Editor's Note This study from Finland examines the associations between nurse understaffing and limited work experience on the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Patient and staff data from 40 care units and 261,067 admissions in one hospital district in Finland were analyzed. The researchers found that 1- or 2-day exposure…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), on April 19, released new breast cancer standards that put the individualized needs of the patients first and focus on shared decision-making. Previous standards addressed surgical care issues through an interdisciplinary lens, but they were…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 19, identified the recall by Fresenius Kabi USA of its Ivenix Infusion System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a leak in the system that allows fluid to enter the administration set loading area…

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Editor's Note In this British Medical Journal editorial, experts say that female healthcare workers (HCWs) need better protection of their breast tissue from routine ionizing radiation, and they urge implementation of more rigorous radiation protection standards. The experts make the following recommendations: reducing the duration of exposure increasing the distance…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 13, updated prescribing information for all opioid pain medications, including requiring all packaging to have updated labeling and safety information. This includes stating that: for both immediate-release (IR) and extended release/long acting (ER/LA) opioid pain medications, the risk of overdose…

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Editor's Note The Environmental Protection Agency, on April 11, proposed new regulations to reduce exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO), which include more stringent air emission standards and protections for workers who are exposed to EtO when sterilizing medical devices. The proposed standards are estimated to cut EtO emissions from commercial…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS), on April 14, announced the launch of its new multi-year Power of Quality campaign aimed at improving care for all surgical patients by expanding its quality programs to more hospitals nationwide. These evidence-based quality programs have been proved to improve patient outcomes,…

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Editor's Note A quality improvement study led by clinicians at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, improved clinical alarm management skills and reduced alarm fatigue and desensitization among nurses in a surgical intensive care unit. The study included 115 direct-care nurses working full-time, modified full-time, or part-time schedules in a…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 12, issued a Safety Communication recommending that consumers, healthcare providers, and facilities not use certain surgical N95 respirators and to use caution with certain surgical masks and pediatric face masks, all manufactured by O&M Halyard. The FDA says it is…

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Editor's Note This study from HCA Healthcare, Nashville, Tennessee, finds an increase in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in patients with COVID-19, but no increase in patients without COVID-19. More than 5 million hospitalizations in 182 hospitals between 2020 and 2022 were included in the analysis. The incidence of HAIs per 100,…

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