National assessment on the frequency of pain medication prescribed for intrauterine device insertion procedures within the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Background: The intrauterine device (IUD) is a highly effective form of long-acting reversible contraception, widely recognized for its convenience and efficacy. Despite its benefits, many patients report moderate to severe pain during and after their IUD insertion procedure. Furthermore, reports suggest significant variability in pain control medications, including no adequate pain medication.

Calculating Optimal Patient to Nursing Capacity: Comparative Analysis of Traditional and New Methods.

Background: Optimal nurse staffing levels have been shown to impact patients' prognoses and safety, as well as staff burnout. The predominant method for calculating staffing levels has been patient-to-nurse (P/N) ratios and nursing hours per patient day. However, both methods fall short of addressing the dynamic nature of staffing needs that often fluctuate throughout the day as patients' clinical status changes and new patients are admitted or discharged from the unit.

Incidence and risk of post-COVID-19 thromboembolic disease and the impact of aspirin prescription; nationwide observational cohort at the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

Introduction: COVID-19 triggers prothrombotic and proinflammatory changes, with thrombotic disease prevalent in up to 30% SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Early work suggests that aspirin could prevent COVID-19 related thromboembolic disorders in some studies but not others. This study leverages data from the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States to better understand this association.

Adapting Cognitive Task Analysis Methods for Use in a Large Sample Simulation Study of High-Risk Healthcare Events.

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) methods are traditionally used to conduct small-sample, in-depth studies. In this case study, CTA methods were adapted for a large multi-site study in which 102 anesthesiologists worked through four different high-fidelity simulated high-consequence incidents. Cognitive interviews were used to elicit decision processes following each simulated incident.

Impact of Risk Factors on COVID-19 Outcomes in Unvaccinated People With Rheumatic Diseases: A Comparative Analysis of Pandemic Epochs Using the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Registry.

Objective: Approximately one third of individuals worldwide have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. Although studies have investigated risk factors linked to severe COVID-19 among unvaccinated people with rheumatic diseases (RDs), we know less about whether these factors changed as the pandemic progressed. We aimed to identify risk factors associated with severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated individuals in different pandemic epochs corresponding to major variants of concern.

An electronic health record cohort of Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

To assemble and characterize an electronic health record (EHR) dataset for a large cohort of US military Veterans diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). An EHR dataset for 19,662 Veterans diagnosed with ALS between January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020 was compiled from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) EHR database by a query for ICD9 diagnosis (335.20) or ICD10 diagnosis (G12.

Adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection with delta and omicron variants in vaccinated versus unvaccinated US veterans: retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine the association between covid-19 vaccination types and doses with adverse outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during the periods of delta (B.1.617.