Safety/Quality
FDA: Class I recall of Baxter’s Volara system with in-line ventilator adaptor
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…
Brigid Gillespie: Advancing OR nursing with evidence-based practice
She is the person who says, “Show me the evidence,” says Brigid Gillespie, PhD, BHlth Sc (Hons), RN, a conjoint professor of Patient Safety in Nursing at the Gold Coast University Hospital and Griffith School of Nursing and Midwifery in Queensland, Australia. Gillespie spoke to OR Manager about the role…
The Munro Scale: Journey from conception to validity and reliability
After a journey of more than 20 years, validity and reliability studies for the Munro Pressure Injury Risk Assessment Scale for Perioperative Patients (Munro Scale) show that the Munro Scale works. The Munro Scale, created by Cassendra A. Munro, PhD, MSN, RN, RNFA, CNOR, is the first standard tool that…
Engaging student nurses to prime the OR nurse pump: Part 2
Generating student interest in the OR can help OR leaders fill staffing gaps. For example, Debra Sparks, MSM, BSN, RN, CNOR, director of regional perioperative services for The Metro Health System in Cleveland, Ohio, has hired nurses who spent time in the organization as part of their university-based OR coursework…
Contrast media shortage reveals cracks in supply chain
May 2022 saw a critical shortage of the iodinated contrast medium (ICM) iohexol that extended well into June because of a COVID-19-related shutdown of a GE Healthcare plant in Shanghai, China, that interrupted the manufacture of ICM. According to the American College of Radiology, contrast media were added to the…
Hospitals can still be better prepared for natural disasters
When a natural disaster strikes—whether flood, tornado, hurricane, or wildfire—nearly every aspect of a healthcare system’s operations are impacted. There is an influx of patients in crisis and a spike in calls for emergency services. There are logistical problems—impassable roads, power outages, and communication and internet breakdowns. Supply chain disruptions…
CDC: US COVID-19 cases, deaths declining
Editor's Note According to the June 24 Becker’s Hospital Review, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) latest US COVID-19 statistics include the following: As of June 23, the 7-day average for newly reported COVID-19 cases dropped 5.6% to 97,430. The weekly average for COVID-19 related deaths dropped by…
FDA: Class I recall of Medtronic’s HVAD batteries
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on June 23, identified the recall by Medtronic of its HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device (HVAD) batteries as Class I, the most serious. The recall for a single lot (Model Number:1650DE) of HVAD batteries was initiated because of welding defects that allow separation…
Newer COVID-19 subvariants show substantial escape from vaccination, previous infection immunity
Editor's Note In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, report that the three Omicron subvariants (BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5) currently dominant in the US substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous COVID-19 infection. The researchers…
The Joint Commission: New R3 Report on reducing healthcare disparities
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on June 22 announced a new “R3 Report—Issue 36: New Requirements to Reduce Health Care Disparities,” which examines the rationale and references behind new and revised requirements to reduce healthcare disparities in accredited organizations, effective January 1, 2023. Among the new and revised requirements: A…
Free Daily News
- Study: Therapy dogs reduce healthcare worker burnout
- Localized nurse shortages to persist amid nationwide surplus, analysis predicts
- California updates guidance on CRNA scope of practice
- FDA designates Class 1 recall for tracheostomy tubes
- Study: Preventing antibiotic-resistant infection surge could save millions
- Face transplant survival rates “encouraging,” global study finds
- Vertical integration reshaping US healthcare: Impact on cost, access
- ChristianaCare, Atlas Healthcare form joint venture to expand ASC network
- CMS calls for demonstrations of AI technology in healthcare
- Study: Adjuvant nivolumab reduces risk of death, lung cancer recurrence