Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|May 3, 2021

Iowa news

Iowa hospitals work to foster diversity, equity and inclusion in nursing

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored health care inequities, with people from racial and ethnic minority groups facing an increased risk of getting sick and dying from the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For hospitals, the events of the past year have emphasized the urgency of developing a diverse, culturally competent workforce to help reduce health care disparities and improve patient outcomes. (Des Moines Register)

Almost 62,000 Iowans skipped their second COVID vaccine shot

At least 61,773 Iowans have skipped, missed or delayed getting their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Data is limited on the vaccines’ effectiveness when second doses are administered beyond the recommended time frame. For Pfizer, that’s 21 days; for Moderna, 28. But a second dose may be given up to six weeks after the first if necessary, according to the CDC. Nationally, at least 5 million people missed their second doses. Side effect fears rank among the top reasons. (Axios Des Moines)

Nurses have been game changers during the pandemic

Nurses were charged with the unimaginable over the past year—supporting entire communities through one of the greatest health crises of our time. The call to care for others, to show up no matter the circumstances, is what influences many nurses to join the field in the first place. It’s a drive that was only amplified as nurses expanded their duties to offer glimmers of hope to people during such an uncertain time. (Des Moines Register)

 

National news

Employers, insurers push to make virtual visits regular care

Make telemedicine your first choice for most doctor visits. That’s the message some US employers and insurers are sending with a new wave of care options. Amazon and several insurers have started or expanded virtual-first care plans to get people to use telemedicine routinely, even for planned visits like annual checkups. They’re trying to make it easier for patients to connect with regular help by using remote care that grew explosively during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Healthleaders)

Critical care nurses’ mental, physical health connected to preventable medical errors

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, critical care nurses were experiencing alarmingly high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and poor physical health — factors that correlated with an increase in self-reported medical errors, according to a new study by The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Nearly two-thirds of critical care nurses reported having made medical errors in the past five years, according to the study. Occurrence of medical errors was significantly higher among nurses in worse health than those in the bet­ter health categories. For example, 67% of the nurses with higher stress scores versus 56.5% of the nurses with no or little stress reported having made medi­cal errors in the past five years. (Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare)

COVID-19 vaccine safety system has gaps that may miss unexpected side effects

The quick detection of an ultra-rare blood clotting reaction in some COVID-19 vaccine recipients showed the power of a federal warning system for vaccine safety issues, but experts worry that blind spots in the program could hamper detection of other unexpected side effects. Before the pandemic began, the FDA had scaled back a program it used successfully to track adverse events during and after the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and the agency is still ramping up its replacement. (NBC News)

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