FBI warns healthcare professionals about fraud scheme
Editor's Note The FBI on August 22 warned healthcare workers of ongoing fraud schemes where scammers impersonate law enforcement and government officials in an effort to extort money or steal personally identifiable information (PII), Healthcare Purchasing News August 24 reports. By researching a medical practiceโs website or social media, scammers…
Work readiness of new RNs
Editor's Note This study led by nurse researchers at Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, examines the work readiness of newly licensed RNs. Work readiness is the extent to which newly graduated nurses possess qualities and competencies linked to job satisfaction…
Amazon shutting down its healthcare service
Editor's Note Amazon is shutting down Amazon Care by the end of the year, the August 24 Washington Post reports.ย Amazon Care was initially started as an internal healthcare offering for Amazon employees, but currently, it is available to employees of half a dozen corporate customers. Workers were told their healthcare…
COVID-19 outbreak in acute care hospital linked to vaccine breakthrough
Editor's Note This study by researchers in South Korea analyzes a COVID-19 outbreak caused by vaccine breakthrough infections in a hospital where 91.9% of healthcare workers were vaccinated. In addition, it was mandatory that all healthcare workers and caregivers wear masks or respirators at all times except when eating. During…
ANSI/AAMI ST98 provides cleaning validation requirements for device manufacturers
Editor's Note The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) on August 24 announced the publication of a new standard: โANSI/AAMI ST98:2022, Cleaning validation of health care productsโRequirements for development and validation of a cleaning process for medical devices.โ The new standard not only provides manufacturers with a formalized…
Regular physical activity linked to lower risk of COVID-19 infection, adverse outcomes
Editor's Note This meta-analysis led by researchers in Spain finds that regular physical activity is associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality. The analysis included 1,853,610 adults from multiple countries worldwideโ54% were women, and the average age was 53. Compared with physically inactive individuals, those who…
Impact of COVID-19 on surgical cases for urology resident training
Editor's Note This study from researchers at the Urology Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, examines the impact of COVID-19 on surgical cases for urology residents and finds that despite widespread disruptions in surgical care, there will likely be minimal detriment to training over time. Using data from the Accreditation…
Last chance to nominate a peer for OR Manager Conference awards
Editor's Note The upcoming OR Manager Conference in Denver, Colorado, is almost here. The conference will be held on October 17-19, and the full conference brochure is now available online here: 2022 ORMC Brochure. As part of the program, the OR Manager community will be honoring outstanding leaders who have…
Study: Incubation period decreases with each COVID-19 variant
Editor's Noteย New research in China, led by Min Liu of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Peking University's School of Public Health in Beijing, shows that the incubation period is significantly shorter when people are infected with COVID-19 now than at the beginning of the pandemic, US News…
Association of masking policies with mask adherence, distancing during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Kaiser Permanente, Southern California, Pasadena, findsย that masking mandates had a significant role in influencing people to wear masks during COVID-19. A total of 109,999 individuals in 126 US cities were included in the analysis. Data were collected by 231 students affiliated with…