Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health has taken a different approach to addressing the national nursing shortage: instilling a passion for the profession at a young age.

Marijuana, nicotine and hallucinogenic use in people ages 19 to 30 hit historic highs in 2021, according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse study released Aug. 22. However, a few habits are on a downward trend. 

With each new COVID-19 variant, the interval between exposure and symptom development appeared to shorten, according to a study published Aug. 22 in JAMA Network Open. 

An omicron subvariant that's only accounted for a sprinkle of COVID-19 infections has been detected in 26 states and Washington, D.C., according to tracking estimates. 

Below are 11 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that recently posted job listings seeking chief nursing officers. 

Most states will see a decrease in their COVID-19 case rate by Labor Day weekend, according to forecasts from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic. South Dakota, Rhode Island and Virginia are the only states projected to see increases. 

Researchers' efforts to unravel the mysteries surrounding long COVID-19 are beginning to pay off, Eric Topol, MD, wrote for The Los Angeles Times Aug. 21.

"Humanpox," "lymphpox and "mpox" are among suggestions submitted to the World Health Organization after the agency on Aug. 12 said it was accepting proposals to rename monkeypox in an effort to reduce stigma and align with current best practices for naming diseases.

Vermont hospitals have the highest catheter associated urinary tract infection rate in the country, while hospitals in Washington, D.C., have the lowest, CDC data shows. 

Monkeypox virus DNA was found on high contact surfaces in the Utah home of two infected individuals, the CDC said in an Aug. 19 report. 

Some healthcare professionals who worked for Amazon Care say the retail and tech giant's healthcare arm prioritized convenience before the best standard of care, according to an Aug. 19 report in The Washington Post. 

While health experts have referred to New York's polio case as the "tip of the iceberg," a national outbreak similar to COVID-19 or monkeypox is not expected, USA Today reported Aug. 19.

The highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 remains dominant in the U.S. But another omicron offshoot, BA.4.6, is slowly gaining traction, CDC estimates on variant proportions show. 

The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases decreased by nearly 10 percent this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of decline, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Aug. 19.

Preliminary reports on monkeypox vaccinations suggest the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, and some breakthrough cases are occurring, the World Health Organization said during an Aug. 17 media briefing. 

Renaming monkeypox will not solve missteps in the nation's response to its outbreak and would do little to prevent hateful people from shaming others, a physician writes in a piece published Aug. 17 in The Atlantic.

Though COVID-19 in the U.S. has plateaued, uncertainty still surrounds the trajectory of the pandemic and symptoms associated with the virus. 

Hospitals in Vermont have the lowest rate of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the country, CDC data shows. 

BHSH System will invest more than $20 million over the next five years to increase Michigan's nursing workforce through a partnership with Oakland (Mich.) University.

A survey of more than 2,000 U.S. nurse practitioners found nearly a third are considering leaving healthcare, according to Medscape's first report on nurse practitioner burnout and depression published Aug. 18.