Editor's Note Seasonal influenza activity remains low nationally but is increasing, primarily among children, according to the CDC weekly influenza report published November 14. The CDC reported the percent positivity for influenza and the percentage of emergency department visits for influenza among pediatric age groups increased for the week ending…
Editor's Note Three nurse executives shared their essential strategies to drive effective change, including by building their own leadership skills for transforming feedback into change, according to a recent webinar summary in a November 12 HealthLeaders news story. They suggested in the webinar that nurse leaders should have a keen…
Editor's Note Balancing a limited nursing staff without compromising quality patient care or staff satisfaction can be a delicate balancing act. One large midwestern hospital experiencing inadequate nurse staffing levels and a spike in discharge delays tested a new staffing model in which LPNs supported medically stable patients through a…
Editor's Note As hospital systems seeing a significant jump in outpatient care, they are also seeing a rise in patient acuity across inpatient care. This increased patient acuity for inpatient care is driving changes to care models across both settings, an October 27 article in Becker’s Clinical Leadership reports. Clinical…
Editor's Note Improving first case on-time starts (FCOTS) in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) can improve overall efficiency. When the first case of the day starts on-time, it leads to a cascading effect that can prevent cancellations, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce stress for perioperative staff. It can also make…
Editor's Note Intentional work to grow leaders is an organizational strategy happening in hospitals across the country to target and prevent a higher level of leadership turnover, according to a November 5 news story in Becker’s Hospital Review. The article discussed how healthcare facilities are pursuing more internal development of…
Editor's Note Olympus Corporation announced a voluntary, global medical device corrective action to provide further clarification on the safe and effective use of bronchoscopes with laser therapy, argon plasma coagulation or high-frequency cauterization equipment during therapeutic procedures within the tracheobronchial tree, according to a November 3 notification from the US…
Editor's Note NorthStar Anesthesia is expanding its reach across Georgia’s ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), reinforcing its strategy of pairing local clinical autonomy with scalable anesthesia services, an October 1 PR Newswire press release reports. NorthStar reportedly supports more than 60 ASCs statewide through a model focused on transparency, long-term relationships,…
Editor's Note Healthcare systems are finding that ambient AI built for doctors does not automatically translate to nursing care, HealthLeaders November 4 reports. However, Mercy for instance is piloting Microsoft’s Dragon Copilot AI for nursing and discovering that the nurse-patient encounter requires tailored design and training to capture accurate, useful…
Editor's Note Pairing short, human-led preoperative videos with structured postoperative texting streamlines workflows without sacrificing clinical touch at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), said Austin Cheng, CEO of Gramercy Surgery Center in New York City, and Tracy Hoeft-Hoffman, MSN, MBA, RN, CASC, administrator of Heartland Surgery Center in Nebraska, at the…