Editor's Note This multicenter study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that COVID-19 patients have a significantly high risk for postoperative complications, particularly elderly males. Of 1,581 patients analyzed, more than half were males over 50 years of age, and most procedures (1,261,…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that racial and ethnic minorities have been more hesitant or unwilling to be vaccinated for COVID-19, compared to Whites. Of study participants in the US (87,388) and UK (1,254,294): Vaccine hesitancy was greater…

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Editor's Note Please participate in an important nationwide perioperative survey on surgical smoke evacuation. The purpose of the research, led by Brenda Ulmer MN, RN, CNOR, is to determine evacuation behaviors in hospitals before COVID-19, and then note changes as the virus continued to spread in the US. Ulmer and…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from New York University School of Medicine finds several factors associated with increased odds of readmission of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In this retrospective cohort analysis of 6,191 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a New York safety-net hospital system between March 1 and…

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Editor's Note A recent survey by McKinsey & Company finds that more than 30% of US nurses are thinking of leaving direct patient care for other roles. Reasons cited by nurses for leaving, include: ongoing demands of the COVID-19 pandemic hiring and retention incentives at other workplaces desire for support…

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Editor's Note Incidental COVID-19—when patients are admitted to the hospital for something other than COVID-19 but test positive for the virus during their stay—is a reality for most, if not all, hospitals. However, a Becker’s study finds that the frequency of incidental COVID-19 cases is particularly challenging for hospital staff…

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Editor's Note This study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that Black patients used telemedicine platforms more often than White patients for ambulatory surgical care during Phase 2 of COVID-19. During Phase 1 (March 24 through June 23), there were 347 in-person and 638 virtual…

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Editor's Note On January 19, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas opposing the federal vaccine mandate. This came just days after the Supreme Court also ruled to uphold the mandate “to promote and protect patient health and safety.” On January 20, CMS issued updated…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on January 19, released a study showing that in New York and California, both vaccination and prior infection offered protection against COVID-19, but those who had recovered from COVID-19 were less likely than vaccinated individuals to get infected during the Delta…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on January 19 that beginning January 27, 2022, for applicable deemed program surveys in progress on that day, it will begin surveying to the “Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination” interim final rule published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As…

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