Promote Perfect Attendance; Text message reminders and online patient registration portals can put an end to canceled cases.

Real-time OR Monitoring Leads to Better, Safer Surgery; QA with Teodor Grantcharov, MD, PhD, FACS, creator of surgery's 'black box' and believer that data doesn't lie.

Soon after a total joint or a colon resection patient settles into his pre-op room at Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Boardman (Ohio) Hospital, he's greeted by a nurse holding a box...

If your patient drinks all her prep the night before her colonoscopy screening, her colon will be fully cleaned out when she goes to bed. But the digestive system never sleeps....

Ever take a close look at your trash? When we did, we found we were needlessly throwing away sponges and supplies. • Sponges. Only sponges that are grossly saturated in blood...

When you rewrite your policy on reducing pressure injuries, you then need to get the right pressure redistributing devices to implement the policy. We invited vendors...

Despite what anyone claims, nobody is a born leader. Sure, some people are born with certain skills — communication, showmanship, empathy, charisma...

My day begins at 5:45 a.m. sharp when I walk from pre-op to PACU to check on everything from medical gases to medications. Here’s the mental checklist I complete...

Of the safety measures surgeons tend to turn their masks up at, double gloving ranks up there with safety sharps and smoke evacuation. But surgeons have loosened...

It's easy to lose sight of how vulnerable your patients are when they're laid out on the operating room table, sedated, anesthetized, cold and exposed, precious little...

In OR years, I’m officially old. I’m that nurse who thinks that if it’s not broken, keep it so I don’t have to learn how to use new stuff. And I’m that nurse who’s suddenly surrounded...

To stay on top of your daily demands, host a daily morning huddle to get your team leaders on the same page. It’s a small change, but one that can help you manage...

When your patients leave your facility, they should know all the do’s and don’ts of wound care. If their wound is changing colors, they should know what that means,...

In 2006, an outbreak of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) caused shockwaves in the ophthalmology community. Task forces were formed, studies were undertaken,...

Here's a look at 11 surgical apps that let you text your patients personalized pre-op alerts, post-op reminders and much more — without anybody at your busy facility having to...

We place many of our neuro patients in the prone position. Until recently, we were also re-positioning them in the prone position. Quite a bit. Not good. The more you move...

Sometimes overlooked in the world of surgery, particularly in the faster pace and turnover of the outpatient setting, is the need to prepare patients' bodies for...

We've always known about the hidden bacterial threat in your OR's anesthesia work area, the microbes lingering on the anesthesia machine and the pathogens...

Most patients who are hooked on opioids know exactly when they started down the slippery slope of addiction, and many think back to heading home from surgery...

Why are more patients asking their surgeons not to use mesh in their hernia repair? That’s how Sharon L. Bachman, MD, FACS, opened her presentation at the 16th World Congress...