Exploring the Relationship Between Hospital Patient Safety Culture and Performance on Measures of Hospital-Acquired Conditions.

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between hospital perceptions of patient safety culture and the incidence of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) included in Medicare's HAC Reduction Program utilizing updated and standardized metrics.

Methods: The pooled cross-sectional study design utilized the 2018 and 2021 datasets from (1) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS), (2) the American Hospital Association's annual survey, and (3) the Center for Medicare and Medicaid's Hospital Compare dataset. The final analytic sample included 131 acute care, nonfederal, U.

Food Allergies: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.

In the United States, approximately 2% to 3% of adults and 8% of children have a food allergy. Allergic reactions range from minor pruritus to life-threatening anaphylaxis. These allergies often lead to significant anxiety and costs for patients and caregivers.

Use of a transnasal flexible laryngoscope tip for laryngeal culturing: A novel in-office technique.

Background: In-office culture of the larynx using a flexible laryngoscope tip can help identify laryngeal pathogens in cases of laryngitis.

Objective: This retrospective case series aimed to investigate the feasibility of in-office laryngoscope tip culture to identify laryngeal pathogens and help guide medical treatment.

Methods: This case series consists of 8 patients who underwent 11 in-office laryngeal cultures using the tip of the flexible laryngoscope.

Laser plume containment during flexible transnasal laryngoscopy.

Objective: To evaluate a negative pressure microenvironment designed to contain laser plume during flexible transnasal laryngoscopy.

Methods: The Negative Pressure Face Shield (NPFS) was previously reported as well tolerated with initial use on 30 patients. Diagnostic transnasal laryngoscopy was performed on an additional 108 consecutive patients who were evaluated by questionnaires and sequential pulse oximetry.

Negative pressure face shield for flexible laryngoscopy in the COVID-19 era.

Objective: Introduce novel methods and materials to limit microdroplet spread when performing transnasal aerosol generating procedures in the COVID-19 era.

Methods: Prototypes of a negative pressure face shield (NPFS) were tested then used clinically to create a suction-clearing negative pressure microenvironment with controlled access to the nose and mouth. Air pressure measurements within prototypes were followed by prospective evaluation of 30 consecutive patients treated with the device assessed through questionnaires and monitoring oximetry.

Steering Sheath for 2-Nostril Transnasal Office Laryngoscopy.

Objective: The aim was to study the feasibility of performing office-based laryngeal procedures employing a flexible hollow steerable sheath placed contralateral to the nostril through which a standard flexible video endoscope is placed.

Methods: The study design included simulation of transnasal endoscopic laryngeal procedures evaluating the use of a flexible steering sheath in laboratory and clinic settings. Transnasal laryngeal procedures were performed in an otolaryngology office setting employing an airway-management-trainer mannequin and then repeated in a human cadaver lab with standard transnasal flexible video laryngoscopy.

Cardiovascular investigations and fuzzy sets theory.

Examining the circumstances that often lead modern, mechanistic cardiovascular research into areas devoid of practical significance, we suggest that our approaches, instead of our technology, are inadequate. A method for processing information, built on the concept of "fuzzy sets," is described as a potential way out of this dilemma. This system deserves application to clinical problems, perhaps together with more classic quantitative methods, because of its practical consequences and the conceptual revitalization it may bring.