January/February 2022 Issue of Becker's Clinical Leadership & Infection Control
ON THE COVER
What Northwell's new chief quality officer refuses to look away from
Peter Silver, MD, hasn't allowed the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic distract him from the goal that has defined his career: providing his patients with the highest quality of care possible.
Healthcare workers can't get off the COVID-19 rollercoaster
Healthcare workers left the proverbial loading platform in 2020 for a ride of COVID-19 surges that only get tougher, not easier, to stomach.
How Cleveland Clinic has saved $133M in physician retention
In 2008, Cleveland Clinic instituted a peer-based coaching and mentoring program for physicians and scientists to promote a proactive approach to clinician well-being for allcomers, which officials estimate has saved the health system at least $133 million in physician retention alone in 2020.
UPMC launches in-house travel staffing agency to address nursing shortage
UPMC is creating an in-house travel staffing agency to address the nationwide nursing shortage and to attract and retain highly skilled nurses and surgical technologists, the Pittsburgh-based health system said Dec. 17.
NewYork-Presbyterian CXO Rick Evans: We are in a patient experience crisis
I've had the privilege of working to improve the patient experience in hospitals and healthcare settings for over 20 years. I've been part of teams that have successfully "moved the needle" year over year in challenging markets like Boston and New York.
Nurses: The most trusted US professionals 20th year in a row
Americans said nurses are the most honest and ethical professionals for the 20th consecutive year, according to an annual Gallup poll.
5 top safety issues for hospitals to address in 2022
As the healthcare industry enters the pandemic's third year, many leaders are working to reinvigorate staff and patient safety efforts.
Some hospitals pushing medical-grade masks over cloth coverings as omicron spreads
Citing community transmission and record high cases of COVID-19 as the omicron variant spreads, U.S. hospitals and health systems are urging patients and visitors to opt for medical-grade face masks instead of cloth versions.
4 most common symptoms of omicron variant
The four most common symptoms of the omicron variant are cough, fatigue, congestion and runny nose, according to a CDC analysis of the first 43 cases investigated in the U.S.
Physician happiness plunged during pandemic, survey finds
Physician happiness dropped significantly during the pandemic, with 26 percent of surveyed physicians saying they were unhappy compared with 9 percent before the public health crisis, according to the results of the "Medscape 2022 Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report."
29 best healthcare jobs, per US News: Nurse practitioner is No. 1
Nurse practitioner is the best healthcare job for 2022, with 114,900 projected jobs and a median salary of $111,680, according to a U.S. News & World Report list released Jan. 11.
4 leaders on the patient safety issue they'd fix overnight
Healthcare leaders are bringing renewed attention to patient safety issues that have been overshadowed by another year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NP practice authority by state
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia grant nurse practitioners full practice authority as soon as they earn their licenses, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
5 strategies to keep temporary nurses engaged
Amid an existing nursing workforce shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals and health systems have turned to travel nurse agencies to supplement the loss of full-time RNs.
INFECTION CONTROL
Universal coronavirus vaccines urgently needed, NIH leaders say
More research is needed to understand the global "coronaviral universe" and use that information to develop vaccines that are broadly protective against coronaviruses, three leaders from the National Institutes of Health wrote in a Dec. 15 op-ed published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Did a common flu strain disappear amid the pandemic? Scientists aim to find out
Scientists are exploring whether a common flu strain has gone extinct during the pandemic, though they don't expect to have concrete findings for at least a year, The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 9.
3 years since last CLABSI in ICU, reports New York hospital
NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens hasn't reported any central line-associated bloodstream infections among intensive care unit patients for three consecutive years, the New York City-based hospital said Dec. 7.
CDC awards $22M to fight infectious disease, antimicrobial resistance: 4 things to know
The CDC has given $22 million to 28 organizations to fight antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases, according to a Dec. 7 news release.
Hospitals should use COVID-19 insights to revamp infection control policies, review suggests
Hospitals should use insights to revise "outdated" infection prevention and control policies, a review published in Annals of Internal Medicine Nov. 9 suggested.
PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES
Immunocompromised people 3X more likely to get breakthrough COVID-19, study finds
Fully vaccinated people with weaker immune systems contract COVID-19 three times more often and have more severe illness than those with strong immune systems, a study published Nov. 30 in the Journal of Medical Economics found.
Hospitalizations for eating disorders doubled last year, study finds
U.S. hospitalizations for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia doubled in May 2020 — about two months after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency, a study published Nov. 16 in JAMA Network Open found.
Mon Health to adopt plain language emergency alerts
Morgantown, W.Va.-based Mon Health System will be one of the first healthcare organizations in the state to transition from emergency codes to plain language alerts Dec. 1.
US preterm birth rate dropped in 2020 for 1st time in 6 years
The U.S. preterm birth rate declined slightly for the first time in six years, dropping from 10.2 percent in 2019 to 10.1 percent in 2020, according to a March of Dimes Report Card 2021 executive summary.
Omicron patients less likely to be hospitalized, have shorter stays: 6 study findings
Omicron rapidly overtook COVID-19 cases at Houston Methodist, causing 90 percent of all new COVID-19 cases only three weeks after the variant was first identified within the health system. Researchers at Houston Methodist have now released preliminary findings about some of the differences between omicron, delta and alpha patients.
PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE
Healthcare workers can't get off the COVID-19 rollercoaster
Healthcare workers left the proverbial loading platform in 2020 for a ride of COVID-19 surges that only get tougher, not easier, to stomach.
5 Pennsylvania hospitals to use music to support well-being, resiliency of healthcare workers
Five Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems were chosen to participate in a new statewide music therapy program supporting front-line healthcare workers who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Viewpoint: Younger workers are already fed up
As the Great Resignation trudges on, younger workers are expressing their dissatisfaction with the status quo of work, Lara Williams wrote in Bloomberg Nov. 28.
4 ways for leaders to support staff mental health
During times of high turnover and worker burnout, it's important for leaders to look after their staff and ensure a positive working environment, Forbes reported Dec. 6.
'More ill, more desperate': How hospitals are responding to changing mental health trends
Increased stress, isolation and burnout among patients and clinicians amid the pandemic shed light on a widespread lack of mental health resources. Many hospitals and health systems quickly pivoted their mental health strategies to meet this growing need.
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT
3 ways racial bias and stereotypes, algorithms affect clinical decision-making: KFF
Disproven conceptions of race may affect clinical decision-making and treatment in several ways and have implications on patient safety and outcomes, according to a Dec. 9 Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Sepsis-related deaths highest among older people, CDC finds
In 2019, three-fourths of the country's 201,092 sepsis-related deaths were among people aged 65 and older, according to a report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics published Nov. 10.
4 leaders on the patient safety issue they'd fix overnight
Healthcare leaders are bringing renewed attention to patient safety issues that have been overshadowed by another year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boosting quality, safety scores hiked staff morale, too, Newark's University Hospital CEO says
When former New Jersey Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal, MD, became president and CEO of Newark, N.J.-based University Hospital in 2019, improving quality and safety became part of his central goals.
Cleveland Clinic gets $2.5M for study on cutting antibiotic use among pneumonia patients
The Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality has granted $2.5 million to Cleveland Clinic to lead a clinical trial that studies ways to cut the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics among patients with community-acquired pneumonia, the health system said Dec. 9.
NURSING SPOTLIGHT
12 nurse innovators in 2021
While nurses' clinical roles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic dominated news stories, many nurses also made headlines for creative medical innovations or entrepreneurship efforts aimed at improving patient outcomes and protecting healthcare workers.
Nurses at hospitals with burnout reduction programs stayed at jobs 20% longer, UVA study finds
Hospitals that invest in nurse burnout reduction programs may see less burnout-attributed nurse turnover and associated costs, according to a new study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Patient Safety.
NP practice authority by state
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia grant nurse practitioners full practice authority as soon as they earn their licenses, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Cedars-Sinai rolls out twin robots to reduce nurses' workload
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai has implemented new technology to reduce nurses' daily workload: twin clinical assistant robots named Moxi, the health system said in a Nov. 29 blog post.
5 strategies to keep temporary nurses engaged
Amid an existing nursing workforce shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals and health systems have turned to travel nurse agencies to supplement the loss of full-time RNs.