Call for OR manager focus group participation
Editor's Note Rose O. Sherman, RN, EdD, NEA-BC, FAAN, emeritus professor at Florida Atlantic University, will be keynoting a session at the OR Manager Conference in Denver and doing a pre-conference workshop on perioperative recruitment and retention. In preparation for these sessions and to ensure that your biggest leadership challenges…
COVID-19 experiences of CNOs
Editor's Note This study by nurse researchers at Baptist Health Lexington, Kentucky, describes both emotional and administrative challenges chief nursing officers (CNOs) in the US faced during the COVID-19 crisis. Interviews conducted with 9 CNOs revealed they: were frustrated with constant change were saddened by the volume of death felt…
Healthcare employment up in April
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in April to a seasonally adjusted 16,240,800 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 6. That’s up 34,000 since March. Hospital employment also was up by 4,500 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for March was 3.6%, for a…
Risk of hearing loss after COVID-19 vaccination inconclusive
Editor's Note According to JAMA Network May 3, two recent studies examined the risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) after COVID-19 vaccination; however, the statistical value of the US-based study was not significant and the absolute risk remains inconclusive. In the first study, JAMA explains, COVID-19 vaccination was associated…
Report: 20% of US rural hospitals risk closing, losing services
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,”…
Impact of classical music virtual reality on burnout
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…
ECRI announces 2022 Health Technology Excellence Award
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…
Nurses’ Health Study: Effect of rotating night shift work on healthy aging
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…
ANA report addresses three longstanding nursing issues
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…
CMS: HHS extends risk adjustment for telehealth, telephone COVID-19 services
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)…