Editor's Note The Leapfrog Group, on May 3, announced that its new Hospital Safety Grade shows a significant increase in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, spiking to a 5-year high and remaining high. Their analysis found that the average: Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) ratio increased 60% Methicillin-resistant…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) announced May 1 that throughout the month of May it will promote STOP THE BLEED in collaboration with the Chicago Cubs, City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), and programming to educate and empower the public to learn simple…

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Editor's Note The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announced May 1 that it has created a series of ‘Playbooks’ to help infection preventionists (IPs) and epidemiologists operationalize prevention efforts to help fight emerging infectious diseases. The pathogen-specific playbooks outline recommended practices for outbreak response, including: Pathogen…

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Editor's Note This meta-analysis by researchers from Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; Harvard Medical School, Boston; and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, finds a greater risk for Bell's palsy with COVID-19 infection, compared with COVID-19 vaccination. A total of 50 studies were included in the analysis with…

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Editor's Note The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), on April 10, announced the release of updated standards for its 3-year Advanced Orthopaedic Certification program, which will take effect July 1, 2023. The updated Certification Handbook for Advanced Orthopaedics, v42, introduces new terminology and standards architecture plus a revised…

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Editor's Note This April 24 report from Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London explains how giving a little extra attention to any one of four components of good health—sleeping enough, eating well, exercising, and coping with stress—can improve the others. It all begins in the brain with stress. If the brain…

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Editor's Note New safety considerations for using validated suicide risk screening tools related to implementation and training were released by The Joint Commission on March 27. When working with patients at risk of suicide, screening tools can help determine appropriate treatment options and whether further assessment is needed. However, it…

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Editor's Note The World Health Organization, on March 28, announced the revision of it’s guidance for prioritizing the use of COVID-19 vaccines after the meeting of its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). The guidance was revised to reflect that much of the population has either been vaccinated…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 22, announced that it is seeking input to a survey on the implementation and utilization of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) to better assess the impact of prospective changes to data submission practices. This applies, in particular, to a healthcare organization’s readiness in…

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Nurse leaders know that a successful workplace fosters and celebrates teamwork. In the OR, teamwork among surgeons, surgical technologists, circulating nurses, anesthesiologists, and first assistants, to name a few, is critical to ensure patient safety and positive outcomes. And teamwork does not have to be reserved for inside the surgical…

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