Editor's Note This first preliminary description of outcomes in COVID-19 patients in the US between February 12 and March 16, 2020, indicates that fatalities were: 10% to 27% in patients aged 85 or more 3% to 11% in patients aged 65-84 years 1% to 3% in patients aged 55-64 years…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on March 18 released recommendations that all elective surgeries and nonessential medical, surgical, and dental procedures be delayed during the COVID-19 outbreak. As more healthcare providers are asked to assist with the COVID-19 response, it is important that they consider…

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Editor's Note In consultation with clinical experts and in response to government guidance that hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) postpone elective surgical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) released a statement March 18 on how and when facilities should proceed with cases that should…

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Editor's Note Of 41 healthcare workers who were exposed to aerosol-generating procedures for at least 10 minutes at a distance of 6.5 feet from a patient with severe pneumonia before he was diagnosed with COVID-19, none contracted the disease. The patient, a middle-aged man with diabetes and hyperlipidemia, was hospitalized…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on March 13 updated its recommendations for the management of elective surgical procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among the recommendations: Each hospital, healthcare system, and surgeon should: review all scheduled elective procedures with a plan to minimize, postpone, or cancel elective operations,…

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Planning for volume growth and adopting best business practices for the perioperative environment were overarching themes at the 2020 OR Business Management Conference (ORBMC) in late January. Leading healthcare industry clinicians and experts offered fresh insights into competing in the burgeoning outpatient surgery market and persuading stakeholders to switch to…

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April OR Manager draws on some of the content presented at the 2020 OR Business Management Conference in January and the 2019 OR Manager Conference, which took place last September. OR Business Management Conference attendees start each year with a look at the latest technology, reimbursement models, and emerging trends…

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Editor's Note This study from Linda Aiken, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, found that high levels of nurse burnout are associated with lower patient satisfaction. In this analysis of nurse burnout and patient satisfaction in 463 hospitals in four states, 50% of the hospitals where burnout…

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Editor's Note Authentic leadership was the Healthy Work Environment (HWE) standard that most significantly correlated with nurse burnout and was the strongest predictor of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in this study. Nurses in four adult critical care units of a single facility were surveyed on the relationship between…

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Editor's Note In a February 25 telebriefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will spread in the US, and hospitals and communities should begin ramping up their preparedness efforts, AHA Today reports. The CDC urged communities to implement non-pharmaceutical interventions or community…

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