Best practices in the high-level disinfection of flexible endoscopes must be prioritized after every one of the estimated 15 million colonoscopies performed each year in the U.S.,...

The proper cleaning and sterilization of microsurgical instruments is an essential part of safe patient care, but its importance can be overlooked by busy surgeons...

Making sure patients are positioned for surgery with safety in mind is a critical part of any procedure. Issues with positioning can make a straightforward surgery...

No sterile processing department (SPD) manager wants to add another step to the complex and strategically redundant process of sterilizing surgical instruments....

What is the biggest difference between inpatient and outpatient infection prevention? Generally, there isn’t a playbook for the outpatient setting. If you become an infection preventionist for the inpatient world, there’s online...

Most surgical professionals are relatively knowledgeable about the best surface cleaning practices, and tried-and-true manual methods remain the best way to...

No matter how hard one tries, the skin simply cannot be made sterile. It can, however, be made surgically clean. Optimizing the skin’s cleanliness prior to surgery is the target that...

When you place patients head down with their stirrup-supported legs reaching skyward at a 30- to 45-degree angle, there is a laundry list of things that could go wrong,...

If you doubt the contention that it can take years — or even decades — for evidence to trickle into clinical practice, look no further than the lack of progress in implementing...

You run UConn Health’s Bioskills Lab. How does the program advance the skills of surgeons in training? It’s a fully operational, six-station lab that allows residents...

There will never be a substitute for the real surgical experience, but the latest virtual reality (VR) modules come close to simulating the sights, sounds and feels of an actual operating room. That’s why facility leaders are turning...

Thirty years ago, I became a perioperative leader for the first time in my career. My three-decade leadership journey wouldn’t have been possible without the help of...

The dexterity needed to advance the catheter once you’re in the vein when placing an IV line is a fine motor movement that isn’t commonly used, so it takes plenty of practice to develop. To master the technique, hold a pen like...

When New Tampa Surgery Center Nurse Manager Beth Hoy, MSN, RNFA, ON-C, CNOR, scrubs cases, she takes meticulous notes on the techniques and preferences of each surgeon. She turns her notes into surgeon- and case-specific...

John Urse, DO, FAOAO, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon in Dayton, Ohio, says performing hip arthroscopy is not a technically demanding task. Getting in and out of...

Two years ago last month, the coronavirus began to spread across the country. The virulent strain, which most of us had never heard of before it quickly became part of...

Members of perioperative teams must remember complex protocols — and know how to apply them in practice. McDonnell Outpatient Surgery Center at Piedmont Atlanta is part of a health system-wide safety program...

The outpatient surgery department at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in Texas came up with a caring way to support patients who undergo dilation and curettage procedures after sudden miscarriages. The patients...

Staff at Einstein Endoscopy Center in Blue Bell, Pa., used to receive annual ergonomics training based on a standardized program designed by experts who work for the large health system that owns the facility. The instruction...

Virtual reality (VR) combines immersive, scalable technology with engaging and affordable education platforms to provide what many experts believe will become...