Routine cleaning and maintenance of the equipment used to process medical devices is important to prevent contamination of medical devices. This article will discuss the required cleaning and maintenance in a sterile processing department (SPD) as well as the guidelines and regulations that inform these practices.   Environmental issues Recommendations…

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The fast-paced environment in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) requires meticulous handoffs, and daily huddles—brief (10 to 20 minute) stand-up meetings—can raise awareness of any potential safety issues. That has been the experience at UnityPoint Health in Des Moines, Iowa, and some of what we learned might help others improve…

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Editor's Note Treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients with anticoagulants may improve their chances of survival, this study from Mount Sinai finds. Of 2,773 COVID-19 patients analyzed, 786 received a full-treatment dose of anticoagulants, which was a higher dose than that typically given for clot prevention; it is one usually given to…

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Editor's Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 8 updated it weekly surveillance summary of COVID-19 activity in the US for week 18. Among the updates: The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 decreased at public health, commercial, and clinical laboratories. Labs have confirmed 832,238 positive…

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Editor's Note A new study from researchers in Hong Kong finds that the MAIL2.0 nowcast artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, which was developed with concepts used in economics and meteorology, yields a high level of accuracy for identifying COVID-19 in chest x-rays, the May 5 AuntMinny.com reports. The algorithm yielded 84.7%…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 1 announced the launch of the “SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES)” consortium. This network of laboratories will speed the release of SARS-CoV-2 sequence data into the public domain for use by public…

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Editor's Note This year, the American Nurses Association has extended the traditional National Nurses Week to a month of recognition, May 1-31. National Nurses Day, May 6, marks the beginning of National Nurses Week, which ends on May 12, the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This year’s theme is “Nurses…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 1 updated its weekly surveillance summary of COVID-19 activity in the US ending April 25. Among the updates: The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 decreased at public health and commercial laboratories and remained similar at clinical labs.…

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Editor's Note In this proof-of-concept study, a new lateral flow immunoassay developed by researchers from China can quickly detect antibodies against SARS-COV-2, which appear as a bright orange line when placed on a fluorescence reader. The test, which is based on a technique similar to what is used in home…

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Editor's Note An artificial intelligence (AI) tool that analyzes CT scans of the chest was 75% accurate in determining COVID-19 patients who required ventilators, the April Radiology Business reports. Researchers at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University built the tool using scans and datasets from the web, COVID-19 chest images from…

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