COVID-19 has fundamentally altered the healthcare industry. It has exacerbated staff shortages, which has resulted in an overwhelming amount of work for nurses and clinicians along with ever-persistent time-management challenges.

Several colleges and universities have launched nursing programs and partnerships to address persistent shortages around the country.

The omicron subvariant BA.2 accounts for more than one-third of COVID-19 cases nationwide and more than half of cases in the Northeast, according to the latest variant proportion estimates from the CDC.

U.S. officials are closely monitoring COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United Kingdom — which have continued to rise over the last few weeks — and are considering what it could mean for the U.S. 

Since people shed the coronavirus in their feces before showing symptoms or testing positive, wastwater surveillance of virus levels is intended to serve as an early warning system for upcoming surges or new variant detection. But these efforts are patchy in the U.S.

Researchers are continuously learning more about COVID-19 and how it affects certain individuals even after infection.

The demands of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed quality leaders to seek innovative solutions to not only maintain but reinvigorate quality improvement efforts — especially as the most recent surge from the omicron variant has waned. 

Below are 14 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that have posted job listings seeking chief medical officers.

U.S. health officials are poised to clarify guidelines on masking practices in hospitals after reports surfaced that facilities were asking patients and visitors to swap N95 masks for surgical masks, three sources familiar with the matter told Politico.

At least nine states have cut back on daily COVID-19 reports that provide information on new cases, hospitalizations and deaths, The New York Times reported March 19. 

U.S. health officials are closely monitoring COVID-19 activity in the U.K., where cases and hospitalizations are simultaneously rising due to omicron subvariant BA.2, though many experts say it's too soon to accurately predict if or when a similar uptick in virus activity may hit the U.S.

Below are 14 hospitals and health systems that recently posted job listings seeking chief nursing officers. 

Adding aerosolized hydrogen peroxide to infection prevention protocols reduces the risk of Clostridioides difficile infections in healthcare settings, according to a study published March 17 in the American Journal of Infection Control.

The BA.2 omicron subvariant now accounts for about 30 percent of new cases in New York City, health officials said March 18. Nationwide, the CDC estimates the variant accounts for about 23 percent of new cases. 

Daily COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. are falling, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published March 18, amid concerns the omicron subvariant BA.2 may fuel another uptick in cases.

Flu activity continues to rise across most of the U.S., according to the CDC's FluView report published March 18.

COVID-19 deaths are falling nationwide, but eight states are still seeing higher daily death averages than recorded two weeks ago. 

Local and state public health officials faced widespread harassment in the pandemic's first year, according to a study published March 17 in the American Journal of Public Health.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. are still on the decline, but based on what is unfolding in some European countries, Anthony Fauci, MD, predicts that could soon change, Bloomberg reported March 17. 

This year, colorectal cancer (CRC) is projected to kill more than 52,000 people in the United States.1 Thousands of these deaths will occur among patients under 50. Many of these deaths will be preventable.2