Healthcare employment down in December
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was down in December to a seasonally adjusted 16,042,600 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on January 7. Thatโs down 3,100 since November. Hospital employment was down by 5,100 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for December was 3.9%, for a total…
Nurse employment declined during first 15 months of COVID-19 pandemic
Editor's Note This study led by nurse researcher Peter I. Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, at Montana State University, Bozeman, finds a tightening of the labor market for RNs, LPNs, and nursing assistants (NAs), marked by falling employment and rising wages from February 2020 through June 2021. The researchers found unprecedented…
Maryland governor declares 30-day state of emergency
Editor's Note Maryland Gov Larry Hogan on January 4, 2022, signed an executive order authorizing the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health to regulate hospital personnel, bed space, and supplies. A second order authorizes additional steps to further increase the stateโs emergency medical services workforce, the January 5 Beckerโs…
Study: No significant link between COVID-19 infection rates and in-person learning
Editor's Note A nationwide study led by researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, finds that COVID-19 infection rates were not statistically different in counties with in-person learning versus remote learning in most regions in the US. Analyzing data 12 weeks after schools opened (July to September 2020),…
The Joint Commission implements some off-site processes for DSC on-site reviews
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced January 5, 2022, that, effective immediately, all disease-specific care (DSC) on-site reviews will implement a portion of the off-site review process developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The off-site review process required organizations to upload documentation before the scheduled review, which organizations told…
Survey: One in five nurses burned out
Editor's Note Medscapeโs 2021 Nurse Career Satisfaction Report, published December 29, 2021, found that the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the burnout of 20% of respondents, according to the January 3, 2022, Beckerโs Hosptial Review. The survey of 10,788 nurses in various positions (ie, RNs, LPNs, APRNs) found the following:…
FDA: Class I recall of Puritan Bennett 980 Series Ventilator
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on January 3, identified the recall by Covidien of its Puritan Bennett 980 Series Ventilator as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a capacitor manufacturing assembly error that may cause the ventilator to become inoperable or stop…
Characteristics, outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 Omicron patients in South Africa
Editor's Note Patients hospitalized with the Omicron variant have a different pattern of characteristics and outcomes than in previous waves of COVID-19, with patients being younger and having fewer comorbidities, fewer hospitalizations and respiratory diagnoses, and a decrease in severity and mortality, this study by researchers in Johannesburg, South Africa…
Illinois governor urges hospitals to delay nonurgent surgical procedures
Editor's Note Illinois Gov J. B. Pritzker and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association have asked hospitals to delay nonurgent surgical procedures in preparation for a โlikelyโ post-holiday Omicron surge and shortage of staffed ICU beds, the January 3 Beckerโs Hospital Review reports. The state is seeing about 500 new…
Hip fracture surgery volumes in older individuals during COVID-19
Editor's Note Hip fracture surgery volumes in individuals 65 years and older were lower during the pandemic than 2 years before, which contrasts with that seen in the general population, this study from Kaiser Permanente researchers finds. The analysis includes 18,288 patients aged 65 years or older who had hip…