Editor's Note The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has honored a request by N95 respirator mask manufacturer, ALG Health (Bryan, Ohio), to rescind all respirator approvals issued to ALG Health, effective immediately. As of January 6, any of the following ALG Health N95 respirators marked with a…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that major elective surgery performed 0 to 4 weeks after COVID-19 infection is linked to an increased risk of postoperative complications. Of 5,479 patients analyzed, those who had surgery 0 to 4…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services on January 9 posted data showing that more than 19% of all hospitals in the US are experiencing critical staff shortages and more than 21% are anticipating shortages in the next week, the January 10 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Five…

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Editor's Note This Israeli study finds that a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was significantly associated with a lower rate of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (HCWs) over a median of 39 days of follow-up. Of 1,928 HCWs analyzed, 1,650 (85.6%) received a third dose booster. During follow-up, 44 HCWs…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, on the effectiveness of the inactivated whole virion vaccine BBV152 against COVID-19 reinfection of healthcare workers (HCWs), found a high protective effect of 86% in the fully vaccinated. Of 15,244 HCWs who participated in…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was down in December to a seasonally adjusted 16,042,600 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on January 7. That’s down 3,100 since November. Hospital employment was down by 5,100 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for December was 3.9%, for a total…

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Editor's Note This study led by nurse researcher Peter I. Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, at Montana State University, Bozeman, finds a tightening of the labor market for RNs, LPNs, and nursing assistants (NAs), marked by falling employment and rising wages from February 2020 through June 2021. The researchers found unprecedented…

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Editor's Note Maryland Gov Larry Hogan on January 4, 2022, signed an executive order authorizing the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health to regulate hospital personnel, bed space, and supplies. A second order authorizes additional steps to further increase the state’s emergency medical services workforce, the January 5 Becker’s…

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Editor's Note A nationwide study led by researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, finds that COVID-19 infection rates were not statistically different in counties with in-person learning versus remote learning in most regions in the US. Analyzing data 12 weeks after schools opened (July to September 2020),…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced January 5, 2022, that, effective immediately, all disease-specific care (DSC) on-site reviews will implement a portion of the off-site review process developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The off-site review process required organizations to upload documentation before the scheduled review, which organizations told…

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