Editor's Note Pierced earring holes can be a source of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) via cross-transmission of bacteria from the holes to nurses’ fingers, this study finds. For this analysis, earlobes and fingers of 200 nurses (128 with pierced ears and 72 unpierced) working at a university hospital in Japan…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 19 launched a webpage that covers four high-risk areas that surveyors evaluate. The “4-1-1 on Survey Enhancements” interactive page provides resources for: Sterile medication compounding Suicide prevention High-level disinfection and sterilization Hemodialysis. The Joint Commission enhanced its evaluation of these high risk areas…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 20 announced that fluoroquinolone antibiotics can increase the occurrence of ruptures or tears in the aorta. The FDA recommends that healthcare professionals: Avoid prescribing fluoroquinolone antibiotics to patients who have or are at risk for having an aortic aneurysm, and…

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Flipping rooms, or running two ORs back to back, is common in many perioperative services departments. Certain rules of thumb can help ensure efficiency and good outcomes, but sometimes those rules either don’t exist or are unclear. Does your facility have guidelines for overlapping surgery, and do your surgical teams…

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What is the current state of marijuana research? Russell: Marijuana research is unlike any other drug research. Researchers have to jump through a lot of hoops with the federal government to study it. As a result, people are using marijuana before there is enough science to prove safety and efficacy.…

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Total joint replacements contribute hefty profits to hospitals and healthcare systems. Once the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) starts reimbursing surgery centers—as is done for hospital outpatient surgery departments (HOPDs)—the competition between hospitals, HOPDs, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) will intensify. “Total joints are the hot ticket in…

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Editor's Note The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) on December 11 published a new expert guidance on “Infection prevention in the operating room anesthesia work area.” Key recommendations of the guidance to improve infection prevention include: Increased hand hygiene performed, at a minimum, before aseptic tasks, after removing…

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Editor's Note In this study, an ultrarestrictive opioid prescribing strategy was associated with a reduction in the number of pills dispensed without changes in postoperative pain, complications, or increases in prescription refill requests. In this case-control 2-year analysis of 1,231 women having surgery for gynecologic cancer, those having ambulatory or…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 10 issued a statement on an updated safety communication about rates of duodenoscope contamination obtained from preliminary postmarket data. Interim results from sampling studies from device manufacturers−Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax− indicate higher-than-expected contamination rates after reprocessing. Up to 3% of…

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Editor's Note Harmful medical errors decreased by nearly 38% after implementing a program to improve communication between healthcare providers, patients, and families, finds this study. A total of 3,106 pediatric patient admissions in seven US hospitals, 2,148 parents or caregivers, 435 nurses, 203 medical students, and 586 residents were involved…

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