The national company that supplied Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center with food and drinks was experiencing shortages and found itself unable to provide the facility with crackers for patients, diet soda for surgeons...

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...

Every surgical provider knows what a warm blanket can do for patient satisfaction. But why limit yourself to blankets? At Advanced CardioVascular Solutions in Oklahoma City, every patient who comes through its doors receives...

The Medical Play Distraction Therapy program at Shriners Children’s Lexington (SCL), Ky., doesn’t end when pediatric patients are discharged. Parents are instructed to contact the recreational therapist who worked with...

Milton Lee (Chip) Routt Jr., MD, has always preferred to put pen to bedsheet. He has been drawing detailed illustrations of anatomy to facilitate his teachings to residents for decades. “The bedsheets of pre-op beds are great canvases...

Interventional radiology (IR) is slowly finding its way into ASCs. IR physicians perform a wide variety of “pinhole surgeries” — minimally invasive procedures that leverage catheters, wires, needles and sheaths — using image guidance...

The movement of gynecology cases to same-day surgical spaces is being driven by physicians who want to perform procedures on carefully selected patients in comfortable and safe environments, according to...

The anterior or the posterior approach — which is better for total hip replacements? The debate has raged in the orthopedic community at conferences, in journals and online as surgeons often discuss the technique...

There are many steps to manage in the endoscope reprocessing process and missing or rushing through just one can lead to improper high-level disinfection and patient harm. “Endoscopes are very complex and intricate medical devices...

A little more than six years ago, Beki Kazanofski, MSN, RN, CNOR, NE-BC, was in the OR when a needle caught the very tip of her glove. “Thank god I was double-gloved, and I had that extra layer of protection,...

Your surgical team can instruct patients to bathe with antimicrobial soap before surgery and apply skin prep around the surgical site before incisions are made and that still might not be enough...

This page is often the hardest to fill. I typically save it for last, writing it to wrap up the issue before sending the final proofs to the printer. I’m often up late the night before deadline day trying to formulate my thoughts...

Facilities with the foresight to invest in the blending of surgeon skill and technological advancements are shaping the future of surgery. MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Wash., added...

Anesthesia providers who excel in the outpatient setting have mastered the art and science of using local anesthetics to numb pain during increasingly complex procedures. They also understand how to...

In the main OR at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City, surgical instruments were consistently going missing, so a multidisciplinary team sought to pinpoint the source of the issue and correct it. The result...

Ensuring that reprocessed endoscopes are completely dry during storage remains an important patient safety topic in the world of endoscopy. Residual moisture in and around endoscopes promotes the growth...

You’d be hard-pressed to find surgical leaders who aren’t directly impacted by the nationwide staffing crisis. Over the last five years, hiring qualified professionals to work in the surgical industry has become a difficult task....

One of the best ways to fight back against the notion that high-volume procedures at busy facilities are the epitome of impersonal, assembly-line care is to add a personal touch whenever possible. Even the smallest efforts...

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...

Cynthia Hawks, BSN, RN, CNOR, CSSM, surgical clinical coordinator for neurology and ENT at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center in Shenandoah, Texas, has had a copy of the April 2020 issue of Outpatient Surgery...