Share Your Innovative Quality Improvement Ideas
Whether you’re a seasoned educator in search of a broader platform to share your expertise or a yet-to-present professional with big ideas, you should apply to the 2022 PSQH Innovation Awards. Deadline to apply is January 7, 2022 and the application is free.
Coronavirus Pandemic Inflicts Moral Injury on Healthcare Professionals, Study Says
The research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, is based on survey data collected from more than 1,300 healthcare professionals in 2020 before vaccinations for COVID-19 were available. The surveys were conducted in two phases from April 24 to May 30, 2020, and Oct. 24 to Nov. 30, 2020.
Substance Abuse Treatment Expert on Overdoses: ‘You Have a Recipe for Disaster’
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that provisional data show 100,306 overdose deaths occurred in the country in the 12-month period ending in April, representing a 28.5% increase over the overdose deaths that occurred during the same period the year before. The data show opioid overdose deaths increased by nearly 20,000.
Labor Department Requests Vaccine Rule Reinstatement
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Labor November 23 asked a federal appeals court to lift judicial restrictions on an Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency temporary standard requiring employers with 100 or more employees to implement a program of COVID-19 vaccination or regular testing and face coverings to protect unvaccinated workers.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Helps Coronavirus ‘Long Haulers’
One of the more mysterious characteristics of COVID-19 is that a significant number of patients who are long haulers experience symptoms for weeks or months after recovering from the acute phase of the illness. Coronavirus long haulers have a range of physical symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, constitutional symptoms such as numbness and tingling, cardiac issues, hair loss, and deconditioning.
OSHA Suspends Enforcement of its Vaccine Mandate
OSHA has suspended enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) while the requirement is challenged in court, according to a statement on the agency’s ETS information website.
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 41 – The Valuable and Expanding Role of Physician Assistants
On episode 41 of PSQH: The Podcast, Dr. Dawn Morton-Rias, CEO of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, talks about how the role of physician assistants has evolved over the years.
CMS Releases its Final Guidance for Hospitals With Co-Located Services
While the memo has many of the same sections on contracted staff, emergency services and identification of shared spaces, much of the more prescriptive sections are either shortened or deleted. That includes guidance for surveyors to ask for floor plans to evaluate how patients are transported from one space to another and examples of when the use of floating nurses are in violation of CoP requirements.
Baylor-led Study Examines COVID-19’s Effects on Pediatric APRNs
Pediatric APRNs and agencies are experiencing significant disruption in care provision, patient presentations, clinical practices, immunizations, and revenue streams, the study says. Furthermore, some pediatric APRNs have transitioned to work with adult populations “in an unprecedented fashion,” while others have been temporarily furloughed or permanently laid off due to a stronger demand for critical care nurses and a lower demand for primary care nurses.
OSHA Vaccine, Testing ETS Indefinitely Stayed
After issuing an initial stay on November 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans on November 12 reaffirmed its stay, instructing OSHA and the Department of Labor to take no steps to implement or enforce the emergency temporary standard (ETS) while the appeals court considers the petitioners’ request for a permanent injunction.