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

Health-Sector Shift Work Linked to Increased Odds of Metabolic Syndrome
A new systematic review published in Obesity Reviews examines the association between shift work and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in employees of the health sector. Researchers found that 10 of the studies demonstrated higher risk of developing MetS for shift workers versus day workers, and based on 12 studies, the pooled odds ratio for MetS in shift workers was 2.17.
 

Guidelines & Recommendations

AAP Updates Recommendations for Safe Infant Sleep Practices
Updated evidence-based recommendations for a safe sleeping environment to reduce the risk for sleep-related infant deaths has been released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and published in Pediatrics. The updated recommendations include:

• placing infants to sleep in a supine position for every sleep until the child reaches 1 year of age; side sleeping is not advised and is not safe.
• a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface to reduce the risk for suffocation or wedging/entrapment.
• having the infant sleep in the parents' room, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least six months.
• keeping soft objects such as pillows, comforters, and loose bedding away from the infant’s sleep area.
• offering a pacifier at nap time and bed time to reduce the risk for SIDS.

 
USPSTF Recommends Against Beta Carotene, Vitamin E Supplements
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against the use of beta carotene or vitamin E for prevention of cardiovascular disease or cancer and finds that the evidence is insufficient for ascertaining the benefits and harms of multivitamin use. These recommendations and findings form the basis of a final recommendation statement published the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 
ENDO: Guidelines Updated for Hospitalized Adults with Hyperglycemia
An updated Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline for the management of hospitalized patients with diabetes or newly recognized or stress-induced hyperglycemia was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. A multidisciplinary panel identified and prioritized 10 clinical questions related to inpatient management of patients with diabetes and/or hyperglycemia.
 
The panel made 15 recommendations relating to 10 frequently encountered areas specific to glycemic management in the hospital. These include conditional recommendations for use of emerging diabetes technologies in the hospital such as continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump therapies; insulin regimens for prandial insulin dosing, glucocorticoid-associated and enteral nutrition-associated hyperglycemia; and noninsulin therapy use. For issues relating to preoperative glycemic measures, appropriate use of correctional insulin, and diabetes self-management education in the hospital, recommendations were also made.
 
Framework Issued for Developing Living Practice Guidelines
In this framework, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, there is an emphasis on the role of online dynamic platforms in supporting up-to-date evidence. The goal is to help guideline developers plan, produce, report and disseminate living guideline projects.
 

More Highlights

SCOTUS Overturns Roe v. Wade, Leaving Many Women Without Access to Abortion
On Friday, June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturns the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman's right to abortion. The decision sets the stage for a swift rollback of abortion rights in more than half of the United States.
 
JCAHO Standards Not Always Supported by High-Quality Evidence
Only six of 20 actionable standards for hospital accreditation published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (The Joint Commission) were completely supported by cited references, according to a study published online in The BMJ. Of the six directly supported actionable standards, one, none, and five cited at least one reference of level 1 or 2, level 3, and level 4 or 5 evidence, respectively. The strength of recommendation was deemed GRADE D and GRADE B in five and one of the completely supported actionable standards, respectively.