Editor's Note American Hospital Association statistics show that 1,850 US hospitals, or nearly 30%, have now announced COVID-19 vaccination mandates for their healthcare workers (HCWs), the August 17 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Several states, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Main, also are requiring HCWs to get vaccinated.…

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Editor's Note This study by Johns Hopkins researchers finds that regardless of vaccine reaction or prior COVID-19 infection, both mRNA vaccines provide a robust antibody response in healthcare workers (HCWs). Questionnaires and serum samples were collected from 954 HCWs at 14 or more days after their second doses of either…

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Editor's Note This study finds that 11.3% of COVID-19 patients in the UK caught the infection while in the hospital during the first wave of the pandemic, and this proportion increased to at least 15.8% by May 2020. Of 82,624 patients admitted to 314 hospitals before August 1, 2020, between…

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Editor's Note AORN announced on August 15 that it will launch a new “Center of Excellence in Surgical Safety: Prevention of RSI.” Facilities will be recognized as Centers of Excellence for implementing a surgical team-based program to prevent retained surgical items (RSI). The complimentary program, sponsored by the AORN Foundation…

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Editor's Note New research from Qualtrics finds that 44% of US workers would think about leaving their jobs if their employers introduced a vaccine mandate, the August 19 Quartz at Work reports. This number is up from 39% in March; however, 38% said they would consider leaving their jobs if…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) on August 4 updated their guidance for perioperative testing for COVID-19 to say that all patients having anesthetics or surgical procedures with the potential to generate aerosols should have preoperative testing for COVID-19, regardless of their…

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Editor's Note This new study by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health which drew on surveys of more than 149,000 people in 144 countries finds that trust in governments and healthcare workers is correlated with trust in health or medical advice from them and with more positive attitudes toward…

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Editor's Note In this retrospective cohort study, researchers from Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, found that healthcare workers (HCWs) with COVID-19 who were not hospitalized, still had prolonged illness. Of 1,698 HCWs--who were away from work because of COVID-19, who had a positive…

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Editor's Note The number of COVID-19 cases in the US totaled 36,008,398 on August 10, and deaths reached 617,892, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. At the beginning of the week, the US recorded nearly 175,000 new COVID-19 cases and 645 deaths in 1 day.…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in July to a seasonally adjusted 15,990,500 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on August 6. That’s up 36,800 since June. Hospital employment was up 18,300 jobs. The overall unemployment rate fell to 5.4%.

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