Stars, stripes and surgery
ASCs see surge in business surrounding holidays
By Matt Gunn
News Editor/Writer
ASCs see surge in business surrounding holidays
By Matt Gunn
News Editor/Writer
Holiday weekends such as Labor Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are a great opportunity to have a barbecue, take in a fireworks display or simply to relax with friends and family. But beyond the traditional holiday celebrations, many see another opportunity: a chance to recover from surgical procedures.
The days surrounding a national holiday can represent some of the busiest of the year for ambulatory surgery centers, where many elective procedures give patients the ability to recover at home. The surge in business can keep managers and directors of nursing on their toes as they work to ensure appropriate numbers of staff are on hand.
"Typically what happens with us is that my full-time staff will be here, and I will bring in my PRN (Pro re nata, or as needed) staff for additional backup," said Melody Heatherley, PhD, RN, CNOR, CASC, CLSO/M, director of nursing at North Texas Surgery Center in Dallas.
Heatherley's multi-specialty facility has four operating rooms and one treatment room for GI procedures.
During normal operations, North Texas Surgery Center will have all of its ORs open, staffing four RNs, a charge nurse and technicians for each room. For preop, the facility staffs two nurses and a medical assistant, and the recovery side staff includes three to four nurses, depending on the type of patients they are working with.
An approaching holiday signals the need to bring in additional staff. North Texas Surgery Center saw an increase in patients the week before the July Fourth break.
"We're busier this week than next week," Heatherley said June 27. "One reason is a lot of people are taking off the whole (Fourth of July) week."
Karen Reiter, RN, CNOR, RNFA, chief operating officer of D.I.S.C., a spine and sports center in Marina del Rey, Calif., said her facility experiences the same issues with patient load before holidays. She added that the end of the year is also a particularly busy time, with many patients scheduling procedures under short notice.
"I think the population as a whole doesn't like to take time off work to recover so they use the long holidays," Reiter said. "The end of the year thing is often because people have used up their deductible so they want it all done."
Last year the staff at D.I.S.C. planned to take Dec. 24 and 25 off. Because so many people wanted Christmas Eve surgeries, Reiter's staff elected to work Dec. 24 and change their days off to Dec. 25 and 26.
Similarly, Heatherley said that fewer patients scheduled procedures the day immediately after a holiday, with business returning to normal shortly thereafter. She added that, around holidays, the extra staffing was something she could plan for.
"The main thing with holiday scheduling is that we want to look at it and be fair," Heatherley said.
Holiday time off for staff at North Texas Medical Center is based on a couple factors: the physician's schedule, and a basic rotation. If the physician has a vacation scheduled, the center staffs itself accordingly. Additional days off for nurses around a holiday is based on a rotating list, to give each staff member the option based on how long it's been since their last holiday.
"Most of the time we're able to cover it ourselves," Heatherley said, adding that she and her administrator are available to fill in where needed.
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