Editor's Note New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy, on May 8, signed legislation that criminalizes threats against healthcare workers (HCWs), the May 9 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The “Health Care Heroes Violence Prevention Act,” makes it a disorderly person offense to threaten any HCW, “with the intent to intimidate, interfere with,…

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Editor's Note This Italian review and meta-analysis finds that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron and Delta variants rapidly wans over time. Of 799 original articles, 149 reviews, and 35 preprints identified, 40 studies were included in the analysis. Among the findings: Vaccine effectiveness of a primary vaccination cycle…

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Editor's Note This article by nurse researchers at Washington University in St Louis and University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, shows how mentorship can positively affect role transitioning from an experienced RN to a novice acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) in a cardiothoracic ICU. The authors note the differences between preceptors,…

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Editor's Note The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on May 9, issued a new draft recommendation on screening for breast cancer, recommending that all women get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40. In a statement, the American College of Radiology (ACR) and Society of…

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Editor's Note Though the processes of care for emergency coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, patient mortality did not change for COVID-19-negative patients; however, COVID-19 positive patients did have significantly higher mortality as well as infectious complications, finds this study presented May 6 at…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from Finland finds that depressive symptoms in 75- and 80-year-olds have decreased, and they are more satisfied with their lives overall than those at the same age 30 years ago. Two independent cohorts of Finnish men and women aged 75 and 80 were analyzed…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in April to a seasonally adjusted 16,752,600 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 5. That’s up 39,600 since March. Hospital employment also was up by 6,600 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for April was 3.4%, for a…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission’s Ambulatory Buzz on April 24 published five precautionary tips for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to implement in order to “respond quickly and effectively” to emergencies during outpatient surgery. They are: Establish a culture of safety. Prior to a surgical procedure, conduct a comprehensive physical examination…

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Editor's Note In this paper, published in Health Affairs on May 4, Tony Yang, ScD, LLM, MPH, endowed professor in health policy at the George Washington School of Nursing, and his coauthors argue that a more comprehensive approach than recruiting internationally educated nurses is needed to address the US nursing…

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Editor's Note This update to the 2014 "Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals" recommends that antibiotics be discontinued after a patient’s incision has been closed in the OR, even if drains are present. The expert panel members writing the update add that continuing antibiotics after closure…

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