Editor's Note This study led by epidemiologist Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, and associates, St Paul, Minnesota, found visible damage and residue or debris in 100% of 25 processed flexible endoscopes, using a new visual inspection program that included magnification and borescopes. Fully processed endoscopes were examined twice during a 2-month…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on December 20, identified the recall by Arrow International, LLC, subsidiary of Teleflex, Inc, of its Arrow AutoCAT 2 and AC3 intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) as Class I, the most serious. IABPs are used in patients having cardiac and non-cardiac surgery, and…

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Editor's Note The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) announced on December 21 that it no longer recommends Universal COVID-19 screening for asymptomatic hospital patients, reports December 21 Fierce Healthcare. The new recommendation was published by the organization’s board of directors in the Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology journal.…

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Editor's Note Hospital leaders are preparing for what is expected to be a turbulent 2023, according to results of a December 13 survey from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, reports December 19 Healthcare Purchasing News. The majority of health system leaders said that staffing challenges (85%) and inflation (76%)…

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Editor's Note US Children’s hospitals are seeing a surge in invasive group A strep infections, NBC News reported on December 14, December 15 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Physicians in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Washington told NBC that they are detecting higher numbers of cases compared to past years, with Texas…

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According to the 2022 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are facing a critical shortage of surgical technologists (STs). The percentage of leaders reporting an increase in the number of ST open positions jumped from 22% in 2020 and 28% in 2021 to 42% in 2022, and…

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Editor's Note This study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, finds that increased time from COVID-19 diagnosis to having a surgical procedure was linked to decreased odds of experiencing major postoperative cardiovascular (CV) complications. A total of 3,997 adult patients who had a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 and underwent…

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Editor's Note Healthcare systems need to find innovative solutions to address the nursing shortage, according to a 2023 report from American Hospital Association (AHA), reports December 9 Becker’s Hospital Review. The report noted that the US nursing workforce lost over 100,000 people within the last 3 years, which is the…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, find that mortality after major surgery is elevated in older adults who are frail or who have probable dementia. A total of 1,193 major surgical procedures in 992 Medicare beneficiaries were analyzed. Among the findings: Overall,…

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Editor's Note An observational study, led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and released on November 30 in The BMJ, the flagship journal of the British Medical Association, shows that higher levels of oxygen given to patients under general anesthesia can add risk of injury, VUMC reported on November…

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