Increases in drug overdose mortality by race, ethnicity during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study from the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that Blacks had the largest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in 2020, overtaking the rates among Whites for the first time since 1999. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for…
NNU president challenges latest CDC COVID-19 mask guidelines, metrics
Editor's Note OR Manager recently reported on the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations on when masks should be worn by the public. According to the new guidelines, the CDC now recommends the general public wear masks only in communities with a "high" level of COVID-19, which…
Cybersecurity alert: Two new malware threats identified, increased risk
Editor's Note On February 23, the American Hospital Association (AHA) released a Cybersecurity Advisory report because of the heightened risk of cyberattacks due to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to AHA, just this past weekend, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI urged the US private sector, including…
Management of occupational fatigue in nurses
Editor's Note This study by researchers at School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes the development of a fatigue risk management tool that can be used by nurses to pursue balance between work demands and capacity to meet those demands. Interviews with 21 nurses identified four design goals for the…
Associations update guidelines on perioperative medication use for total joint patients
Editor's Note The American College of Rheumatology and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, on February 28, released a summary of their updated guideline for the โPerioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty.โ The guideline, which is…
CDC issues new guidelines on masks
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on February 25, issued new recommendations on when masks should be worn by the public. Under the new guidelines: In communities with โlowโ or โmediumโ levels of COVID-19, masks are not recommended for the general public, which is now more…
Changes in US healthcare workforce during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study led by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds substantial changes in the healthcare workforce during years 2020 and 2021 of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the findings: Healthcare employment levels fell from 22.2 million in 2019 to 21.1 million in 2020 (a 5.2% decline), and then…
Are HCWs abusing religious exemptions to avoid vaccinations?
Editor's Note According to a February 28 Politico article, titled โWant a COVID-19 vaccine exemption? It can be as easy as copy and paste,โ hospital executives are starting to doubt the integrity of religious exemption requests, Beckerโs Hospital Review reports. According to the Politico article, submitting a religious exemption is…
HCWsโ fear of COVID-19 and reluctance to work
Editor's Note This study by Belgium researchers finds that healthcare workersโ (HCWs') fear of COVID-19 and reluctance to work significantly increased between the first phase of the study in May 2020 and the second phase in October 2020. Of 2,661 HCWs analyzed in phase 1 and 2,336 HCWs in phase…
FDA: Class I recall of Arrow Internationalโs Arrow-Trerotola PTD
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 23 identified the recall by Arrow International (Reading, Pennsylvania), a subsidiary of Teleflex Inc, of its Arrow-Trerotola Percutaneous Thrombolytic Device (PTD) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of tip damage during use…