Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 9 announced a Class I recall, the most serious, of Fabius Anesthesia Machines by Dräger Medical. The recall was initiated because of excessive oil that was not removed at the time of production. Excess oil may interfere with the position…

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Editor's Note Opioid abuse or dependence after major surgical procedures was associated with increased readmission rates and healthcare utilization. Of 16,016,842 patients in the National Readmission Database analyzed, 94,903 (0.6%) had diagnoses of opioid abuse or dependence. Comparing patients with and without opioid abuse or dependence, researchers found that patients…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 8 sent a letter to healthcare providers that included recommendations on the use of neurovascular stents for stent-assisted coiling in the treatment of unruptured brain aneurysms. The FDA has received reports associated with these devices that suggest events of peri-procedural…

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Editor's Note Early readmissions (within 7 days of discharge) were more likely to be preventable and amenable to hospital-based interventions, and late readmissions (8 to 30 days after discharge) were less likely to be preventable and more amenable to ambulatory and home-based interventions, this study finds. In this study of…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 8 announced the recall by AuroMedics Pharma (Windsor, New Jersey) of two lots of Ampicillin and Sulbactam for Injection USP, 3 g single-dose vials. The recall was issued because of customer complaints of the presence of red particulate matter in…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS), Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, AORN, Joint Commission, and three other organizations have developed consensus recommendations on OR attire. The recommendations focus on ear and hair covering and include: Evidence-based recommendations on surgical attire are best created collaboratively, with…

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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,…

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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…

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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.

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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.…

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