For many nurses across the country, the nearly yearlong battle against COVID-19 has brought on some of the toughest times of their career and unimaginable strain. Seven intensive care unit nurses from hard hit areas spoke to The Washington Post about the toll it takes to care for the most critical COVID-19 patients. 

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners' board of directors has selected Joe Fanning to serve as CEO, the organization said Dec. 9.  

In 2017, two organizations updated national guidelines for treating and diagnosing Clostridioides difficile infection. New research published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases validates these guideline changes, suggesting they nearly doubled hospitals' ability to predict C. difficile mortality.

The U.S. hit another COVID-19 milestone Dec. 8, reporting more than 15 million total infections.

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health is tackling local food insecurity across the state by establishing food hub locations in partnership with nonprofits, businesses and farmers, according to a Dec. 8 news release shared with Becker's. 

Video platforms like Zoom tend to accentuate unflattering angles, and increased Zoom use amid COVID-19 may be partially related to a spike in cosmetic procedures, the The Washington Post reports. 

Fear of contracting COVID-19 in a healthcare setting may be associated with a 20 percent increase in pediatric ruptured appendix cases at Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Children's Hospital earlier this year, according to a study published Dec. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Some San Francisco nurses are speaking out about a two-day intensive care unit training program California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled Dec. 7, reports local ABC affiliate KGO. 

Over the past seven days, the U.S. recorded 15,813 COVID-19 deaths, surpassing a weekly record that stood since mid-April, reports The New York Times. 

While Black patients were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than white patients at NYU Langone Health this spring, they had a lower risk of death and severe illness after hospitalization, according to a study published Dec. 4 in JAMA Network Open. 

With so many testing supplies dedicated to COVID-19, U.S. labs are now facing a shortage of supplies needed to test for sexually transmitted infections and other common diseases like strep throat and pneumonia, NBC News reports. 

In more than half of the past 30 influenza seasons, influenza disease has not peaked until the month of February. That said, there remains continued uncertainty about how COVID-19 and related public health interventions will impact the epidemiology of influenza this season.

A memorial park dedicated to New Jersey residents who died of COVID-19 will replace the site of a former waste ground in Jersey City, according to The New York Times. 

The FBI raided a laboratory in Ventnor, N.J., Dec. 4 and is encouraging patients who had COVID-19 tests at the facility to get retested, reports NBC10 Philadelphia. 

COVID-19 test positivity increased in all but one region in the week ending Nov. 28, according to the CDC's latest COVIDView report published Dec. 4. 

New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham will likely implement a measure this week that would allow hospitals to move to "crisis standards," and ration care based on patients' chances of survival, The Washington Post reports. 

U.S. hospitals saw improvement fighting bloodstream and urinary tract infections rates last year, according to the CDC's 2019 National and State HAI Progress Report. 

The U.S. reported a record 224,831 new COVID-19 cases Dec. 4, exactly 30 days after the nation first crossed the 100,000-case threshold, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.  

Flu activity is unusually low for this time of year, but may increase in the coming months, according to the CDC's FluView report for the week of Nov. 28.

The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in America will test a deeply divided society, and not just because of mistrust in vaccinations, Atul Gawande, MD, told New Yorker Editor David Remnick.