66 hospitals suspending elective surgical procedures
Editor's Note In response to an increase in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 66 hospitals have postponed or cancelled elective surgical procedures in an effort to free up space and ensure enough staff and PPE are available, the November 24 Beckerโs Hospital Review reports. All of the hospitals are in the Midwest…
ACS, ASA, AORN call for centralized, coordinated governmental action for COVID-19
Editor's Note In a November 23 letter to federal government leaders, the American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), and Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) asked officials โto act collectively and quickly in support of hospitals and healthcare providers as they continue to struggle in response…
Danish study: Effectiveness of masks in preventing COVID-19
Editor's Note This Danish unblinded, randomized, controlled trial finds that wearing masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the COVID-19 infection rate among wearers. Researchers randomized 3,030 participants to wear three-layer, disposable surgical masks with ear loops that were made in China, and 2,994 were assigned to…
FDA authorizes first home test for COVID-19
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 17 issued an emergency use authorization for the first rapid COVID-19 self-test that a person can administer at home. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit has to be prescribed by a healthcare provider, and the healthcare provider has to report…
Marine study shows COVID-19 transmission despite public health measures, strict quarantine
Editor's Note This study of 1,848 US Marine Corps recruits finds that despite social distancing, wearing masks, regular handwashing, and other public health measures including strict quarantine, recruits contracted COVID-19 and spread it to others, even though hardly any of them had symptoms. Study participants were told to isolate themselves…
Pfizer, BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine 95% effective in final analysis, will seek EUA within days
Editor's Note Just a week after Pfizer revealed an interim analysis showing its COVID-19 vaccine to be more than 90% effective, the company on November 18 released its final efficacy analysis showing the vaccine is 95% effective, and that it protects older people who are most at risk of dying…
Hospitals understaffed for COVID-19 surge
Editor's Note Demand for temporary nursing staff is on the rise as COVID-19 cases surge across the country, the November 13 Healthcare Dive reports. Surge capacity plans include the following: Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare is hiring 200 traveling nurses. The 24-hospital system also brought on 31 nurses from New York-Presbyterian, a…
Nursesโ union survey reveals lack of preparation for COVID-19, flu season
Editor's Note A new nationwide survey by National Nurses United of more than 15,000 RNs finds that hospitals are failing to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 during flu season. Among the nursesโ complaints: inappropriate pursuit of profits resulting in lack of proper infection control measures ongoing issues of both…
Action needed now to meet future demand for nurses
Release of the National Academy of Medicineโs (NAM) report, Future of Nursing 2020-2030, has been delayed until spring 2021. The report is expected to address โnewly emerging evidence related to the COVID-19 global pandemic and include recommendations regarding the role of nurses in responding to the crisis,โ according to the…
Patient-preference playlists improve pre- and postop experiences
Streaming music apps and access to music through smartphones and similar devices make it easy to provide many different genres of music and modalities that can ease surgical patientsโ fears. The use of music in both pre- and postoperative settings has been extensively researched, but less is known about how…