Editor's Note Demand for temporary nursing staff is on the rise as COVID-19 cases surge across the country, the November 13 Healthcare Dive reports. Surge capacity plans include the following: Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare is hiring 200 traveling nurses. The 24-hospital system also brought on 31 nurses from New York-Presbyterian, a…

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Editor's Note A new nationwide survey by National Nurses United of more than 15,000 RNs finds that hospitals are failing to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 during flu season. Among the nurses’ complaints: inappropriate pursuit of profits resulting in lack of proper infection control measures ongoing issues of both…

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Streaming music apps and access to music through smartphones and similar devices make it easy to provide many different genres of music and modalities that can ease surgical patients’ fears. The use of music in both pre- and postoperative settings has been extensively researched, but less is known about how…

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Most respondents to a July 2020 American Organization for Nursing Leadership survey said they felt prepared for a future surge of COVID-19. That future is now, with nearly 150,000 new cases being reported daily across the country and multiple hospitals at capacity. Survey respondents said their biggest challenges early in…

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Editor's Note The number of children’s mental health emergency department (ED) visits decreased sharply from mid-March through early April 2020, coincident with the implementation of community mitigation measures enacted to prevent COVID-19 transmission, and then visits increased steadily through October, this study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

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Editor's Note New research from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; and University of California, San Francisco; finds that young adults in the US are experiencing a significant mental health burden as a result of job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis shows that since…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, finds that the social isolation brought on by stay-at-home orders (SAHO) issued during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in intentional penetrating injuries, especially from firearms, and the injuries remain at high levels today. As of October 19, Philadelphia…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 21 issued a new Heads-Up Report on challenges that accredited organizations are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Report topics include: Hospital and critical access hospital emergency privileges Ambulatory healthcare competency assessments Behavioral healthcare identification of environmental risks for suicide Laboratory record keeping for…

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Editor's Note An American College of Surgeons survey finds a significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical residents and early-career surgeons. Of 1,160 respondents (465 residents, 695 early-career surgeons), 96% reported the pandemic had a negative effect on their clinical experience. About one third reported inadequate access to personal…

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Editor's Note More than 86% of nursing leaders say they feel prepared for a future COVID-19 surge, in a Joslin Marketing survey of more than 1,800 members of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL). Respondents to the July survey said their biggest challenges included: communicating and implementing policy changes…

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