How AI Can Add a Valuable Tool to OR Leaders’ Toolbelts

What Periop Leaders Need to Know about AI

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AI-driven strategies can make the difference to help OR nurse leaders with decision-making, resource allocation, and even regulatory compliance. But knowing where to start with using AI in your daily practice can be a little intimidating … though not for long, says Hank Balch, a sterile processing expert, blogger and social media expert who seeks out tools and technology to help busy periop professionals.

According to Balch, there are two angles to AI technology that OR leaders should be aware of: corporate AI and consumer AI.

While corporate AI is being sold in all kinds of forms today, such as for preference card builders and block time schedulers, Balch sees the real, tangible opportunity for most perioperative leadership today on the consumer AI side of the equation, such as ChatGPT. “This is where you get to make AI do what you need, in the moment, not what some data engineer is trying to sell you,” he says.

Finding Your Best AI Tools

For busy nurses, AI can help you get right to the answer to any question. When seeking more information on something, instead of searching on Google or YouTube, Balch suggests going directly to AI tools to ask your specific question. In fact, the more specific, the better, such as asking:

I'm a periop leader who needs help meeting regulatory requirements in my OR. How can you help?

“Then let the AI join you in conversation from there. It's counterintuitive not to go to a search engine first, I know. But trust me, this is the way forward,” he assures.

Here are three of Balch’s favorite AI tools for periop nurse leaders. He shares how to access each tool and gives examples on how valuable these simple AI tools can be to knock of your to-do list.

1. ChatGPT
   Access at: chat.openai.com
   Cost: Basic version is free; Plus version is $20/month
   
   Balch describes this AI tool as one of the easiest to use because it’s fairly intuitive and can help in-the-moment situations to provide immediate insight.
   
   Example question: I’ve got a new OR nurse starting this week. What are some ways to make her feel welcome.
   
   “Boom, ChatGPT begins the dialog to get you on the right track,” he explains. It offers tangible solutions very specific to OR nursing, such as suggesting how to build a welcome kit with OR essentials like personalized scrub caps, water bottle and a humorous book on nursing life.
   
   Going even deeper into periop nursing needs, you can ask ChatGPT to provide key takeaways from a leadership book you don’t have time to read. For example, Balch asked for two stories or analogies from Atul Gawande’s book The Checklist Manifesto that are relevant to share with a leader’s nursing team. Within seconds, two specifics from the book pop up, each in a very clear, concise, and conversational paragraph.

2. Consensus
   Access at: concensus.app
   Cost: Free for basic version; $8.99/mo. and up for premium versions
   
   This AI research tool searches over 200 million scientific papers that are updated monthly. “Need some context for a new product, process, or update to current practice? Now you can find references in less than 10 seconds,” Balch explains.
   
   For example, ask it: Can you give me the most recent research around optimizing surgical block time for efficiency and safety?
   
   You’ll get a list of recent and relevant references with direct links to explore.

3. Claude
   Access at: claude.ai
   Cost: Free for basic version; $20 per person/per month for Pro; $30 per person/per month for a team as few as 5
   
   With the ability to apply advanced reasoning, and visual analysis, Claude is a great tool to bring your favorite OR productivity spreadsheet, large industry PDF report, or whitepapers to open up for deep analysis at a click of the mouse, Balch says. “Claude allows you to ask questions of your documents in a way that opens up tremendous value for busy periop leaders.”
   
   Some questions a periop nurse leader might ask it after uploading their data …
   • What are my data outliers?
   • Are any of these columns trending?
   • How does this whitepaper apply in the ASC setting?

Ready to Learn More?

Register for AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo Virtual Pass for access to 70 education sessions including this session on Pioneering Perioperative Leadership: Artificial Intelligence Tools for the OR Leader from the recent Leadership Summit.

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