Editor's Note This study from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, finds that racial and ethnic minority populations in the US experienced higher COVID-19 mortality rates, and those with lower educational attainment died at the highest rates within racial and ethnic groups. Among 219.1 million adults…
Editor's Note A study by Premier healthcare consultants finds that the average annual salary for RNs grew about 4% to $81,376 this year, the November 17 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The study, which examined salaries of about 60,000 nurses for The Wall Street Journal, notes that RN salaries are rising…
Editor's Note This study led by nurse researchers at the University of Health Sciences, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey finds that nail brushes used during surgical hand scrubs are not necessary, and there is no difference between the effects of 1-minute and 2-minute scrubs on bacterial counts. The…
Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that 30% of healthcare workers (HCWs) in 2,086 US hospitals remained unvaccinated against COVID-19 as of September 15. Analyzing data on more than 3.3 million HCWs, the researchers found that vaccination rates climbed from 36% to…
Editor's Note This study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine finds that staff common area surface contamination with SARS-CoV-2 did not predict healthcare worker (HCW) COVID-19 infection. A total of 640 samples were obtained from staff common areas over 20 weeks. Unadjusted analysis found that…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on November 15, announced the nationwide recall by SterRx, LLC, of 240 lots of its drug products. The recall was initiated because of the lack of sterility assurance due to equipment and process issues. The recalled drugs include: l mg/ml Midazolam in…
Editor's Note This study from the UK of surgical patients in 18 countries finds that the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted surgical patients—directly through comorbid infections and indirectly by increasing mortality—irrespective of their COVID-19 status. In a subgroup analysis of 3,176 adult emergency surgical patients, all-cause, in-hospital…
Editor's Note A coalition of 12 states, on November 15, sued the federal government to block a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers (HCWs) in facilities participating in CMS programs, the November 16 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. This complaint follows a lawsuit…
Editor's Note This study from France finds that persistent physical symptoms after COVID-19 infection should not be automatically ascribed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this analysis of 26,823 adults, persistent physical symptoms (eg, fatigue, breathlessness, impaired attention, hearing impairment, sleep problems, anosmia) were reported by adults who said they believed…
Editor's Note This study from the University of California San Francisco-Stanford finds that COVID-19 patients taking SSRI antidepressants, particularly fluoxetine, were significantly less likely to die from the disease. The research team analyzed electronic health records (EHRs) from 87 healthcare centers across the US. Of 83,584 adult patients diagnosed with…
