U.S. nurses can now become certified in two additional specialties: burn nursing and cannabis.

A quarter of the nation's CDC-sponsored wastewater testing sites are shut down indefinitely as the agency looks to replace the firm it has worked with on wastewater surveillance since 2020, sparking concerns among public health officials that the nation will have little insight into COVID-19's spread as colder months arrive, Politico reported Oct. 26. 

An anonymous donor has gifted $11.1 million to Yale School of Nursing in New Haven, Conn., marking the single largest donation in the school's history. The university has committed to match the gift, according to an Oct. 25 news release. 

Handwashing in clinical settings prior to putting on gloves may not actually be the best policy for infection prevention, a new study has found.

A CDC vaccine advisory group recommended the two-dose mpox vaccine for people 18 and older who are at higher risk, according to an Oct. 25 report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices formally recommended Pfizer's meningitis vaccine Oct. 25, five days after the FDA granted it full approval.

Concerns are growing among U.S. health experts about rising cases of dengue fever, an infection caused by mosquito bites that could become endemic to some states within the next decade. 

Nearly one-third of patients in Maryland hospitals were colonized with Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida auris, two pathogens that are becoming growing infection-threats in hospital settings.

More than 220,000 children were diagnosed with arthritis between 2017 and 2021, a CDC report published in July estimates. The majority of diagnoses were adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. 

Dianne Aroh, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer at Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, is passionate about turning every challenge into an opportunity.

The nation's new COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been off to a slow start, with about 12 million Americans receiving the shots since mid-September, according to an Oct. 24 report from Politico.

The chief medical officer role is expanding.

A 25-bed hospital in Colorado is among the most prepared facilities in the nation to treat pediatric patients in its emergency department, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 25. 

Providence Santa Rosa (Calif.) Memorial Hospital has diverted or paused nearly all elective surgeries in the last week due to concerns about the water used in sterilizing instruments, the Press Democrat reported Oct. 24.

An outbreak of colonized C. auris was confirmed at Lexington, Ky.-based Albert B. Chandler Hospital, NBC affiliate WLEX reported Oct. 24.

TeamBirth, a novel care delivery model developed in 2021 that slowly rolled out across top hospitals like Cleveland Clinic, has made its way to the West Coast, being implemented across 15 hospitals in Washington, according to an Oct. 23 news release.

A nurse residency program that was rolled out in New York City in 2019 has trained 5,000 nurses, Mayor Eric Adams announced in a press release. 

Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, Vt., created an employee-to-nurse pipeline to ease its nurse shortage, ABC affiliate WCAX reported Oct. 24.

About four months into a virtual nursing pilot, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill., is seeing positive feedback from patients. 

Travel nurses and other contingent staff play a crucial role in improving health services in hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities. However, their role is frequently misunderstood and their skill set is often undervalued.