Editor's Note This study from Saudi Arabia finds that nurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU) had a significantly higher risk of COVID-19 infection. A total of 1,594 healthcare workers (HCWs) with COVID-19 infections were analyzed—103 working in the ICU and 1,491 working in non-ICU locations. The ICU had…

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Editor's Note This study (CRISTAL randomized trial) from Australia finds that aspirin compared with enoxaparin resulted in significantly higher rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip or knee arthroplasty. This cluster-randomized, crossover trial included 9,711 patients in 31 hospitals in Australia—5,675 in the aspirin group and 4,036 in the…

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Editor's Note The upcoming OR Manager Conference in Denver, Colorado, is almost here. The conference will be held on October 17-19, and the full conference brochure is now available online here: 2022 ORMC Brochure. As part of the program, the OR Manager community will be honoring outstanding leaders who have…

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Editor's Note The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) on August 11 announced the publication of its first set of safe practice guidelines to support perioperative medication safety in hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and other procedural locations. The new guidelines: Address best practices related to labeling and storage of perioperative…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 11 classified the recall by Becton Dickinson (BD) of its Intraosseous Infusion System, which includes Intraosseous Needle Set Kits, Intraosseous Manual Driver Kits, and Intraosseous Powered Drivers, as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated for three separate…

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Editor's Note This Canadian study finds that hospitals impacted by COVID-19 can reduce their surgical backlogs by scheduling elective surgeries on the weekends. Using machine learning algorithms, the researchers demonstrated that even after resuming their usual level of surgical cases, the wait list would not decrease without a substantial increase…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 27 updated its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2022—giving 429 hospitals a five-star rating, based on their performance across five quality categories, the July 27 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. There also were: 890 hospitals that received a…

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Cancer treatment delays in COVID-19 patients This large prospective cohort study from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, found that multiple patient factors, underlying primary malignant neoplasm, multimorbidity, geographic location, receipt of vaccine, and COVID-19 severity and diagnosis date were linked to delays in cancer treatment during…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on July 27 announced that it is revising its National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) Standard NPSG.15.01.01, element of performance (EP) 1, to now include long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals, effective January 1, 2023. The change will allow The Joint Commission to score environmental risk assessment…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 23 identified the recall by Baxter Healthcare Corporation of its Volara system with in-line ventilator adaptor as Class I, the most serious. The Volara system is used to clear mucus out of airways, expand lungs, and treat or prevent pulmonary…

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