Personal health and well-being have become higher priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people who previously may have ignored preventive care or postponed procedures are taking better care of themselves. Some are reexamining life choices as a result of changes taking place over the past year. “Many of us accept…

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Editor's Note The American Nurses Association (ANA) is joining with the World Health Organization (WHO) in extending the "Year of the Nurse" into 2021. This extension builds on the recognition of nurses’ contributions in fighting COVID-19 and ANA’s expansion of National Nurses Week to National Nurses Month in May. The…

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers nationwide have experienced patient deaths on a scale like never before. Whether from COVID-19 or other complications, surgical services staff sometimes lose patients despite their best efforts, and these failures to rescue can leave lasting psychological or emotional scars. Many healthcare facilities have ramped…

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To rebound from the industry-wide disruption caused by COVID-19, many healthcare organizations are focused on optimizing OR processes to clear the backlog of elective surgical procedures and improve financial performance. However, traditional OR block management methods for surgical schedules provide limited foresight into what block time will ultimately go unused,…

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For BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) leaders who are healthcare professionals, ensuring the delivery of quality care is often made more difficult by the racial or ethnic bias they may encounter within their organizations. In this article, five BIPOC perioperative leaders share their experiences and offer advice for…

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Editor's Note Patients who talk with their physicians are more likely to get vaccinated during a pandemic, finds this study of evidence collected during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic in 2009. In this survey of more than 19,000 people nationwide, researchers from Washington State University, Pullman, and the University of…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued updated guidance on March 10 to help nursing homes safely expand visitation options during the COVID-19 pandemic. The updated guidance says nursing homes “should allow responsible indoor visitation…

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Editor's Note Nurse staffing expert Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, FAAN, testified at the New York State (NYS) Health Committee budget hearing on February 25 about her research on staffing levels in New York State. Among her research findings: Each patient reduction in nurses’ workloads was associated with a 13% decrease…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on February 8, issued a new Quick Safety addressing safe, equitable care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Quick Safety focuses on actions organizations can take to: address racial and ethnic disparities remove barriers to providing safe, equitable healthcare. The pandemic has put a spotlight on…

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Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US was down in January to a seasonally adjusted 15,950,100 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on February 5. That’s down 29,600 jobs since December and down 510,100 jobs compared to a year ago. The overall unemployment rate is 6.3%.

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