The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is asking unvaccinated Americans not to travel during the Labor Day holiday weekend. “First and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House COVID-19 Response Team …
Read More »Study Shows Clear Masks Improve Doctor Patient Communication
JAMA Surgery — During the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become necessary, especially within health care. However, to our knowledge, the consequences of mask wearing on communication between surgeons and patients have not been studied. Patients reported improved communication when surgeons donned a clear mask, suggesting that not seeing the …
Read More »COVID-19 Vaccine Data Lacking Race and Ethnicity
The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows more than 15% of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated. It is also reported more than 143 million doses have been administered, over 93 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and …
Read More »Low Vaccination Rates For Black Americans
Preliminary COVID vaccine data indicates Black Americans have been vaccinated at rates significantly lower than white Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information on the demographic characteristics of vaccinated people. According to the CDC data, only 5.9% of those vaccinated are Black vs. 62.8% of those vaccinated …
Read More »Rural Hospitals Struggling In The Fight Against COVID-19
Coronavirus hospitalizations are increasing in many rural and less populated areas that were previously relatively unaffected. Doctors and health officials worry that infections will overwhelm small communities that have a short supply of medical resources. “The 20% of the U.S. population that lives in rural areas consists of generally older …
Read More »What Doctors Are Saying About Holiday Gatherings
Many people are trying to figure out how to celebrate Thanksgiving safely. This holiday could become a national superspreader event since COVID-19 is transmitted by droplets sprayed while talking or breathing heavily in close proximity. Traveling from one hot spot to another, eating with multigenerational family and friends in close …
Read More »Doctors Researching Connections In COVID-19 And Diabetes
The U.S. National Institutes of Health is financing research into how the Coronavirus may cause high blood sugars and diabetes. More research is needed to prove, beyond the increasing evidence, that COVID-19 is triggering diabetes on a large scale. Dr. Robert Eckel, President of medicine and science at the American …
Read More »Increased Unconscious Bias In HealthCare During COVID-19
Implicit or unconscious bias operates outside of the person’s awareness and can be in direct contradiction to a person’s espoused beliefs and values. What is so dangerous about implicit bias is that it automatically seeps into a person’s affect or behavior and is outside of the full awareness of that …
Read More »26 States At Risk Of Having An ICU Doctor Shortage
According to a George Washington University study, researchers found that a majority of states in the U.S. will soon face a shortage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Doctors as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. According to ABC News, the most recent update finds that 26 states will soon face shortages in ICU Doctors, up from …
Read More »Researchers Concerned COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials Aren’t Diverse Enough
COVID-19 vaccine trials have moved into phase three. Two trials were launched in the United States and researchers are looking to enroll 30,000 people for each trial. They are working to ensure that a significant percentage of volunteers come from the places hit hardest. Dr. Sam Oh, Director of Epidemiology for …
Read More »Health Systems and Hospitals Asking Congress For $100 Billion In Relief
Last week the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association and American Hospital Association, wrote a letter to Senate leaders asking for Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line …
Read More »Doctors Are Preparing To Resume Performing Elective Surgeries
Hospitals are preparing to start performing elective surgeries again since the Coronavirus outbreak began. Doctors are starting to perform elective surgeries again but it doesn’t mean everything is back to normal inside hospitals. Lifebridge Health chief clinical officer Dr. Matthew Poffenroth said, “We’re gradually going towards that direction but we’re …
Read More »Coronavirus HealthCare Workers Face Mental Health Crisis
Under normal circumstances a career in Medicine is stressful. The physical demands, psychological strain and ineffective work processes can lead to burnout, a condition that affects up to 50% of Physicians in the U.S. Burnout cannot describe what Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics and others are experiencing as COVID-19 overwhelms the health …
Read More »Doctors Are Innovative In The Fight Against COVID-19
Doctors are channeling their inventive side to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Ben Pettigrove, a Tulsa Physician, heard about Doctors and Nurses dying after becoming infected during the process of intubation so he designed a plexiglass box that would contain the virus. After you intubate somebody you would leave it on …
Read More »Hospitals Are Using Virtual Reality Simulations To Train Thousands of Doctors And Nurses
Some hospitals are implementing virtual reality simulations to train Doctors and Nurses with expertise in other areas such as knee surgery or neurology and retired professionals reentering the medical field. At Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, more than 300 doctors have learned skills, such as how to assess a patient’s …
Read More »FDA Grants Emergency Clearance To The First In-Home Test For The Coronavirus
The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency clearance to the first in-home test for the coronavirus. The test is a nasal swab kit sold by LabCorp. According to the FDA, LabCorp had submitted data showing the home test is as safe and accurate as a sample collection at a doctor’s …
Read More »Non-coronavirus Patients Are Avoiding Hospitals As ER Visits Drop
According to data shared with CNBC, emergency room visits are down by about 50% across New York City Health, Providence St. Joseph Health, and other locations. Trending across the U.S. people are staying clear of hospitals for sometimes necessary and emergency care, even for mild heart attacks. Physicians worry that patients …
Read More »People Lending HealthCare Workers Their RV’s For A Place To Stay
Emily Phillips, a mother of three from Celina, Texas, posted on her Facebook asking if anybody had an RV her family could borrow. Her husband is a Doctor and needs to be quarantined from the rest of the family when he is off duty during the coronavirus crisis. Emily Phillips told …
Read More »Medical Students Coming Together To Help Support Health Care Workers
Health care workers nationwide have found themselves on the frontline of an unpredictable battle against the Coronavirus. Many Physicians families need help with child care now that day cares have closed or they need help with getting their children’s school work done since schools are also closed. Some have found …
Read More »First Responders: Tips For Taking Care of Yourself During a Crisis
Being a first responder during a crisis is challenging but rewarding work. To take care of their patients, healthcare providers must be feeling well and thinking clearly. Responders experience high rates of stress during a crisis. According to the CDC, when stress builds up it can cause: Burnout – feelings of …
Read More »Doctors using TV and Social Media To Ask For More Supplies
Covid-19 hospitalizations are increasing, as expected. Doctors, Nurses and health care experts are using television, radio and social media to sound alarms about supply shortages and other serious problems. ER Doctor Stephen Anderson in Auburn, Washington, said on ABC’s “World News Tonight”, “We need ventilators. I have ventilators this morning, …
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