My role embodies all things safety. I’m responsible for promoting safe behaviors, raising awareness about potential hazards, encouraging reporting, auditing...

Behind every needlestick or sharps injury is a story of how it came to happen. Understanding this story, through reporting and auditing of the incident...

The sterile processing department (SPD) is the heartbeat of any healthcare facility, and its ability to safely handle and sanitize instruments is key to keeping patients safe...

Achieving smoke-free ORs in the procedural setting at PIH Health Downey (Calif.) Hospital was one of the hardest practice challenges I’ve led...

For healthcare providers, the shared primary goal is clear: Keeping their patients and their team members safe and free from harm....

Establishing and maintaining a healthy work environment (HWE) is vital for the well-being of healthcare professionals and the delivery of quality patient care....

An acronym is a great way to remember something important. It can also make the process of speaking up when you are concerned about a potential safety issue...

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Division of Education Surgical Ergonomics Committee was created to address the ergonomic challenges surgeons often...

From meticulous surface disinfection policies to rigorous skin prepping protocols, surgical leaders have their hands full when it comes to making sure their facilities’...

When Benjamin M. Mauck, MD, was fatally gunned down in a Collierville, Tenn., exam room in July, allegedly by a troubled patient, the Memphis-area community lost...

There’s a significant problem in many operating rooms across the United States: Electrosurgical devices can cause significant patient burns and life-threatening fires...

At the beginning of 2021, only two U.S. states had enacted legislation mandating the use of smoke evacuation systems in every OR for every smoke-producing procedure....

Today’s anesthesia machines are a whir of respiration readings, gas flow displays and inspired oxygen feedback, but the high-tech bells and electronic whistles are more...

Most surgical nurses are aware of the harmful effects of toxic fumes caused by surgical smoke, but few know when and how to lead a smoke-free movement...

Waste management is a crucial part of any high-volume GI practice. Your staff deserves a system that is safe, efficient, portable and one-hundred percent...

Being aware of the high-risk tasks — the kind that people typically end up sustaining injuries from — is the first step in developing a culture of safety...

Patient and staff safety are obvious core values of every surgical organization. Yet problems in this realm are ever-present, and less-than-stellar...

Like many healthcare professionals, Cheryl O’Malley, MD, associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Arizona College of Medicine...

Nurse fatigue is a real and present problem in the healthcare environment. Recently, ECRI, a global, independent authority on healthcare technology...

The modern X-ray is a story of progress, transitioning from film to the digital era alongside many other modern technologies....