Editor's Note The NCLEX pass rate for RNs fell sharply in early 2025, but many nurse leaders see the drop as temporary rather than cause for alarm, Becker’s Hospital Review August 12 reports. The first-quarter pass rate declined to 71.6%, compared with 79.1% in the same period of 2024. The…

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CEO Karen Franco, MBA, spent years struggling to fill surgical technologist (ST) positions at Pacific Surgery Center in Poulsbo, Washington, due to a lack of viable training options. Nearly 1,400 miles away, Deb Braly, RN, a nurse educator in the surgery department of San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in…

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Editor's Note US News & World Report released its "Best Medical Schools" rankings with significant changes after a 2-year delay, MedPage Today reported July 23. Medical schools are now grouped into tiers instead of ordinal rankings for both research and primary care. This change follows several top schools, led by…

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Competency assessment in perioperative nursing—and American healthcare in general—is a story of unrealized potential. Particularly in the wake of the pandemic, staffing shortfalls and financial pressures have made focusing on staff development difficult for nurse leaders. Nonetheless, the argument for investing more in professional development and competency has never been…

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Takeaways Although women comprise half the population, they were left out of medical research on major causes of death for both women and men—cancer, heart disease, and stroke—until 1990. Using surgical tools designed by men, for men can impact every aspect of a woman surgeon’s work, from learning new procedures…

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Editor's Note Education about human trafficking is lacking in pre-licensure undergraduate nursing curricula, according to an October 2023 study in Nurse Education Today. Most victims see a healthcare provider at some point during their trafficking, yet remain unidentified, researchers write. The more than 4 million nurses in the US are…

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Editor's Note Surglogs, a leading regulatory and accreditation platform in the healthcare industry, is partnering with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) in a "strategic collaboration," a March 13 press release reports. This collaboration marks a significant advancement in the accessibility of AAAHC accreditation standards, as they will…

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Healthcare systems worldwide, regardless of their size or market, are facing the same challenge: how to meet the growing demand for qualified staff without straining hospital budgets. According to a report by the American Hospital Association, health systems are experiencing a significant workforce turnover that began in 2016. On average,…

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Editor's Note Nursing exam pass rates are on the rise after years of decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a January 1 report from MedPage Today.   During 2020 and 2021, the share of US candidates who passed the national licensure exam to work as an RN fell from…

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Initially, the massive nursing credentials scam—disclosed by federal prosecutors early last year—involved three once legitimate, now-shuttered, Florida nurses’ training institutions. Some two dozen criminal operators and recruiters have been arrested and indicted; an as-of-yet unknown number face decades behind bars. According to multiple indictments, most for wire fraud, the scammers…

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