Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated rapid changes in healthcare delivery in the United States, including changes in the care of hospitalized children. Our study aimed to identify the major changes in inpatient pediatric healthcare delivery and potential learnings from these changes. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews for this qualitative study. We purposefully sampled hospitals [...]

Background: In 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ position statement, “Guiding Principles for Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) Programs,” emphasized the importance of professional development for each PHM physician. However, little is published about PHM physicians’ perspectives on professional development. The objectives of this study were to explore pediatric hospitalists’ perceptions of professional development needs, desired [...]

Background: Mentorship can help accelerate career advancement and professional development for pediatric hospitalists; thus, many Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) divisions are creating formal mentorship programs. However, it is not currently known how many PHM divisions have mentorship programs or what aspects of mentorship are needed for hospitalists. Our study aimed to understand the current landscape [...]

Background: Orbital cellulitis/abscess (OC) is an infection of eye tissues posterior to the orbital septum. OC can have significant morbidities such as vision loss, cavernous sinus thrombosis, and intracranial infection if treatment is not initiated promptly. While some patients with orbital cellulitis complicated by subperiosteal abscess require surgical drainage, many are managed with intravenous (IV) [...]

Background: The transition from adolescent to adult care has been associated with worse outcomes including increased mortality (1). Improved patient experience (PEX) correlates with decreased inpatient mortality rates and better adherence to quality guidelines (2) as well as lower 30- day readmission rates for patients with heart failure, acute MI and pneumonia (3). Hospitalized adolescents [...]

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: Adolescents have poor access to preventive care and outpatient providers face many barriers to addressing sexual health with adolescents. Recent literature advises providers to address sexual health in nontraditional settings including emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. In our previous work we identified missed opportunities to address sexual health on the hospital medicine service, [...]

Background: Sleep is critical to children’s health and recovery, but pediatric inpatient sleep is often disrupted by nonessential overnight interruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated social distancing policies which minimized contact with low-risk patients. These policies have the potential to decrease overnight disruptions and improve sleep for hospitalized patients. Methods: This cohort study compared sleep disruptions [...]