When patients are recovering from intense surgeries at home and something unexpected or concerning occurs, they need to know whether what they’re experiencing is a common-but-alarming natural byproduct of their surgical journey...

The relationship between opioid use during and after surgery and the opioid addiction crisis is a complex one. While ineffective pain management can make recovery a nightmare, there’s a real risk for many patients when it comes to opioid addiction....

The $1.7 trillion federal spending package passed by the lame-duck Congress last month includes a 2% reduction in physicians’ pay for Medicare cases, which experts in the same-day surgical industry say will have multiple immediate negative...

At Seven Hills ASC & Cath Lab in Henderson, Nev., nurses held a roundtable discussion to determine specific items that would be helpful in the case of an evacuation or emergency event....

Each year, OAM Surgery Center at MidTowne in Grand Rapids, Mich., holds an education day for staff to ensure they are compliant with CMS and AAAHC requirements. If you’re expecting boring stories of clinicians sitting in classrooms watching dry...

There’s plenty of compelling big-picture data out there to support the need for meticulous and consistent point-of-use instrument care. A 2020 study in BMJ Quality & Safety is a great example....

Electrosurgical devices are used in virtually every operating room across the country, so it’s worrisome that surgeons and surgical teams don’t receive formal training on how...

Too often pressure injuries are thought of as an inpatient problem, an issue that’s highly unlikely to occur during the shorter procedures performed in outpatient facilities...

Understanding the Dangers of Perioperative Hypothermia; The preventable condition increases risks of post-op infection, serious complications and longer recovery times.

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) doesn't often occur, but when it does the mortality rate is extremely high if the condition is not treated soon after symptoms appear. This quiz can help you determine if your staff is ready to immediately jump into action...

No matter how long you actively warm your patients or when you opt to do it, one basic but crucial factor in the equation is the devices you use to do it in the first place. The many variables involved, not to mention the many options on the...

A lot of information is presented to patients during the pre-op visit, and it’s nearly impossible for them to retain everything they learn. However, one thing you don’t want to fall through the cracks is information on the risks...

Superior safety benefits and error-reduction capabilities. Significant time savings. Reduced waste. The benefits of premixed, prelabeled syringes far outweigh the minimal drawbacks, so why are there still facilities that insist on...

No provider wants their patients to feel nauseous in recovery, but the importance of preventing one of surgery’s most dreaded complications seems a bit higher when children are involved — especially because kids are twice as likely as...

There’s no question the invention of video laryngoscopes changed the way providers tackled the critical issue of airway management. But for years after these game-changing devices hit the market, usage was limited only to those...

You’ve had a chaotic morning. The first patient of the day canceled their procedure and your nurse navigator called in sick, throwing your facility’s entire schedule off track....

A high-volume OR is booked to perform six consecutive hand surgeries. Five are scheduled on the right hand, and one, the fourth operation of the day, which is scheduled for 3 p.m., is scheduled on the left hand....

It looks at one of the core challenges the American healthcare system faces today, through the lens of interviews with experts across the healthcare spectrum, by exploring solutions to the problem, rather than maliciously...

The effects of a single retained surgical item (RSI) are often catastrophic to the unfortunate patients who fall victim to these sentinel events. As for the facilities who commit these never-events, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority...

Sound electrosurgical safety practices often come down to preventing complacency from setting in among the staff who use these high-powered devices to cut and coagulate tissue during countless surgical procedures.