Accreditation is much more than a simple stamp of approval. It’s evidence your facility has met meticulous, nationally recognized standards of quality, patient care and safety....

There’s nothing easy about cleaning flexible endoscopes. They’re fragile and expensive and one can argue the margin for reprocessing them safely is...

Virtually every article, webinar or how-to guide on flexible endoscope reprocessing includes some version of this advice: Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s Instructions For Use (IFU)....

Successful wound care is about staying true to the basics. Not every surgical wound will need an antimicrobial dressing or wound vac. But paying special attention to closing every surgical site properly...

Jesse Hixson, MSN, RN, CNOR, administrator for the Monroeville (Pa.) Surgery Center, expected orthopedic and cataract surgeons to be extremely discerning and opinionated about the surgical gloves they used....

Infection prevention procedures have always been a key focus during on-site inspections, and their importance has only intensified since the pandemic began in 2020. Here’s what surveyors will be looking for...

Flexible endoscope care is a complex, multilayered process rife with opportunities for errors and missed steps....

My hospital’s sterile processing department is responsible for turning around 1,500 instrument trays a day, and we take every measure possible to ensure...

With the surge in joint replacements and other orthopedic surgeries moving to ambulatory care, ASCs also face a higher risk for surgical site infections (SSIs)....

The $1.7 trillion federal spending package passed by the lame-duck Congress last month includes a 2% reduction in physicians’ pay for Medicare cases, which experts in the same-day surgical industry say will have multiple immediate negative...

From the time a patient schedules their surgery at your facility to the time they leave the PACU to head home, they’re quietly grading your every move....

There’s plenty of compelling big-picture data out there to support the need for meticulous and consistent point-of-use instrument care. A 2020 study in BMJ Quality & Safety is a great example....

The short- and long-term impact of COVID-19 will surely include a radical change in how surface disinfection is practiced and enforced. "All of my surgical facilities are asking...

Understanding the Dangers of Perioperative Hypothermia; The preventable condition increases risks of post-op infection, serious complications and longer recovery times.

Test your staff’s knowledge on instrument cleaning, sharps safety, wound care and other ways to keep patients and staff safe.

Avoiding dangerous and preventable sharps injuries often comes down to debunking the common myths about these issues. Setting the record straight allows facilities to put proven processes and protocols in place....

Keeping fluid off the floors of ORs is obviously a critical safety issue. Staff injuries from slips, trips and falls are among the top culprits causing lost workdays that often result...

Not long after we opened the doors to our small outpatient center in 2004, we experienced our first sharps injury. That was just the wake-up call we needed to ensure the event was a one-off mistake and not an unfortunate...

Monkeypox continues to pose a threat since an outbreak of cases began in the U.S. earlier this year. As of Sept. 29, the CDC reported 26,631 confirmed cases...

Our endoscopy center opened in December 2019, a few months before COVID-19 hit. My head was spinning not only from trying to run a brand new facility, but from rapidly changing infection prevention protocols...