Nurse staffing levels tied to patient satisfaction
Editor's Note Patientsโ satisfaction with hospital care is strongly associated with missed nursing care, which is related to poor nurse staffing and poor work environments, finds this study led by Linda H. Aiken, PhD, RN, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania…
FDA issues Safety Alert for Zoll LifeVest 4000 Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 17 issued a Safety Alert for the Zoll LifeVest 4000 Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator because of concerns that the device may fail to deliver treatment to patients if the device is not replaced soon after displaying โCall for service: Device has…
Meta-analysis supports โweekend effectโ for surgical patients
Editor's Note Postoperative mortality rises as the day of the week of elective surgery approaches the weekend and is higher after admission for urgent/emergent surgery on the weekend, this meta-analysis from the University of Calgary finds. The analysis included 10 studies that involved about 6.7 million patients having elective procedures…
FDA updates Safety Alert for Cortrak 2 Enteral Access System
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 12 updated a Safety Alert about pneumothorax events associated with feeding tube placement procedures using the Cortrak 2 Enteral Access System (EAS) by Corpak Medsystems (Buffalo Grove, Illinois). Several of the events were associated with cardiopulmonary arrest, and there were…
Patient preference for surgery, antibiotics to treat appendicitis
Editor's Note In this survey, most respondents chose surgical rather than nonsurgical treatment for acute appendicitis. Of 1,728 respondents, 85.8% chose laparoscopic appendectomy, 4.9% chose open appendectomy, and 9.4% chose antibiotics alone as treatments for themselves. For their child, 79.4% chose laparoscopic appendectomy, 6.1% chose open appendectomy, and 14.5% chose…
CMS proposes coverage change for MRI with implanted cardiac devices
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on January 11 issued a proposal to modify its national coverage determination for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to include patients who have implanted cardiac devices. Proposed changes include the expansion of coverage for patients with cardiac devices that are approved or…
FDA delays UDI compliance dates for class I, unclassified devices
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 12 announced a delay in enforcement of unique device identification (UDI) requirements for class I and unclassified devices until September 24, 2020. The FDA also will not enforce direct mark requirements for these devices until September 24, 2022. The guidance…
Education brochure helps surgical patients improve opioid disposal
Editor's Note Dissemination of low-cost patient education brochures improved disposal of unused opioids after surgery, this study finds. The study involved 334 patientsโ164 who did not receive the brochure and 170 who did receive it. Patients who received the brochure informing them of appropriate methods for disposal were twice as…
CDC updates data on HAIs
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 5 updated its data on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) have dropped 50% since 2008. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) have had consistent year-to-year decreases, especially since those caused by yeast were deleted from the…
FDA: Class I recall of Certitude Delivery System
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 11 classified the recall by Edwards LifeSciences (Irvine, California) of its Certitude Delivery System as Class I, the most serious. The system is used for delivery of the Edwards SAPIEN 3 transcatheter aortic heart valve. The recall was issued because…