布。相反地，這些生物學家的目標是規範製造新基因材料所需的設備用途。 This DNA manufacturing equipment is ultimately what allows for the development of bioweapons, said David Baker, director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, who helped shepherd the agreement. 華盛頓大學蛋白質設計研究所所長貝克協助促成這份協議。他說，DNA製造設備才是讓生化武器最終得以開發。 "Protein design is just the first step in making synthetic proteins," he said. "You then have to actually synthesize DNA and move the design from the computer into the real world — and that is the appropriate place to regulate." 他表示：「蛋白質設計只是製造合成蛋白質的第一步。接著你必須實際合成蛋白質並將設計從電腦移到現實世界，這就是合適的規範場合。」 The biologists called for the development of security measures that would prevent DNA manufacturing equipment from being used with harmful materials — though it is unclear how those measures would work. They also called for safety and security reviews of new AI models before releasing them. 生物學家呼籲發展安全措施，防止DNA製造設備和有害材料一起使用，儘管目前還不清楚那些措施如何運作。他們也呼籲在新的人工智慧模型發表前進行審查。 They did not argue that the technologies should be bottled up. 他們沒有主張這些科技該被隱藏起來。 "These technologies should not be held only by a small number of people or organizations," said Rama Ranganathan, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago, who signed the agreement. 參與簽署該協議的芝加哥大學生物化學與分子生物學教授蘭加納坦表示：「這些科技不應被少數人或組織掌握。」

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