Recently, Edward Oates, MD, a trauma and orthopedic surgeon in Germany, posted a question to #orthotwitter: “How do you avoid cuts to your distal interphalangeal joints when using suture thread?” After many providers replied...

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...

The practice of requiring healthcare workers to search for medications by typing in at least the first five letters of the intended drug into automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) would go a long way toward preventing potentially...

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...

The students who came into the nurse’s office at P.S. duPont Middle School in Wilmington, Del., would invariably begin playing with a stethoscope, testing their pulse oximetry or taking their temperatures....

There’s a great deal of attention paid to the importance of optimizing the nutritional status of patients before surgery and doing away with NPO requirements to prepare them for the stress of invasive procedures...

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...

Throughout the course of a day, certain instruments require special attention or need to be fast-tracked through the reprocessing cycle and returned to the ORs as soon as possible. Attaching a green plastic placard...

You never want to run out of key supplies your surgical team needs on a daily basis, but you also don’t want to throw away items because they’ve expired. That’s why staff at Eye 35 ASC in Schertz, Texas, place star stickers on items...

Pressure injury prevention isn’t just about using the right positioning aids. It’s an ever-continuing process of monitoring, documentation, education, investigation, risk assessment and process improvement. A dedicated, interdisciplinary team...

About 45 minutes before surgery, Joseph Nessler, MD, will stop by pre-op to mark the correct surgical site of his total joint patients. He’ll say hello, note his initials where he intends to cut and ask if the patient has any last-minute questions....

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are among the most common and costly of all healthcare complications, yet as many as half are considered preventable. While costs of treating SSIs vary widely based on the degree of infection...

Surgeons are often compared to elite competitive athletes, but perhaps professional dancer is more appropriate — at least when it comes understanding the ergonomic and musculoskeletal issues physicians face throughout their careers....

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...

Endoscopic sinus surgery requires surgeons to maneuver mere millimeters from critical structures. They operate near the orbital lamina papyracea, and sometimes inside the orbit itself, and often use image guidance to help them move...

When a patient from Raleigh Orthopedic Clinic returned home from his knee replacement surgery in May, there was a base station on his nightstand awaiting his return. The station was there because the patient was the first person...

Last month, AORN’s staff gathered at its Denver headquarters for an organizational enterprise meeting. We caught up with colleagues outside of our screens and met others for the first time in person. It was an energizing....

Some time ago, an experiment was designed to get patients to be more active during their post-surgical recoveries by using pedometers. Everyone in the controlled study was given their weekly pedometer data, but half were given...

My hospital’s sterile processing department is responsible for turning around 1,500 instrument trays a day. Our surgeons specialize in a variety of orthopedic procedures, including total joints and spine, so our reprocessing techs...

Surgery centers are in line to capture a sizable number of cases as insurers and providers look to shift more complex procedures out of hospital ORs. As the migration of surgeries to same-day settings continues to...