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 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 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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Editor's Note This study by researchers from Germany and South Africa finds that booster injections with mRNA vaccines failed to block the Omicron variant. This study of the first documented breakthrough infections with the Omicron variant in fully vaccinated individuals after receipt of booster vaccine doses demonstrates Omicron’s ability to…

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Having a “Battle Buddy” has helped US Army soldiers maintain resilience for years, and now the practice has been adopted to help healthcare workers at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis deal with COVID-19-related stress. A multidisciplinary team from the University of Minnesota’s department of anesthesiology and department…

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Editor's Note ECRI has named cybersecurity attacks as the number one health technology hazard for 2022. In its report, ECRI notes that all healthcare organizations are subject to cybersecurity attacks, and that the question is not whether they will be attacked but when. A cybersecurity attack could threaten medical devices…

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Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds disparate monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment of COVID-19 in Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other race patients, compared to non-Hispanic and White patients. Differences in treatment with dexamethasone and remdesivir were less apparent. Analyzing data from 41 healthcare…

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