Editor's Note: Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems lost a total of $8.1 billion to COVID-19 between January 2020 and December 2022, HealthLeaders reported on January 18. In addition to illuminating the new data from The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, the…
Editor's Note: Cholecystectomy case volume significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to study results published in ScienceDirect December 30. While cholecystectomy is infrequently performed in children, the pandemic drove lifestyle changes, delays in healthcare access, and increases in childhood obesity. Further studies are needed to determine whether these braoder…
Editor's Note Many people have reportedly been experiencing cold-like symptoms this winter, which have often been attributed to “some bug”; however, there’s a strong chance these symptoms were due to a new surge of COVID-19, Wired January 10 reports. There’s a new, large global surge in daily COVID-19 infections currently…
Editor's Note The cost of COVID-19 hospital admissions increased at more than 5 times the rate of overall medical inflation as fewer patients died from the virus. The new study findings appeared in JAMA Network Open on January 3. The 26-percent increase in average costs to provide inpatient care occurred…
Editor's Note According to a new study from the University of Michigan, a surge in multiple respiratory viruses was associated with different pediatric acute care across emergency departments (EDs) across the state. The findings appeared in JAMA Network Open on December 7. The study used data from more than 2.7…
Editor's Note Hospitals in Fresno County, California are operating over capacity by 20% to 40% due to a sharp rise in respiratory diseases such as flu, COVID-19 and RSV, according to a December 18 press release from the Fresno County Department of Public Health. In addition to straining resources, the…
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sounding the alarm regarding low vaccination rates for COVID-19 and flu for all adults, as well as low RSV vaccination rates for adults 60 and older. According to the December 14 announcement, study data show anti-virals are also being…
Kim Rosencrans, RN, BSN, has worked as a surgical nurse in a number of successively more senior roles over the past 20 plus years—and she has retained a hands-on approach, even as an OR manager in the Surgery Department at Trinity Health in North Dakota, one of the nation’s largest…
Editor’s Note Social distancing was more effective than closing borders in preventing the spread of COVID-19, according to a study published in Cell December 14. Conducted by Scripps Research, the study examined the efficacy of various mandates—including stay-at-home measures, social distancing, and travel restrictions— in preventing local and regional transmission…
Editor's Note According to a new study, transcendental meditation significantly benefitted the mental health and well-being of frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings were published in the Journal of Nursing Administration on December 11. Transcendental Meditation, or TM, involves sitting with the eyes closed for 20 minutes to…