David Taylor III, MSN, RN, CNOR, a healthcare executive consultant with the Resolute Advisory Group, worked with staff at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in San Francisco to design a Gratitude Tree wall mural....

Does your staff often feel overwhelmed when a big shipment of supplies is dropped off at your facility? All the boxes look the same, making it difficult to determine which shipments have been processed. “In our receiving room,...

You cannot run a successful surgery center if your surgical instruments are dull, damaged or in desperate need of replacement. I work at an extremely busy orthopedic ASC with eight operating rooms that are full...

It’s common to back-burner an issue that you know needs addressing when a repeat occurrence has not happened for a while. But after a handful of slips, trips and falls incidents last year at our busy community hospital,...

When Robert Bray, MD, learned that DISC Sports and Spine Center in Newport Beach, Calif., achieved accreditation for the fifth consecutive year, he was already looking forward to the next one. The neurosurgeon...

The sweet spot for an adult’s core body temperature throughout the perioperative experience is 36.5°C to 37.5°C, but maintaining this safe temperature range can be a challenge — and a safety concern, according to...

Hundreds of thousands of patients undergo total knee replacements in the U.S. every year, with increasing numbers of the procedures performed in outpatient facilities. Thanks to rapid technological advancements...

The Gold Standard of Smoke-Free Surgery; When a nurse had an asthma attack following a plume-generating surgery, our perioperative team sprang into action.

Last month marked two years since George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest on a Minneapolis street. After his death, the nation confronted systemic racism and continued to...

AdventHealth Tampa in Florida has made significant investments in cutting-edge care by constructing The Taneja Center for Surgery, a $300M marvel that opened its doors in October 2021 and features 18 fully integrated ORs....

It’s possible to make great strides in increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in surgery without the benefit of a national platform, whether it’s returning to the OR after a tragic accident, deciding to take on inequities in patient...

Outpatient surgeries blossomed when providers figured out that inpatient stays followed by extended bed rest weren’t always necessary, or even good for their patients. Many patients were better off recovering...

The attention to detail that’s required to properly care for the tools of surgery takes on even greater importance when microsurgical instrumentation is involved. Proper care and regular maintenance extend...

Every time Lauren Bryan, RN, notices an OR team member following her facility’s robust hand hygiene protocols, she makes it a point to verbally acknowledge the compliance she just witnessed. It’s positive recognition, sure....

Warming patients before, during and after surgeries delivers two primary benefits. The most obvious is the comfort. Warmth can do wonders to soothe a shivering, nervous...

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...

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

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...

There are between 75 and 100 intricate steps involved in the proper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes. That means there are countless opportunities for staff to miss critical steps...