Editor's Note Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show 1,706 COVID-19 deaths for the week ending March 15, the lowest number since March 25, 2020, according to the March 20 US News & World Report. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations also continue to drop, with weekly infections at their lowest…

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Editor's Note With the demand for travel nurses rising significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, some states are proposing measures to control what staffing agencies can charge healthcare facilities that use the temporary staff, the March 17 Kaiser Health News reports. Among 11 states proposing regulations: Missouri is calling for felony…

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Editor's Note Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on March 15 amended the February 4, 2020, COVID-19 emergency use authorizations for: diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 personal respiratory protective equipment other medical devices including alternative products used as medical devices drug and biological products. These emergency…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 17 identified the recall by Datascope/Getinge of certain Cardiosave Hybrid and Rescue Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABPs) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because the coiled cable connecting the display and base on some units may fail,…

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Situational awareness is the perception of events occurring around a person in a particular environment. Knowing what is happening helps that person make better decisions. But how does that apply in the perioperative context? In 2004, The Joint Commission made situational awareness the cornerstone of its surgical timeout requirement. The…

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The medical device industry aims to create valuable innovations that help improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and improve efficiencies for OR staff. Because these technologies and devices have a myriad of benefits, improving speed to value is a top priority. A key component of extracting the full value of these…

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Nurse leaders know that a successful workplace fosters and celebrates teamwork. In the OR, teamwork among surgeons, surgical technologists, circulating nurses, anesthesiologists, and first assistants, to name a few, is critical to ensure patient safety and positive outcomes. And teamwork does not have to be reserved for inside the surgical…

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Editor's Note This study from Sweden finds that sleeping less than 5 hours a night is associated with an increased likelihood of developing peripheral artery disease (PAD), compared with sleeping 7 to 8 hours. The study included more than 650,000 participants and was conducted in two parts. The first analyzed…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on March 8, issued an update on reports of squamous cell carcinoma in the scar tissue (capsule) that forms around breast implants—both saline and silicone as well as textured and smooth. Previously, on September 8, 2022, the FDA informed the public of…

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Editor's Note In this study, led by the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, researchers developed and validated better surgical specialty-specific multimorbidity definitions based on distinct characteristics of older inpatients undergoing general, orthopedic, or vascular surgery. The researchers used 2016 to 2017 Medicare administrative claims data on patients…

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