Recipients of the 2022 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards, which spotlight novel healthcare, were announced Jan. 24 by The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum. 

Here are four nurses who have made headlines for their leadership efforts on and off the job since January 1: 

In the U.S. alone, the H5N1 avian flu strain has killed nearly 58 million birds in the last year. While the virus currently poses a low risk to humans, experts are concerned about its pandemic potential if it were to make a sustained jump. 

The rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations is falling in every state but Alaska and Hawaii, spurring a sigh of relief from many clinical leaders. 

With nursing burnout at an all-time high nationwide, the American Nurses Association is looking at solutions to provide support — one of which is through a free burnout prevention program for all members.

Researchers are concerned about whether the next COVID-19 variant of concern will be spotted in time as multiple countries are constricting their surveillance work, Nature reported Jan. 24. 

Texas and Oklahoma are suing HHS for granting the World Health Organization the authority to determine and define what constitutes a public health emergency in the U.S. 

In the last two years, St. Louis Children's Hospital has given out about 5,000 free gun locks to anyone who needs them, no questions asked. Leaders at the hospital say the initiative is one example of how healthcare organizations can address the nation's gun violence epidemic and reduce the stigma of talking about gun safety, according to a Jan. 22 CNN report. 

Adolescents between 11 and 20 years of age make up around 20 percent of pediatric hospital admissions in the U.S. and on top of that, 20 percent of children under 18 also are said to have a special healthcare need, which the American Academy of Pediatrics defines as "having or being at increased risk for chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions."

As part of a planned end to its state of emergency declaration in February, California's Department of Public Health plans to close multiple COVID-19 testing sites in areas where officials have seen demand for the service decrease, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker's.

Hospitals should look to nurse practitioners in 2023 to help fill gaps created by the surging shortage of primary and mental healthcare professionals throughout the U.S., according to a Jan. 18 statement by the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

A case of measles in Kentucky has been linked to the outbreak in Ohio, which has infected at least 85 people. 

The FDA is considering a new COVID-19 vaccination strategy that would mirror the process for creating and administering annual flu shots, federal documents show.

Patients who experience long COVID-19 are at higher risk for pulmonary, diabetes, neurological and mental health encounters six months after the onset of initial infection, a study published Jan. 18 has found.

Adults over 50 who contract respiratory syncytial virus are at a more serious risk for long-term health effects, according to a study published in JAMA Jan. 20, led by Mayo Clinic physicians Young Juhn, MD, Chung Wi, MD, and Paul Takahashi, MD.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths fell nationwide this week, even as the highly transmissible omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 grew to account for about half of all U.S. infections, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Jan. 20. 

The U.S. may see a higher amount of flu cases this season compared to past years, preliminary CDC estimates suggest. 

No state or region in the U.S. saw "very high" levels of flu activity for the week ending Jan. 14, the CDC's latest FluView report shows. Not since October has no state reported very high flu activity. 

Despite the compounding challenges of leading a team with upward of 93,000 nurses amid national staffing strains, an incessant pandemic and high burnout rates for the profession, Sammie Mosier, BSN, chief nurse executive at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, remains passionate and optimistic. 

Patients who present in the emergency room with signs of a possible transient ischemic attack require in-depth evaluation even if symptoms are no longer present, according to new guidelines issued by the American Heart Association.