Editor's Note Rebecca Wiseman, PhD, RN, associate professor and chair of the University of Maryland School of Nursing at the Universities at Shady Grove, has been awarded a grant to establish the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), according to an October 8 news release.…

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Editor's Note In patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II, the risk of 30-day morbidity and mortality was similar for those who had blood testing shortly before surgery and those whose testing was done up to 2 months before surgery, this study finds. Of 235,010 patients…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 3 announced that key updates are now available for its 2019 ORYX performance measurement program reporting requirements. The Joint Commission continues to align its performance measure reporting requirements with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which published its 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment…

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In this study, researchers project that the burden of complex surgical site infections (SSIs) after primary and revision total hips and knees will increase 14% from 2020 through 2030 because of an aging population. Editor's Note In this study, researchers project that the burden of complex surgical site infections (SSIs)…

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Editor's Note Massachusetts voters in November will determine whether mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios will go into effect January 1, 2019, the October 3 SFGate reports. Implementing the ratios could cost providers $676 million to $949 million per year, according to an analysis by an independent state agency. A union representing…

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Editor's Note US hospitals added 12,000 jobs in September to a seasonally adjusted 5,202,900, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on October 5. That is up 102,700 more employees than a year ago. Overall, healthcare employment has increased 301,500 in the past year. The overall unemployment rate is 3.7% (down…

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Editor's Note In this multicenter, randomized controlled trial from the Netherlands, physical therapy was noninferior to early arthroscopic partial menisectomy for improving knee function in patients with nonobstructive meniscal tears. In this analysis of 321 (159 surgery, 162 physical therapy) patients, knee function improved by 20.4 points in the physical…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare is collaborating with the Johns Hopkins, Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento, and Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospitals to identify root causes of and solutions for reducing rates of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and injuries. Following completion of the “Reducing hospital-acquired pressure injuries” project in…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on September 28 announced the recall by Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc of two lots of Robaxin 750 mg tablets because of incorrect dosing information on the label. Robaxin contains methocarbamol, which is used as a muscle relaxant. Patients who follow the incorrect dosing information…

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Editor's Note Despite ethical and legal obligations to protect patient privacy and efforts to establish best practices for healthcare information security, breach rates have increased since 2010, this study finds. Of 2,149 breaches that involved 176.4 million records, the most common entities breached were healthcare providers, with 1,503 breaches that…

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