Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, find that face-mask compliance remained suboptimal among healthcare workers (HCWs) despite a facility-wide mandate for universal masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 1,561 observations during a 4-week baseline period after universal masking was mandated, median weekly…

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Editor's Note In a May 18 position statement, ECRI recommends that it’s time to move to a regularly scheduled COVID-19 vaccine booster model. “Moving to a regular vaccine schedule will increase clarity and confidence about what actions to take and when, compared to the current piecemeal, wait-and-see approach,” says Marcus…

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Editor's Note In this study, Japanese researchers found that COVID-19 severity is not a risk factor for long COVID-19, but older age is. Analysis of responses to a questionnaire survey from 127 recovered patients found that: 52% had sequelae at a median of 29 days from COVID-19 onset, and prevalence…

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Editor's Note In this wrap-up roundtable discussion, members of the conference planning committee Hazel Boyd, MBA, clinical operations manager at Boston Children’s Hospital; Sheila Stein, MSN, FNP, CNS, CNOR, robotics coordinator at Cayuga Medical Center; and Denise Waslo, MSN, RN, CNOR, CSSM, NE-BC, director of perioperative services at Long Island…

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Editor's Note This study by nurse researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles evaluates the effect of “serenity lounges” (ie, dedicated rooms where nurses can take breaks to relax and rejuvenate) and massage chairs on nurse anxiety, stress, and burnout, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers analyzed 67 paired…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 11, announced that surveyors and reviewers will remain masked, adhere to social distancing, and follow other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines while onsite at an organization. The Joint Commission asks that healthcare workers (HCWs) and organization staff also remain masked while…

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Editor's Note This Australian study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in ICU admissions of children and adolescents with deliberate self-harm. Of 813 study patients aged 12 to 17 years, 230 (15.2%) were admitted during the first 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the…

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Editor's Note Delayed elective surgical procedures because of COVID-19 resulted in more emergency department (ED) visits and the need for urgent interventions for gallstone disease but not inguinal hernias, this Canadian study finds. Researchers identified 74,709 elective cholecystectomies and 60,038 elective inguinal hernia repairs. During COVID-19 first and second waves…

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Editor's Note Though new COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron BA.2 subvariant are dropping, Omicron’s more infectious subvariant BA2.12.1 is beginning to gain a foothold in the US, the May 10 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Omicron BA2.12.1 now accounts for nearly 43% of new cases as of May 7, compared…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 9 identified the recall by Mesa Biotech, Inc, of certain Accula SARS-CoV-2 Tests as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because certain lots of the PCR test have an increased risk of giving false positive results because…

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