When RaDonda Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide for a fatal medication error that she self-reported, the ruling sent shockwaves across the medical community and left nurses fearful the criminalization of medical mistakes could...

After much work, communication and trial and error, the staff at Eye 35 ASC in Schertz, Texas, have fine-tuned and standardized their surgical packs to match their exact needs....

When OrthoArizona recently decided to hold a food drive, it pulled out all the stops. Rather than limiting the effort to one facility helping a single community, it placed donation boxes at each of its more than two dozen locations in...

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....

Hard work has always been part of the price to pay for working in surgery, but perhaps never to the level that it is now. “We were already experiencing a high burnout rate...

Avoiding dangerous and preventable sharps injuries often comes down to debunking the common myths about these issues. Setting the record straight allows facilities to put proven processes and protocols in place....

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...

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....

This special issue of Outpatient Surgery Magazine is dedicated to safety from both the patient and the staff perspectives. It’s a topic that is near and dear to me for many reasons. As a nurse with more 30 years’ experience working at...

Teams in sterile processing departments are often tasked to do more with less, especially when surgeons push to perform more cases than the instrument inventory can handle and reprocessing techs are pressured...

The Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) recently hosted a webinar during which three guest speakers discussed strategies to maintain individual positivity and enhance the culture of the workgroup. One of...

Any patient arriving on the day of their surgery is going to be anxious. That anxiety will only grow, and their satisfaction will decline, if their surgery is delayed because of inefficient room turnover times. Getting ORs ready for the next case...

No industry has been untouched by the Great Resignation, with organizations of all sizes and kinds struggling to retain their best employees — forget finding new talent to fill open positions. The healthcare field has been particularly hard hit...

Change is difficult, especially in health care. Even if an idea sounds easy to implement, getting the effort off the ground and your team on board can be the hardest part. But this didn’t deter Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center...

Top leaders and frontline staff at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta are teaming up to find creative ways to provide the best experience for patients from underrepresented groups and partner with the local communities they serve. “We’re not checking boxes,...”

Nurses are leaving the OR and while there are numerous external factors to blame — industrywide staffing shortages, unrealistic time pressures and a sense of bone-deep burnout from a stubborn, unyielding pandemic...

Sure, you know the workplace personalities of your staff, but how well do you really know them? Here’s a fun and effective way to find out more about the people you work with. Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center...

One of the ASCs run by the Florida Medical Clinic in the Tampa area has found a way to give its employees much-needed mental rests during busy days of surgery. Leadership bought two large coloring posters — one of a sloth...

A complaint about the behavior of a staff member will hopefully never get to the point where it’s heard by a jury, but you should know how to conduct a thorough, professional and well-documented investigation...

Megan Muñoz is finishing up nursing school at Chamberlain University outside of Chicago. She just completed her clinical rotation and will graduate with her BSN in September. Unlike many nursing students, however, Ms. Muñoz is ready to...