Editor's Note The American Nurses Association (ANA) is launching its annual month-long celebration that allows for greater opportunities to promote understanding and appreciation of nurses. The month is divided into four weekly focus areas—Self-Care, Recognition, Professional Development, and Community Engagement. As part of this month of recognition, National Nurses Week…

Read More

Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, finds that an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot assistant can provide responses to patient questions that are of comparable quality and empathy to those of physicians. A total of 195 randomly drawn patients’ medical questions…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, also referred to as Arcturus, accounted for nearly 12% of COVID-19 cases in the US last week, and another relative, XBB.1.9.1 is responsible for 9% of cases, as of April 29, the April 28…

Read More

Editor's Note The National Institutes of Health (NIH) program, titled “Research With Activities Related to Diversity” (ReWARD) is now accepting grant applications, the American Hospital Association April 27 reports. The earliest submission deadline is May 5, and the final deadline for the first 6-month cycle is June 5. Applications can…

Read More

Editor's Note A study led by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, finds use of a timed storage and dispensing device for bulk-packaged electrocardiography (ECG) electrodes significantly improves compliance. The study included seven operating rooms (ORs) that used a bin with an automated countdown timer…

Read More

Editor's Note This study led by nurse researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, finds that rest break practices of 12-hour shift nurses are of poor quality. Survey data from 806 nurses were analyzed. Key findings include: Most nurses did not take regular rest breaks. Breaks were often interrupted, spent…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 26, announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirement to count the volume of ventricular assist device (VAD) implants by surgeons will be reinstated on May 11. CMS stopped this requirement during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Read More

Editor's Note This meta-analysis by researchers from Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; Harvard Medical School, Boston; and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, finds a greater risk for Bell's palsy with COVID-19 infection, compared with COVID-19 vaccination. A total of 50 studies were included in the analysis with…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on April 26, announced updates to the enforcement process for its hospital price transparency rule. CMS will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals do not submit a corrective action plan on time or complete it within 45 days.…

Read More

Editor's Note This study, published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, analyzes 68 closed claims cases on wrong-site surgery from 2013 to 2020. The services most frequently responsible for these cases were: Orthopedics (35.3%) Neurosurgery (22.1%) Urology (8.8%). The most common types of procedures involving wrong-site…

Read More