Editor's Note On October 18, the White House released the “National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security” (the strategy), Becker's Hospital Review October 19 reports. The strategy includes the objective to create enough vaccines for the US population within…

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Editor's Note “Is your OR ready for a DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] inspection?” was the question Dennis Wichern, MBA, partner at Prescription Drug Consulting, asked attendees of this breakout session. As a retired DEA agent, Wichern discussed the ways the DEA has been involved in the medical field, specifically pertaining…

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Editor's Note In this session, Maria Sullivan, MSN, MMHC, RM, CNOR, OR manager of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, walked attendees through her journey of renovating the 20-year-old ORs at Monroe Carell. According to Sullivan, here are a few considerations people need to keep in mind…

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Editor's Note “We like to say PSIs [patient safety indicators] are a marathon, not a sprint. Small progress is still progress,” said Holly Taylor, DNP, RN, CNOR, NPD-BC, CNAMB, Quality Management Coordinator at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) at this OR Manager Conference session. Taylor and fellow…

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Editor's Note The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) on October 12 announced that it has created a new Policy Honors Program for nursing students to gain experience and foundational skills in policy analysis and advocacy. The two-semester program will include discussion-based seminars, faculty mentoring sessions, a policy project, and…

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Editor's Note In this study from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, researchers find that Black Medicare patients were less likely to receive surgical consultations than White Medicare patients after being admitted from the emergency department (ED) with an emergency general surgery condition. Of 1,686,940 Medicare patients included in the analysis,…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on October 12 that several revisions that have been made to the Environment of Care (EC) and Life Safety (LS) chapters for certain accreditation programs, including Hospital, Critical Access Hospital, Ambulatory Health Care, and Office-Based Surgery, will take effect January 1, 2023. The changes…

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Editor's Note On October 12, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, Bivalent, to authorize their use as a single booster dose in younger groups, Health Purchasing News October 12 reports. The Moderna vaccine is now authorized for…

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Editor's Note This national survey study led by researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, and Middlesex Community College, Middletown, Connecticut, finds that nearly half of US adults surveyed reported misrepresentation of and nonadherence to COVID-19 public health measures. Among the survey findings: Of 1,733…

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Editor's Note In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) relaxation of recommendations for universal healthcare personnel masking, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) on October 3 strongly urged its 15,000 members to continue masking in patient care areas. Requiring masks for anyone…

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