Researchers at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, conducting independent research on whether pending nurse staffing legislation in New York state is in the public’s interest, found that the wide variation in patient-to-nurse ratios across hospitals in New York is contributing to avoidable deaths…
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December 17, 2020 — An opinion piece published today online in BMJ by Nina Schwalbe in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, calls for a national vaccine strategy now that COVID-19 vaccines are available. Schwalbe writes that a lack of clarity on a distribution plan sets…
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One consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is that more families are putting off their children’s preventive care visits, causing pediatric providers to worry about missed vaccines. In a recent study published in Pediatrics, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital evaluated changes in measles vaccination rates from before the pandemic to this summer, when return for clinical…
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Dental procedures can pose a high risk of viral transmission because the tools that are used often produce aerosols, which can contain high numbers SARS-CoV-2 virions, copies of the virus causing COVID-19. The aerosols are generated when saliva mixes with water and air streams used in dental procedures. As a result, access to routine dentistry…
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As boxes of Pfizer vaccines began arriving around the country this week, hospital pharmacists made a surprising discovery: Some of the glass vials that are supposed to hold five doses contained enough for a sixth — or even a seventh — person. The news prompted a flurry of excited exchanges on Twitter and pharmacy message…
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Welcome. We’re expecting a storm today, in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., the sort of blanketing that for children growing up in colder climes has long brought anticipation of the most delicious sort: Will schools be closed? Will we spend a day inside in our pajamas? Surely there’ll be sledding, snowmen and snow angels. An…
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More than 100,000 varieties of face masks are currently for sale. They come in silk, cotton and synthetics; with filters and without; over-the-head and over-the-ears. They have sparkles and sunflowers; friendly greetings and insults; cartoon characters and teeny reindeer. What they don’t have is a label that shows how well they block infectious particles, an…
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The hell year that is 2020 has wreaked havoc on life as we know it. But you know what it’s been good for? Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has been soaring, hitting a high of over $20,000 per coin this week. There is now more than $350 billion worth of Bitcoin in the world, an incredible appreciation…
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Edward BerthelotGetty Images If someone told us this time last year that face masks would be the most in-demand fashion accessory of 2020, we wouldn’t have believed it. But, as we know all too well, masks are necessary for keeping you, your loved ones, and your community healthy. That said, there’s no reason your practical…
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Paula grew up in foster care, and year after year she would find herself “clobbered by desire” when the holidays rolled around. She longed for a mother and father to rescue her and “make everything better”; she wished for the hip-huggers and games she saw on TV. When she was 21, she met a man…
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