Editor's Note The flexibility for surgical residents to work longer shifts than currently allowed or take less time off between shifts to provide continuity of care was not associated with a greater risk of postoperative patient complications or death, a new study finds. There was also no significant difference in…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute announced February 2 that Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has won its 10th annual Health Devices Achievement Award. Texas Children’s winning submission, “Alarm Management Reboot,” describes the hospital’s efforts to improve patient safety by incorporating enterprise-wide alarm management practices to make alarms more meaningful and…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 1 posted updated information on which manufacturers of automated endoscope reprocessors (AERs) for duodenoscopes have completed validation testing with adequate results. There are five companies in the US that manufacture AERs labeled to reprocess duodenoscopes. Companies that have completed their…

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Editor's Note Hospitals that more often refer patients to inpatient facilities (eg, skilled nursing homes or rehabilitation centers) after surgery also tend to have shorter lengths of stay and higher readmission rates, this study finds. Researchers analyzed data for nearly 113,000 patients treated at 217 hospitals in 39 states. Higher…

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Editor's Note Two home visits by a physician assistant (PA) in the week after discharge significantly reduced the chance that a cardiac surgery patient would be readmitted, finds this study presented January 26 at the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Of 1,185 patients analyzed, those who received…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 26 published Quick Safety #20, “Strategies to prevent URFOs.” This Quick Safety builds on Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 51, released October 2013, which addressed the prevention of unintended retained foreign objects (URFOs). URFOs were the most frequent sentinel event reported to the Joint…

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Editor's Note Preoperative frailty was associated with a significantly increased risk of 1-year mortality after surgery, this study finds. Of nearly 203,000 patients included in the analysis, 6,289 were frail. Within 1 year of surgery, 13.6% of the frail and 4.8% of the nonfrail patients died. The association between frailty…

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Editor's Note Abbott’s Compounding Pharmacy (Berkeley, California) is recalling all lots of sterile compounded products because of concerns of lack of sterility assurance. Products include injectable medications, sterile solutions, eye drops, and eye ointments. The recall was issued after a series of onsite inspections by the Food and Drug Administration…

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Editor's Note Hospitals with better nursing work environments and above-average staffing levels were associated with better surgical value (ie, lower mortality with similar costs), especially for higher-risk patients, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, found. The study compared outcomes and patient costs at 35 focal hospitals recognized nationally as…

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Editor's Note No significant association was found between cumulative exposure to general anesthesia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients over 40 years of age in this study from the Mayo Clinic. Of 1,731 patients aged 70 to 89 who were cognitively normal as of October 2004, 85% had at…

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