Is technology part of the answer for nursing staff woes? As COVID-19 patients continue to fill hospital beds, caregivers are feeling exhausted, burned out, and unappreciated. OR nurses have been especially hit hard, as shifts in surgeries and overflowing patient wards stretch OR nurses beyond their limits and comfort zones.…

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Editor's Note According to an “estimate of excess mortality” by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, “more than 3 times” the known number of people who have succumbed to COVID-19 “may have died around the world due to direct and indirect effects” of the…

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Editor's Note In this study, nurse researchers from DePaul University in Chicago document the emotions of 100 nurses throughout the US who cared for patients during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the findings: Nurses described many forms of frustration while providing patient care, such as frustration with healthcare…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Chicago finds that unvaccinated adults with prior COVID-19 infection had an 85% lower risk of acquiring COVID-19 again than unvaccinated adults without prior COVID-19. The researchers analyzed data from patients tested for COVID-19 at 1,300 sites of care in 6 western states…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on April 18, released the FY 2023 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule. The rule would increase payment rates by a net 3.2% for acute care hospitals that participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program and…

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Editor's Note Amid reports of rising rates of COVID-19 infection in more than 30 states, some high-traffic, high-contact industries such as air travel are starting to wean off firm masking rules. According to Becker’s Hospital Review April 19, the largest US airlines “dropped mask requirements for domestic flights” starting on…

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Editor's Note Greg Vanichkachorn, director of Mayo Clinic's COVID Activity Rehabilitation Program and a physician in Mayo’s Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases, and Occupational Medicine, alongside other Mayo Clinic experts, has visited with hundreds of patients diagnosed with long COVID and shared his observations on early recovery steps, Healthcare…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 14 issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 breathalyzer test for individuals 18 years and older. According to the agency, this new diagnostic test can detect the virus in breath samples in under three minutes. Under…

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Editor's Note This systematic review and meta-analysis, led by researchers from the UK, finds that even relatively small doses of physical activity are associated with substantially lower risks of depression. The analysis included 15 prospective studies comprising 191,130 participants and 2 million person-years. The results show an inverse curvilinear association…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on, April 13, announced that it is extending its mask mandate for buses, transit hubs, trains, and airplanes until May 3. The CDC says it is extending the mandate as it monitors the increase in the COVID-19 Omicron BA.2 subvariant…

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