In the News

Patient safety, resident sleep do not appear to differ with flexible vs. standard duty hours

Sixty-three U.S. internal medicine residency programs were randomly assigned to follow standard duty-hour policies mandating 16-hour shifts and an 80-hour workweek, or flexible policies, with an 80-hour workweek but no limits on shift length or mandatory time off between shifts.

Hospital employees frequently fell for simulated phishing emails, study finds

Almost one in seven simulated emails received a click, a rate similar to other industries but concerning because of health care's particular vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, the study authors said.

Hospital-level antibiotic use associated with rates of hospital-onset C. diff

Hospitals that significantly reduced use of all antibiotics, or specifically fluoroquinolones or third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, achieved decreases in hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile, the retrospective study showed.

Chlorhexidine bathing wasn't effective for preventing infections on the wards

One health system described an unsuccessful intervention to combat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), while the CDC reported that overall declines in hospital-onset MRSA have slowed.

March issue online and in the mail

This issue is all about improving patient health by methods other than prescribing drugs, including antibiotic stewardship, alternatives to opioids, and programs to meet social needs.

Put words in our mouth

ACP Hospitalist Weekly wants readers to create captions for our new cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program, or service.