Editor's Note Patients having outpatient surgery in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) versus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) are less likely to be admitted to a hospital or visit an emergency department a short time after surgery, this study finds. The study is the first to provide causal evidence on ASC quality,…

Read More

Editor's Note Surgeon preference for bouffant versus skull caps does not have a significant effect on surgical site infection (SSI) rates, after accounting for procedure type, this study finds. Of 1,543 procedures analyzed, surgeons wore bouffant caps in 39% and skull caps in 61% of cases. Overall, SSIs occurred in…

Read More

Editor's Note US hospitals added 8,000 jobs in April to a seasonally adjusted 5,159,800, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 4. That is 94,500 more employees than a year ago. The overall unemployment rate fell by 0.2% in April to 3.9%, the lowest rate since December 2000.

Read More

Editor's Note The results of this study indicate that US nurses do not believe they are meeting evidence-based practice competencies. In this survey of 2,344 nurses from 19 hospitals or healthcare systems, the nurses overall reported they were not yet competent in meeting any of the 24 evidence-based practice competencies.…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on May 2 that beginning January 1, 2019, it will start applying minimum mechanical thrombectomy volume requirements to the Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) certification program. Organizations applying for certification will have to meet the new volume requirements in addition to previous volume requirements, such…

Read More

Editor's Note National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6 and ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. National Nurses Week is celebrated annually to raise awareness of the important role nurses play in society. This year’s theme is “Nurses Inspire, Innovate, Influence.” The American Nurses Association has a…

Read More

Editor's Note Unplanned admissions of medical-surgical patients to intensive care units (ICUs) dropped after a New Hampshire Medical Center implemented a new early warning score communication bundle, this study finds. The hospital embedded a seven-item modified early-warning score system into the electronic medical record (EMR) for patients in its four…

Read More

Editor's Note A change of policy to allow the practice of overlapping surgery for urgent neurosurgical procedures in a tertiary care, safety-net hospital significantly reduced length of stay, in this study presented May 1 at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in New Orleans. Of 452 cases analyzed (201 in…

Read More

Editor's Note An emergency department (ED) nurse at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington, who was suspected of stealing injectable drugs and infecting at least two patients with hepatitis C, has now contracted the disease herself, the May 1 News Tribune reports. The linkage between the nurse and the…

Read More

Editor's Note Inadequate functional health literacy (FHL) in ambulatory surgery patients was associated with poorer postoperative recovery and a lower quality of life in this study. Of 704 patients undergoing ambulatory surgery who were surveyed, 427 (60.7%) reported sufficient FHL, 223 (31.7%) said problematic FHL, and 54 (7.7%) had inadequate…

Read More