Malnutrition is a highly prevalent issue among hospital patients but is not always on healthcare leaders' radars. About 30 percent to 50 percent of patients are malnourished upon admission, according to a 2016 study published in Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Additional studies also link malnutrition to various adverse patient outcomes, including prolonged hospitalizations, higher readmission rates and higher risk of complications or death. 

Men are more likely to experience negative outcomes or complications from a number of procedures and conditions compared to women, creating a large window of opportunity for health systems to improve men's health engagement, according to a Nov. 18 Healthgrades report. 

In 2018, the U.S. saw 17 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births — a ratio more than double the rate of other high-income countries, according to a Nov. 18 report from the Commonwealth Fund. 

During a Nov. 5 webinar hosted by Becker's Healthcare Review and sponsored by Masimo, UC Irvine Health System's CMO discussed an innovative, noninvasive care approach for critically ill patients.

Patients who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest faced worse outcomes during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period in 2019, according to a recent study published in JAMA Cardiology.

A travel nurse who worked at El Paso, Texas-based University Medical Center claims the hospital isn't doing enough to help COVID-19 patients, reports KFOX-TV.

While there remain many unknowns about COVID-19, one thing already appears certain: it will continue to impact our lives and the healthcare space moving forward.

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who recover from the illness often face ongoing challenges with their physical and mental health and financial stability, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.  

Patients who were monitored with a real-time alert system had a 16 percent lower mortality rate compared to patients who were not monitored, according to research published Nov. 11 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The Joint Commission recently shared seven patient safety goals for hospitals to focus on in 2021. 

Infection control practices implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to significantly shorter lengths of stay for new mothers and their babies at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM. 

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who had a high viral load early in their illness were nearly twice as likely to die or be intubated, according to a study published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 

Sepsis diagnosis can take up to five days, wasting crucial time needed to treat the infection, but researchers at Pennsylvania-based Penn State and California-based Stanford University are working to change that with the development of a two-hour diagnostic blood test, according to a Oct. 28 statement from Penn State. The National Institutes of Health gave the universities a five-year, $3.8 million grant for the project. 

Here is a recap of 29 study findings on the novel coronavirus Becker's has covered since Sept. 1.

An antibiotic stewardship intervention program led by nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore led to a reduction of inappropriate urinary cultures for adult patients, according to a pilot study published in the November issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

Patients experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms from COVID-19 have an increased risk of hospitalization, ICU care and intubation compared to patients without GI symptoms, according to a study presented at the 2020 American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course. 

Some critical care physicians say they're concerned that long intensive care unit stays will not only have physical and mental health consequences for COVID-19 patients, but also their family members, according to a Kaiser Health News article published in The Washington Post.

A low daily dose of aspirin is linked to lower complications and a 47 percent decrease in death risk in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, according to a study published Oct. 21 in Anesthesia and Analgesia.

Tionna Hairston left Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health Rehabilitation Hospital Oct. 22 after suffering COVID-19 complications physicians deemed incurable, reports The Winston-Salem Journal.

Adults with Down syndrome are 10 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and about five times more likely to be hospitalized from the virus, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.