Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on November 4 posted the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) reported by US hospitals in 2021. The report showed that rates for four of six tracked infections had increased: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) increased 7%, with the largest increase…

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Today’s chat is with Casey Orth-Nebitt, MSN, RN, CNOR, Director of Surgery, Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, Storm Lake, Iowa. Q: What is something that went right at your facility and/or that you are thankful for this year? I'm always thankful for my staff, who have remained loyal, hardworking, and…

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Today’s chat is with Tracy Hoeft-Hoffman, MSN, MBA, RN, CASC, Administrator, Heartland Surgery Center, Kearney, Nebraska. Q: What is something that went right at your facility and/or that you are thankful for this year? What has gone right this year and makes our center so successful every year is the…

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Today’s chat is with Brian S. Dawson, MSN, RN, CNOR, CSSM, System VP, Perioperative Services, CommonSpirit Health, Denver. Q: What is something that went right at your facility and/or that you are thankful for this year? I couldn’t have asked for anything better this year than how our perioperative council…

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Editor's Note This French study finds that persistent symptoms were still present in 10.1% of COVID-19 infected individuals at 1 year. Of 53,047 study participants analyzed, 3,972 (2,531 women) with a mean age of 50.9 years had been infected with COVID-19. Of these, 2,647 reported at least one symptom during…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on November 9 that refreshed Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are available for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals to provide updated performance measurement data on certain quality measures. Refreshed “Other” reports contain data through the third quarter of 2021. Data in the reports comes…

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Editor's Note This study from the Cleveland Clinic finds that COVID-19-positive patients have a higher risk of postoperative mortality, and risk factors should be carefully evaluated before intervention. The analysis included 2,543 patients who had 3,027 surgical procedures. About half of the patients were male with a mean age of…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission and Kaiser Permanente, on November 8, announced two winners of the 2022 Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity—NYC Health + Hospitals, New York, and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, Houston. The award recognizes healthcare organizations that led initiatives that…

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Editor's Note This study by investigators in the Framingham Heart Study—an ongoing, prospective cohort study evaluating cardiovascular disease risk factors—finds that systemic symptoms after COVID-19 vaccination were associated with greater antibody response than local only or no symptoms. A total of 928 of 3,200 Framingham Heart Study participants completed this…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in October to a seasonally adjusted 16,577,200 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on November 4. That’s up 52,600 since September. Hospital employment also was up by 10,800 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for October rose to 3.7%, for…

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