Outpatient Surgery Magazine Archive

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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,...

The 18-month-old in the recovery room wasn’t my case, but then his care took a sudden turn. When the toddler became hypoxic, the anesthesiologist looked at me and yelled...

Welcome to the world of time-release treatments — meds that you administer before or during surgery, but that keep working for days, weeks, months or even years,...

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...