Editor's Note According to a Bipartisan Policy Center report, titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Rural Health Care Landscape” and published on May 4, 441 out of 2,176 rural hospitals in the US—just over 20%—“face three or more risk factors, putting them at risk of service reduction or closure,”…

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Editor's Note This study by nurse researchers at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, California, provides evidence that classical music virtual reality (VR) may reduce burnout in healthcare workers (HCWs). A total of 71 HCWs completed 3 sessions of VR and took a baseline survey before engaging in VR and a…

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Editor's Note On May 5, McLaren Northern Michigan was named the winner of ECRI’s 16th Health Technology Excellence Award for its integration of patient-care technologies into new hospital construction. The award-winning submission described the hospital’s plan to build 200 private patient rooms, a range of clinical care areas, as well…

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Editor's Note After 24 years of follow-up in the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, find that night shift work was associated with decreased odds of healthy aging. Healthy aging was defined as reaching at least 70 years of age and…

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Editor's Note A report issued May 2 by the American Nurses Association (ANA) addresses three issues nurses have struggled with for decades—staffing shortages, mandatory overtime, and safety—but, these issues have reached a tipping point in the COVID-19 pandemic, ANA says. ANA notes that: Staff shortages due to cost-cutting, an aging…

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Editor's Note On April 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated an April 2020 “Risk Adjustment Telehealth and Telephone Services During COVID-19 FAQs” notice to extend telehealth and telephone-only services in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) risk adjustment program, the American Hospital Association (AHA)…

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Editor's Note This study from the UK finds that cognitive impairment as a result of severe COVID-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age. The researchers analyzed data from 46 patients who received in-hospital care on a ward or in the ICU; 16 patients were…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced May 3 that applications are now being accepted for the second annual Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity. This award, created by The Joint Commission and Kaiser Permanente, recognizes advancements in reducing healthcare disparities in the name of…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on March 28 a Class 1 recall of the Point of Care Celltrion DiaTrust COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test “because it may have been distributed to unauthorized laboratories,” the American Hospital Association (AHA) May 2 reports. A Class 1 recall is “the…

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Editor's Note This study, led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), finds that symptomatic individuals with an initial negative home antigen test should test again 1 to 2 days later because test sensitivity peaks several days after COVID-19 onset. In 225 adults and children with…

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