Can Virtual Nursing Save the Workforce?
After a grueling few years responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, turnover, burnout, and hospital vacancy rates have all increased among nurses. With hospitals drowning under a sea of patients due in part to an earlier than usual surge in respiratory illnesses, a problem compounded by staffing challenges, some experts argue a change is needed. Can […]
More And More People Are ‘Kidulting.’ Maybe You Should, Too.
At the height of the pandemic, I kidulted plenty. To kidult ― I know it sounds obnoxious, but bear with me ― is to recreate childhood memories by partaking in activities generally considered for children. In my case, I clocked in more hours of “Animal Crossing” than I care to admit (mostly because my island […]
WHO Director-General Says COVID Remains Emergency, Could Still Surprise Us
The director-general of the World Health Organization on Wednesday said the coronavirus pandemic “remains a public health emergency of international concern.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO’s Emergency Committee on COVID-19 came to that conclusion during a meeting last week, and he shares that view. The committee also called on countries to make testing, […]
4 Major Problems Dentists Are Seeing Because Of The Pandemic
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people avoided the dentist unless there was a real emergency (in fact, this is still the case for many). People have been afraid of the possibility of encountering COVID in public spaces — and, in the case of the dentist, afraid of having to take off their […]
Opinion | I Won’t Be Tossing My Mask Any Time Soon
During a television interview on September 18, everyone heard President Biden say “the pandemic is over.” Healthcare workers want this to be true as much as anyone else, but is it? After 2 and a half years, we have certainly come a long way. First, we learned about how to best care for patients with […]
WHO Chief Strikes Optimistic Tone On COVID: ‘The End Is In Sight’
The World Health Organization head said the end of the COVID-19 pandemic “is in sight,” saying reported global deaths last week reached their lowest point since March 2020. Speaking at the U.N. agency’s COVID briefing on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “we have never been in a better position to end the […]
Opinion | Keep Our Foot on the Gas for Clinical Trial Diversity
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked rapid innovation and adoption of new methodologies and practices across clinical trials. It also allowed the world to see the difficulty of ensuring diversity and access to those trials — a challenge we’ve faced for many years. Innovators in biopharma, life-science technology companies, and clinical research organizations (CROs) partnered with the […]
New smartphone clip-on can detect Zika virus in blood samples
As seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, detection methods that are rapid, simple, accurate, and sensitive are vital for detecting viral pathogens and for controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Unfortunately, laboratory-based methods often require trained personnel and involve complex procedures. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have combined their efforts […]
If You’ve Ever Equated Taking Antidepressants With Failure, Read This
Once the suffering catches fire, you can’t ignore it. Our relentless pandemic, cruelly paired with escalating white supremacist violence, has killed more than a million Americans. Faced with such widespread grief, many of us have noticed our mental health deteriorate in unexpected ways. If you’re like me, this has also meant confronting the question-turned-grenade of […]
COVID Pandemic Slowed Progress Against Antibiotic-Resistant ‘Superbugs’
Latest Infectious Disease News TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) The COVID pandemic has eaten into the progress made against drug-resistant infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reported that hospital-related infections and deaths grew by 15% during the pandemic’s first year, 2019 to 2020. The increase owes to […]