Monthly one-on-one talks with each of my staff members gives them the chance to speak about any issues they have and talk openly about whatever subject they choose to discuss. The meetings are brief check-ins...

You can use ultrasound to identify landmarks and assist in the placement of an epidural, but it does not guarantee the catheter will end up in the epidural space. That's why loss-of-resistance training for the gold standard...

To keep your entire staff abreast of the ever-changing guidelines and directives related to COVID-19, make sure the latest information is easily accessible to everyone. When the coronavirus started spreading quickly,...

If you want to reduce foot traffic in operating rooms — traffic that can lead to increased surgical site infections, distractions, airflow disturbances and decreased efficiency — slide a Do Not Enter sign in laminated holders...

You're on mute." Yeah, I'm that guy on Microsoft Teams. You'd think that after nine months of remote meetings I'd remember to toggle on my mic when it's my turn to speak....

To help our surgeons find their patients quickly and easily in recovery, we hung a series of color-coded flags on the wall outside each bay. The series of flags are screwed into the wall, allowing us to flip one out as needed....

Leadership at our facility believes in hiring the best people possible — then letting them do their jobs. To make this happen, we don't employ traditional pecking orders or a typical hierarchical structure. Medical reps talk...

About seven years ago, we decided to transform some of our staff and patient spaces into "Zen dens" — areas that inspire calm and mindfulness. One of our nurses, Darlene Faust, RN, happened to have hidden...

Portable handheld ultrasound probes that attach to smartphones are one of many tools that make practicing regional anesthesia an easier task, but the probe and the smartphone often gets dirty while in use....

In order to connect with patients and give them an experience that is second to none, we follow a process called FORD (family, occupation, recreation and dreams). It all begins with a staff member's first meeting or phone call...

We’ve developed a sign system to alert staff and physicians about a patient’s risk factors such as allergies, falls, insulin dependence and skin tears. The signs are printed with large, upper-case lettering, laminated and clipped...

The PowerPoint deck displayed on one of the flat screen monitors in our lobby runs on a loop and includes answers to commonly asked patient questions and bios of staff and surgeons. The bios include traditional...

We invite patients and staff to recognize members of the team who demonstrate one of our medical center's core values — respect, teamwork, service, honesty — by submitting a card describing the good deed...

Love the efficiency of your facility's single-cup coffeemaker but hate the waste generated by all those leftover cups? Purchase a coffee pod recycling tool that allows you to easily separate the grounds from the recyclable pod...

Here's a fun and effective way to make sure your facility's written policies are followed. First, create a series of cards that each contain a policy your staff needs to know,...

Do you ever notice how your fresh stock of facility-logoed pens always seem to disappear? If you don't want to lecture staff about "stealing" your dwindling supplies,...

Patients often sit nervously in the reception area as they wait to hear their name loudly called when it's time to get prepped for surgery. To take some of the stress out of...

You might use covert monitoring methods and punitive punishments to improve your staff's compliance with hand hygiene protocols, but I believe in overt observations...

Patients are informed before and after surgery about the amount of post-op pain they're likely to experience. To complement those important discussions, we created...

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, one of the first things we noticed was the negative shift in everyone's moods. We're both very upbeat people, so we brainstormed...