Awareness of current research is a big component of staying up to date in nursing and healthcare and providing evidence-based care. Here’s a look at a selection of the latest studies and practice-changing recommendations.

Nursing

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Infection Prevention Professionals Explored
The likelihood of reporting negative COVID-19 impacts is lower for infection prevention professionals (IPs) with organized wellness support, according to a study published online in the American Journal of Infection Control.
 
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, Ph.D., from The Ohio State University in Columbus, and colleagues surveyed a random sample of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology members regarding mental and physical well-being, lifestyle behaviors, and perceived worksite wellness support during the pandemic; 926 IPs responded (15 percent response rate). The researchers found that few of the respondents met the guidelines for sleep, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption (34.1, 18.8, and 7.3 percent, respectively). The rate of depression was 21.5 percent; anxiety, 29.8 percent; and burnout, 65 percent.
 

Guidelines & Recommendations

Recommendations Issued for Medical Response to Mass Shootings
In an article published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, recommendations are presented for the medical and surgical management of mass shooting incidents. These recommendations addressed regular readiness training; public education; a staged and iterative triage process; effective communication between prehospital personnel and hospitals; a patient tracking system; documentation and medical records; reunification of families; and mental health services for responders. An additional 11 recommendations were created by two subgroups each. These recommendations included trauma and/or other response training for clinicians; Stop the Bleed education; mass shooting triage protocol for prioritizing patient care; surgeon participation in emergency department triage; regionwide, coordinated hospital communications; and immediate systems to reach and recall staff.

Guidance Issued for Managing Visual Disorders After Pediatric Concussion
In a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and published online in Pediatrics, guidance is presented for the management of visual disorders following a concussion among children.

Christina L. Master, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues developed recommendations for screening, identifying, and initiating clinical management of visual symptoms in pediatric patients after concussion. The authors note that most children and adolescents with visual symptoms after concussion will recover by four weeks; however, a subset does not have spontaneous recovery and should be referred to a specialist with experience in comprehensive concussion management for assessment and treatment.

Recommendations Developed for Treating Preinvasive Vulvar Lesions
In consensus statements published in the July issue of the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, recommendations are presented for the management of patients with preinvasive vulvar lesions.
 
Mario Preti, M.D., from the University of Torino in Italy, and colleagues from the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology, International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, European College for the Study of Vulval Disease, and European Federation for Colposcopy developed consensus statements on preinvasive vulvar lesions to improve the quality of care for patients with vulvar squamous intraepithelial neoplasia, vulvar Paget disease in situ, and melanoma in situ.
 

More Highlights

Early Warning System Can Identify Sepsis Patients
An early warning system has the potential to identify sepsis patients early and improve patient outcomes, according to a study published online in Nature Medicine.

Roy Adams, Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues conducted a prospective, multisite cohort study to examine the association between patient outcomes and provider interaction with a deployed sepsis alert system, the Targeted Real-time Early Warning System (TREWS). The researchers found that patients in this group whose alert was confirmed by a provider within three hours had a reduced in-hospital mortality rate (adjusted absolute reduction, 3.3 percent; adjusted relative reduction, 18.7 percent), organ failure, and length of stay compared with those whose alert was not confirmed by a provider within three hours after adjustment for patient presentation and severity. Patients who were additionally flagged as high risk had larger improvements in mortality rate (adjusted absolute reduction, 4.5 percent).

Updated Meta-Analysis Links NAFLD to Increased Risk for Heart Failure
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with an increased long-term risk for new-onset heart failure, according to research published online in Gut.
The researchers identified 11 longitudinal cohort studies, which included data on 11,242,231 middle-aged individuals and 97,716 cases of incident heart failure during a median of 10 years. There was an association for NAFLD with a moderately higher risk for new-onset heart failure (pooled random-effects hazard ratio, 1.50), independent of age, sex, ethnicity, adiposity measures, diabetes, hypertension, and other common cardiovascular risk factors.