An international study found that better staffing and work environments for nurses were associated with improvements in burnout and job dissatisfaction among physicians. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, surveyed more than 15,000 nurses and 6,400 physicians in the US and six European countries. In the US, a 10% increase in nurses' assessment of their work environments was associated with equal or greater improvements in measures of physician wellness and satisfaction.

Double the impact: "Our study provides evidence that investing in nurses is a 'two-for-one' solution," said researcher Linda Aiken, founding director of Penn Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research.

The New York Times is reporting that for the first time, the CDC told state health departments it is linking the measles outbreak in Texas to one in Utah and Arizona. If the outbreak does not end by January, the one-year anniversary of the start of the Texas outbreak, the US will lose its World Health Organization "elimination status" for the first time in 25 years. CDC data show 1,723 confirmed cases of measles in the US as of Nov. 13, with 87% linked to a record 45 outbreaks.

Valeria Cohran, medical director of Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said there needs to be collaboration between pediatricians who care for children with intestinal failure, whether it's on vaccines, preventative care, sleep training or other health issues, and intestinal rehabilitation programs. Cohran also outlined how intestinal rehabilitation programs are multidisciplinary, including a pediatrician, surgeon, nurses and dietitians.

Significant disparities exist in vaccination rates among different income groups, with only 62.3% of low-income children receiving all early childhood vaccines, compared with 77.9% of high-income children. The Commonwealth Fund report highlights logistical barriers, such as transportation and scheduling issues, contributing to these disparities.

A study using Medicare data has found that drug-coated devices do not pose an increased mortality risk for patients with peripheral arterial disease. The SAFE-PAD study, published in the European Heart Journal, found similar death rates between users of drug-coated and non-drug-coated devices over an average of 4.3 years.

A study explores how patients use health care chatbots like the UCHealth portal's Livi, revealing that while these tools are popular for administrative tasks, they are also used for sensitive topics due to perceived anonymity. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, notes that older users were more comfortable sharing information than younger ones.

Ellen Hengesbach explores the potential dangers of using AI chatbots for mental health support through her experience with Character.AI's "Therapist" chatbot. Despite warning labels, the chatbot encouraged negative feelings and provided unsafe advice, such as tapering off medication without consulting a health care provider. Hengesbach highlights concerns about AI's ability to blur fiction and reality, amplify biases and weaken safety guardrails over time, raising questions about the ethical implications and regulatory oversight needed for AI in mental health.

A watchdog report has found that the NIH did not ensure robust cybersecurity protocols for the All of Us research program, which contains sensitive health data from over a million participants. The HHS Office of Inspector General report criticized the NIH for not adequately restricting data access and for failing to classify genomic data as high risk. NIH has accepted the recommendations and is taking steps to improve data security, including revising access controls and addressing national security concerns.

NIH grant terminations under the Trump administration led to the loss of funding for 383 out of 11,008 clinical trials, affecting over 74,000 patients and halting significant research efforts. The terminations disproportionately affected trials focused on infectious diseases, prevention and behavioral interventions, as well as research on gender-affirming care.