Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced June 24 that it has revised its position statement on preventing nosocomial COVID-19 infections as healthcare organizations resume regular care delivery. The Joint Commission supports the following positions: Continuing to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for universal masking of staff, patients,…
Editor's Note: The American College of Physicians (ACP) on June 18 issued new practice points on the effectiveness of N95 respirators, surgical masks, and cloth masks for the prevention of COVID-19 in addition to standard precautions in healthcare and community settings. The ACP Practice Points, which were funded by the…
Editor's Note Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, New Mexico), one of three National Nuclear Security Administration research and development laboratories in the US, announced on June 22 that it is partnering with hospitals and device manufacturers to increase the availability of respirator masks for healthcare workers. Sandia is helping manufacturers test…
Editor's Note A regional, coalition-guided, multifaceted approach that engaged healthcare systems, long-term care facilities, state and local governments, and organizations to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, kept Washington State’s death rate the lowest of all states with major outbreaks, this study finds. Six key factors helped “flatten the curve:”…
Resuming elective surgical procedures is critical for recovering revenue lost during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and treating patients whose health may have been compromised while awaiting surgery. Timetables and protocols for resuming those procedures tend to differ by facility, but OR leaders nationwide feel that “we’re all…
As state authorities begin to ease restrictions imposed by COVID-19, physicians, nurse leaders, and administrators face a momentous challenge: resuming elective surgical procedures that have been postponed for several weeks or months. How will they accommodate the looming glut of elective surgery demand with limited infrastructure and staff who are…
Proactive leadership, early preparation, and ongoing planning and communication have helped mitigate COVID-19 threats at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida. As a result, resuming elective surgical cases in early May was a relatively seamless process thanks to process improvements made before the pandemic hit. “We started working on COVID-19…
While responding to demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, perioperative leaders are busy preparing staff and departments for life after the initial shock subsides. Chief among their preparations are strategies to address the glut of demand for surgery due to postponement of elective and nonessential surgical procedures. Naturally, many focus on…
Editor's Note Reusable elastomeric masks provide a more durable, less costly, longer term option than N95 masks for healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study finds. Within 1 month of implementing the elastomeric mask program at the Allegheny Health Network’s nine-hospital system in Pennsylvania and Western New York, the…
Editor's Note Within 6 to 8 weeks of the COVID-19-outbreak, a small proportion of anesthesiologists and intensive care providers reported COVID-19 symptoms after a work-related exposure, and fewer had detectable COVID-19 antibodies, this study finds. Of 105 anesthesiologists and intensive care providers at New York City’s Columbia University Irving Medical…