Emergency crews were called to CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy in Omaha, Neb., Feb. 3 after healthcare staff noticed a strong smell and became light-headed while treating a critical patient, according to a report from ABC affiliate KETV. 

Rhode Island's entry into the multistate nurse licensure compact took effect Jan. 1, allowing registered nurses, licensed practical, and vocational nurses to practice in person or through a telehealth platform across participating states without needing to reapply for a license in that territory. 

Eight hospitals have achieved The Joint Commission's new health equity certification, which the accrediting organization rolled out in July.

California's San Mateo County has declared loneliness a public health emergency, making it the first county in the nation to do so. 

The beta variant was the most deadly of all the COVID-19 strains that the World Health Organization deemed variants of concern, according to a meta-analysis published Jan. 31. 

Early trials for a vaccine to prevent dengue infections, responsible for more than 5 million cases and 5,000 deaths in 2023, are underway and showing success, according to data published Feb. 1 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The updated COVID-19 vaccines can reduce the risk of symptomatic infection by 54% among healthy adults, according to early estimates from the CDC. 

A security guard at University Health Hospital-Kansas City (Mo.) was shot while escorting a discharged patient out of the building to a parking lot on Feb. 2. During a confrontation between the two, the patient was able to wrestle the guard's gun away from him and fired the weapon, injuring the guard, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed to Becker's.

While hospitals and health systems have seen improvements in nurse turnover and recruitment since the height of the pandemic, many continue to have a particularly hard time staffing medical-surgical units. 

AdventHealth needed nurses post-pandemic. Quickly.

More men are seeking cosmetic leg-lengthening procedures to boost their height, ABC News reported Feb. 2.

When Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN, joined NYC Health + Hospitals as senior vice president and chief nurse executive in 2019, her first major initiative was scaling the system's nurse residency program. Five years later, the program has grown to six times its original size and new-nurse retention has doubled. 

Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center launched a new model of labor and delivery care, one that has rolled out at a handful of hospitals nationwide — including at 15 hospitals in Washington state — and has since streamlined processes for 115 new births since its implementation in October. 

Certain cases of dementia —  potentially up to 10% — could instead be undiagnosed liver disease and related neurological issues, according to a study published Jan. 31 in JAMA.

In a recent press releases, Healthmark Industries announced the launch of their newest game on Crazy4Clean.com, “The Power of Instrument Integrity Testing.” 

The Joint Commission has published new guidelines for total hip and knee replacements as part of its ongoing revisions, which all take effect July 1.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut is ending its school nurse contract with four schools, wtnh.com reported Jane. 31.

Roughly 10% of women and girls of reproductive age worldwide are diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, and a recent study found the chronic condition can result in cognitive decline, CNN reported Jan. 31.

The FDA Is warning consumers not to purchase copycat eye drops from online retailers due to the potential risk of infection. 

The age-old practice of applying antiseptic to skin prior to surgery on closed fractures could soon shift after a study, published Feb. 1, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that iodine in alcohol solutions prevents surgical site infections.