January 2022

Your Plates Are Full; Outpatient surgery leaders are paid well, but some wonder if their salaries meet the level of the expanding responsibilities they’re managing during the ongoing pandemic.

Patients who experience numbness and pain in their hands — the telltale symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome — can opt to have the condition treated with open surgery...

Virginia Alan knew she needed a total hip replacement before traveling to Paris with her husband to celebrate their wedding anniversary. She also assumed the procedure...

The pandemic has highlighted the important work performed by surgical professionals and infection preventionists in surgery centers across the country as concerns...

Virtual reality (VR) combines immersive, scalable technology with engaging and affordable education platforms to provide what many experts believe will become...

There are plenty of reasons more surgeons are turning to non-traditional ways to improve their wound-closure techniques and improve the overall healing process....

Sometimes all it takes to put younger patients at ease before surgery is a friend — a furry one they can squeeze to death in the OR and take home with them after the procedure is over. That’s the idea behind...

Days fill up fast when you’re managing a busy surgical facility, and it’s often difficult to remember — or find the time — to get out from behind your desk to connect with staff, see how they’re doing and answer questions they have...

Supply chain issues during the pandemic caused deliveries of Diet Coke, Mountain Dew and other sodas to be delayed at Vance Thompson Vision in Sioux Falls, S.D. When the soda deliveries went away in 2020, the facility’s leadership...

Staff at Einstein Endoscopy Center in Blue Bell, Pa., used to receive annual ergonomics training based on a standardized program designed by experts who work for the large health system that owns the facility. The instruction...

Forcing loved ones to sit in their vehicles in the parking lot as part of COVID-19 restrictions made The Toledo (Ohio) Clinic Outpatient Surgery Center’s job of providing the best possible patient experience more difficult...

When Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., wanted to step up its sustainability efforts, placing more recycling bins around the facility was a great start. But too many staff were still uncertain about what should be recycled...

The start of a new year is a natural time to take stock of what’s going on in your life and decide if you need to change things up. Resolutions are fun to read about and easy fodder for social media, but the “new year, new me...”

Surgical facilities across the country are in a holding pattern as court injunctions have temporarily blocked federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates for about half of the...

You’re probably aware that AORN’s evidence-based surgical attire guideline promotes cleanliness in the surgical space to protect patients and personnel from transmission...

The symptoms are easy to notice. Sleep and appetite disturbances. Feeling anxious, on edge, stressed out, confused. Difficulty concentrating, guilt, shame, anger,...

Stretcher chairs enable patients to remain on one surface from pre-op through a procedure and all the way to PACU. They eliminate the need for staff to laterally transfer...

Great ideas for your OR

It’s hard to believe another year is in the books. New Year’s wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory and overly ambitious list of resolutions we can’t possibly achieve....