Vitamin D Supplementation for Extraskeletal Indications in Older Persons.

Low levels of vitamin D have been implicated in a wide variety of conditions highly prevalent in the geriatric population, including fractures, functional limitations, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Vitamin D supplementation is often considered integral to the prevention of falls and fractures in the setting of osteoporosis. For other conditions, however, consensus is lacking, and the clinician may struggle to balance competing recommendations around screening, supplementation, and monitoring.

A case report of sweating caused by hydromorphone.

Thermoregulatory control of shivering and sweating is a complex process that can be affected by centrally acting medications. Opioids, in particular fentanyl and methadone, have been associated with sweating, but it remains a relatively rare occurrence in clinical practice. Under-recognition of this medication side-effect may lead to patient discomfort as well as a potentially unnecessary work-up to determine the etiology of the sweating.

Preventable Patient Harm: a Multidisciplinary, Bundled Approach to Reducing Clostridium difficile Infections While Using a Glutamate Dehydrogenase/Toxin Immunochromatographic Assay/Nucleic Acid Amplification Test Diagnostic Algorithm.

Health care facility-onset infections (HO-CDI) are an important national problem, causing increased morbidity and mortality. HO-CDI is an important metric for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service's (CMS) performance measures. Hospitals that fall into the worst-performing quartile in preventing hospital-acquired infections, including HO-CDI, may lose millions of dollars in reimbursement.