For all the benefits of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a persistent problem continues to plague one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures:...

When patients show up for surgery, our front desk receptionist hands them a numbered tag and writes the number on the envelope in which we keep their...

Cataract surgeons who claim they're not worried about piercing the posterior capsule with a sharp instrument or oscillating phaco tip? "They're either lying or...

Patients often neglect to share important health information with their anesthesia providers before surgery. They might not realize that taking ginkgo biloba for memory,...

Can a urology waiting room designed to look more like a locker room prod men to get a prostate exam? The urology department at Mount Sinai Health System is...

The next time you need a lesson in radiation safety, pop your head into a procedure room to watch an interventional pain doc at work....

Restaurant gift cards are nice, but if you’re looking for a way to honor your nurses for their extraordinary compassionate and skillful care in a way they’ll cherish long...

Scott Augustine, MD, begins an hourlong pitch about the dangers of the Bair Hugger forced-air patient warming system he invented — and is now campaigning against...

More and more, I wonder if I'm still outpatient surgery material. I don't mean writing for Outpatient Surgery Magazine, but rather keeping up with all those pretty, perky...

Our nurses and techs used to crawl around on their hands and knees in search of a suture needle missing from the final count. Not only were we at risk of a needlestick,...

From speed bumps and sticky pads to arm tucks and tilt tests, you pull out all the stops to protect patients when you place them in the Trendelenburg position....

There aren't many versions available in the U.S. right now, but single-use, disposable cystoscopes and ureteroscopes are beginning to make an impact in outpatient...

If you've worked in an OR, you know the horror stories about surgical smoke. It could be the surgeon who never touched a cigarette suddenly developing lung cancer, the nurse...

Instead of discarding unused fentanyl in real time, your anesthesia provider aggregates all discards and brings them out for witnessing by another licensed professional...

Want to help ensure your OR team covers fire safety during pre-op time outs? Affix a small flame graphic to the lower left-hand corner of every mobile workstation screen...

In an emergency, there's no time to waste. From bad weather to bad outcomes, your staff must be prepared to respond to all sorts of emergencies — knowing what to do...

An IV start should be a little pinch, not a big ouch, a minor procedure, not a major ordeal. Patients dread surgery's necessary evil — and your nurses might, too....

After years of running your busy facility, you finally decide it's time to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. Problem is, it's been so long since you've updated...

When it comes to retained surgical items (RSI), you shouldn't assume anything, you should prove it. And if you don't see it, you should find it. Working in surgery,...

Cleaning dirty endoscopes is a high priority, but the equally critical process of getting dirty scopes safely to the cleaning area — and keeping them clean on the way back...