When pediatric surgeries began ramping up at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, the anesthesia and nursing teams wanted to be sure young patients felt comfortable in their care. “One CRNA mentioned that...

During the first wave of the pandemic, a colleague of Rebecca Norton, RN, said, “We’re going to do this.” She meant the staff at CentraState Healthcare System’s Ambulatory Surgery Center in Freehold, N.J., would successfully...

Staff at Eye 35 ASC in Schertz, Texas, make sure a team member in each department is always available on a walkie-talkie. The devices — used by pre-op and PACU nurses, surgical team members and runners who turn over...

When New Tampa Surgery Center Nurse Manager Beth Hoy, MSN, RNFA, ON-C, CNOR, scrubs cases, she takes meticulous notes on the techniques and preferences of each surgeon. She turns her notes into surgeon- and case-specific...

The dexterity needed to advance the catheter once you’re in the vein when placing an IV line is a fine motor movement that isn’t commonly used, so it takes plenty of practice to develop. To master the technique, hold a pen like...

Looking for a fun way to spice up your next staff meeting or in-service? Gather 10 to 20 needle holders that have at least one thing wrong with them — a cracked box lock, chipped insert, loose ratchet — and throw in a couple...

Visitor restrictions put in place during the pandemic at Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center made it difficult to keep patient escorts updated on the status of their loved ones’ surgeries. To help keep the lines...

Looking for a creative way to consistently reward your staff’s ideas and efforts and reinforce your company’s core values? Consider an initiative like the “Heart, Brain and Courage Awards,” a daily recognition program created by...

Physicians at the endoscopy center at Florida Medical Center in Tampa perform between 75 and 120 cases a day, so the facility is always buzzing. At a recent meeting called to identify daily obstacles and brainstorm...

Hopefully, there’s a robust hand hygiene culture among the staff at your facility. But what about your patients? They might not be as aware of the importance of keeping their hands clean during the course of their care. That’s why...

The National Ambulatory Surgery Center in San Jose, Calif., shares a small campus with other medical offices. Last spring, a man barged into the center’s administrative suite, where Marisa Ynchausti, RN, BSN, was working alone....

Members of perioperative teams must remember complex protocols — and know how to apply them in practice. McDonnell Outpatient Surgery Center at Piedmont Atlanta is part of a health system-wide safety program...

The pandemic has inspired healthcare facilities to invest more resources to support their hardworking providers. ChristianaCare in Newark, Del., was ahead of the trend when in 2016 it developed The Center for Worklife Wellbeing,...

The outpatient surgery department at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in Texas came up with a caring way to support patients who undergo dilation and curettage procedures after sudden miscarriages. The patients...

Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan (OAM) at Midtowne, a freestanding surgery center in Grand Rapids, provided free lunches to joint replacement patients and the person who accompanies them to the facility after launching...

You want to know the likes, dislikes and quirks of every staff member on your team, but it’s not always easy to get to know the person behind the mask. To remedy this issue, one problem-solving director came up with a simple way...

Staff appreciation gestures have been a mainstay of the first year of operations at National Ambulatory Surgery Center in San Jose, Calif. Whether it’s a more formal designation for the Employee of the Quarter...

Last-minute changes to the surgical schedule, surgeon requests or cases that require specialized instrumentation could throw a wrench into how smoothly instruments flow through your facility. Installing a whiteboard in the hall...

Discharge specialists at Vance Thompson Vision in Sioux Falls, S.D., recover patients and help them to their cars when they’re ready to head home. “We decided to prioritize discharge efficiency, which allows for better...

During fire drills — as well as in the event of an actual fire emergency — some facilities place a magnet on the outside of a room that says “Checked” or similar language to confirm that a room has been evacuated. This ensures...