Editor's Note An analysis of federal health data, done by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care system, showed that those who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus are at “increased risk of developing gastrointestinal (GI) disorders within…

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Editor's Note A Medscape survey of more than 9,100 physicians across 29 specialties finds that 75% were happy outside of work before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that dropped to 58% after the pandemic, the March 7 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The survey, which looks at physicians’ mental health, happiness with…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh examines the effect of a stressful work environment (ie, combined effect of a lack of COVID-19-related support and communication, 3 role stressors, and bullying) on RN exhaustion. A total of 169 questionnaires were analyzed (16.6% response rate). Results showed: role overload,…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at Elevance Health, Inc, Indianapolis, Indiana, finds increased rates of adverse outcomes over a 1-year period in adults who survived the acute phase of COVID-19. A total of 13,435 individuals with post-COVID-19 condition (ie, long COVID) and 26,870 individuals with no evidence of COVID-19…

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Editor's Note Although most people have largely returned to normal activities, mental health is still a concern, finds surveys conducted between March 2020 and September 2022 by Pew Research Center and other organizations. Among the findings: 41% of adults experienced high levels of psychological distress at some point in the…

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Editor's Note California health officials, on March 3, announced plans to relax guidance on masking in healthcare and other indoor high-risk settings and to end vaccination requirements for healthcare workers, effective April 3, the March 3 Los Angeles Times reports. Also, starting March 13, those who test positive for COVID-19…

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Editor's Note This study from the Mayo Clinic finds that despite calls for the expansion of outpatient surgery to mitigate the growing backlog of surgical cases during COVID-19, the transition of general surgery procedures from inpatient to outpatient settings occurred in only a small subset of procedures. This cohort study…

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Editor's Note This Japanese study finds nightlife settings to be associated with more transmissions of COVID-19 than household or healthcare settings. Of 44,054 confirmed COVID-19 cases, more than 6,600 transmission settings were identified. Nightlife (18.9%) and healthcare (36.2%) settings were more likely to involve five or more cases, compared with…

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Editor's Note This systematic review and meta-analysis by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, finds that natural immunity provided by past COVID-19 infection offers strong protection against reinfection and severe disease for at least 40 weeks. The analysis included 65 studies from 19 countries. Among the findings: For those…

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Float teams have been a staple of nurse-staffing plans for many years, but they have not been widely used in the operating room. Utah Valley Hospital, a Level II trauma center in Provo, Utah, and part of the Intermountain Healthcare system, has been developing float teams for nearly 2 decades.…

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