Background: Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel widespread disease that has a range of manifestation from asymptomatic to fatal. In the United States, there have been approximately 396,000 hospitalizations as of this writing, of which an estimated 25% will require the intensive care unit (ICU)1,2. With the ongoing spread and repeated waves of [...]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically altered how clinicians care for hospitalized patients in the setting of a highly contagious respiratory disease. Changes seen across hospitals include implementation of medical distancing guidelines (i.e. reduced in-person patient contact) and creation of respiratory isolation units (RIUs) for patients with COVID-19. While medical distancing has [...]

Background: E-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI) was first reported in 2019 in the United States (1-2). Reported lung findings in this disease include acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute eosinophilic pneumonia, hypersensitivity pneumonia, and giant cell interstitial pneumonitis (3-5). Considering the additional reports of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and hemoptysis (6-11), we obtained coagulation studies prior [...]

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is a commonly overtreated pediatric diagnosis. Since 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended a ‘wait-and-see’ strategy and shorter antibiotic courses for mild or moderate AOM in qualifying patients. While this strategy has been successfully implemented in some pediatric emergency units (EUs), studies have shown that 30-90% of [...]

Background: An average of 10% of patients in the U.S. report having a penicillin allergy yet the Centers for Disease Control estimates that less than 1% of the population are truly allergic. It is well described in adult literature that broad spectrum antibiotics are often used as penicillin alternatives and this may contribute to negative [...]

Background: Due to medical complexity, children with complex chronic conditions (CCC) have high hospital mortality rates. End-of-life (EOL) care planning is critical for these children and requires collaboration with families. Despite the importance of EOL care aligned with patient/family goals and potential harm when EOL care is inconsistent with these goals, there is limited literature [...]

Background: Migraine headache is a common pediatric disorder frequently leading to hospital admission. Inpatient migraine headache treatment involves increasingly complex treatments, including fluid resuscitation and a variety of medications and therapies. Our previous study(1) has shown that the cost of inpatient treatment for pediatric migraine headache is increasing at a higher rate than reported overall [...]

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents age 15-19 in the United States and ingestion/poisoning hospitalizations continue to rise. In order to better understand this population, we investigated characteristics of adolescent poisoning hospitalizations including patient factors as well as ingestion history. Methods: Retrospective study of adolescent patients (aged 12-18) hospitalized to [...]

Background: In current times, physicians are working to older ages, lending experience and knowledge that benefits both patient care and education. Recent findings demonstrate advanced age as a risk factor for severe morbidity and mortality from serious acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (COVID-19), placing older physicians at high-risk during the current pandemic. Pediatric hospitalists frequently care for [...]

Background: Pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) is the newest and fastest growing specialty within pediatrics, but job dissatisfaction and loss of purpose can influence job performance and retention. Defining a career focus, such as expert clinician, medical education, quality and safety, or administrative leadership, has been noted to improve job satisfaction for hospitalists, however there are [...]