My career as a nurse anesthetist recently began at two plastic surgery centers, where I knew I'd face significant challenges in managing PONV. Rates of the relatively common...

Numbing nerves with local anesthetics relieves post-op pain for days at a time. Freezing them with a blast of targeted cold therapy can provide the same soothing effect for...

Great ideas for your OR

Early this year, one of the first total hip replacements paid for by Medicare was performed on a woman in her late 80s at our outpatient surgery center. This was only possible because the Centers for Medicare...

It's important to keep everyone on your staff engaged and connected, and fun group activities can help create a sense of community among the team. Try inviting members of your perioperative department to submit unique...

Surgical incisions create openings and opportunities for the trillions of bacterial cells that live inside of the body, so efforts to prevent post-op infections shouldn't end until...

Though often considered more of a niche procedure, replacing only the diseased part of the knee offers advantages to the right patient, including a faster recovery and higher satisfaction with the overall results, says...

Success in cataract surgery is often defined by excellent outcomes achieved quickly and safely. SightTrust Eye Institute in Sunrise, Fla., has that process down to an exact science....

Patients who are discharged hours after procedures that used to require inpatient stays to recover don't hurt any less. Today's pain control methods must advance along with...

A cardiac procedure is on the schedule and there are eight different-sized stents — at $80 a pop — that could be used. Your surgical team opens all eight, even though seven will likely be thrown away. That's $560 worth...

Our "Above and Beyond" program allows staff members to nominate their colleagues for recognition whenever they are seen upholding our facility's core values, which include always putting the patient first, being inclusive,...

We created a custom handoff form that's placed on top of each patient's chart to keep staff abreast of pertinent information that's not typically part of their medical record. In addition to noting case start and stop times...

Every January, managers from the OR, anesthesia and central sterile gather to review our hospitals' policies and procedures in order to make needed changes. Because representatives from many different disciplines...

Outpatient Surgery Magazine's eNews Briefs. Bringing you the surgical news you want.

Outpatient Surgery Magazine's eNews Briefs. Bringing you the surgical news you want.

Outpatient Surgery Magazine's eNews Briefs. Bringing you the surgical news you want.

Outpatient Surgery Magazine's eNews Briefs. Bringing you the surgical news you want.

Outpatient Surgery Magazine's eNews Briefs. Bringing you the surgical news you want.

Surgery centers become outdated after about 20 years. Ours certainly had. Its four ORs were constantly filled to capacity. The waiting room was cramped. Walls felt like they...

Challenges still exist in providing equitable access to health care for all people. This has been evident during the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted people of color, particularly African Americans and...