The Joint Commission releases new sentinel event data
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 7 released sentinel event data for the first 6 months of 2022. Of 832 events reviewed this year from January 1 to June 30, the top 10 most frequently reported were: Falls—199 Unintended retention of foreign objects—30 Suicides—26 Delays in treatment—25 Wrong surgery—19…
COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among vaccinated, unvaccinated adults
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that COVID-19 vaccines are strongly associated with preventing serious illness. Analyzing data from 192,509 hospitalizations in 250 US hospitals: monthly COVID-19 associated hospitalization rates ranged from 3.5 to 17.7 times higher in unvaccinated…
Travel nurses are not returning to former jobs as demand decreases
Editor's Note Some travel nurses are choosing to leave nursing instead of returning to their former hospital jobs “as demand for travel nurses comes back down from unprecedented highs during the pandemic,” Becker’s Hospital Review September 6 reports. According to Becker’s, there were about 50,000 travel nurses in the US…
Editor's pick: 10 tools for perioperative leadership success
Editor's Note Any leadership position in a modern perioperative leadership department requires a nurse who is skilled at making business decisions that promote patient and staff safety and quality care. The skill set is always evolving and requires constant reforming and fine tuning. This job involves not only leadership and…
Effect of COVID-19 on mental health of physically active adults
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology find that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with worse mental health for physically active adults. A total of 855 physically active adults (32.6% women) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at two time points (ie,…
Healthcare employment up in August
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in August to a seasonally adjusted 16,453,900 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on September 2. That’s up 48,200 since July. Hospital employment also was up by 14,700 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for August was 3.7%, for a…
FDA: Class I recall of Integra’s CereLink ICP Monitor
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 31 identified the recall by Integra of its CereLink ICP Monitor as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because the device may display incorrect values for a patient’s intracranial pressure (ICP) and display out-of-range pressure readings. If…
Physical activity remains lower worldwide than pre-COVID-19
Editor's Note This study by researchers at UC San Francisco finds that step counts—a measure of physical activity—were markedly lower early in the COVID-19 pandemic compared to prepandemic, and they remain lower in the 2 years following the onset of the pandemic. The researchers used data collected from the Azumio…
FDA: Class I recall of Hamilton-C6 Intensive Care Ventilator
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 29 identified the recall by Hamilton Medical AG of its Hamilton-C6 Intensive Care Ventilator as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of potential water ingress between the indicator board and the ventilator’s main board that may…
Risk of COVID-19 in HCWs working in ICU vs non-ICU settings
Editor's Note This study from Saudi Arabia finds that nurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU) had a significantly higher risk of COVID-19 infection. A total of 1,594 healthcare workers (HCWs) with COVID-19 infections were analyzed—103 working in the ICU and 1,491 working in non-ICU locations. The ICU had…
