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Help Is on the Way
Megan Muñoz is finishing up nursing school at Chamberlain University outside of Chicago. She just completed her clinical rotation and will graduate with her BSN in September. Unlike many nursing students, however, Ms. Muñoz is ready to...
Ideas That Work: Staff Appreciation Is a Year-Round Thing
Celebrating National Nurses Month in May highlighted the importance of showing staff how much they’re respected and how much their hard work is appreciated. Ownership at Florida Medical Clinic came up with several ways...
Ideas That Work: Call Out Poor Positioning in Real Time
Proper ergonomics in the OR is about much more than surgeon and staff comfort. It’s about preventing the types of strain-related injuries that lead to lost work time and poor surgical outcomes. That’s why it’s crucial to...
Ideas That Work: A Moment of Hand Hygiene Mindfulness
At the onset of the pandemic, people were memorably advised to sing “Happy Birthday” to themselves to ensure they washed their hands long enough to fully disinfect them. At Dayton (Ohio) Eye Surgery Center, where hand hygiene...
Staffing: Conquering the Change Conundrum
You likely have a natural skill for spotting areas of needed improvement and identifying the changes your facility needs to make. Of course, identifying those areas...
Getting Into Going Green
Do no harm guides the culture of safe patient care. At The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., the mantra also extends to protecting the environment. As part of a commitment...
The Keys to Pressure Injury Prevention
Making sure patients are positioned for surgery with safety in mind is a critical part of any procedure. Issues with positioning can make a straightforward surgery...
Safety: Focus on the Fundamentals
I have been a surgical nurse for more than 30 years and a patient numerous times. I’m fully aware, from both sides of the table, of the importance of safe surgical care. There are numerous factors that go into protecting...
Ideas That Work: A Colorful Way to Celebrate New Arrivals
When Melissa Arnold, MD, was on maternity leave from Saltzer Health’s North Nampa clinic in Idaho, her colleagues wanted to do something special (and different) to welcome her back. “She had a girl, so we dyed...
Ideas That Work: Let a Gratitude Tree Take Root
David Taylor III, MSN, RN, CNOR, a healthcare executive consultant with the Resolute Advisory Group, worked with staff at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in San Francisco to design a Gratitude Tree wall mural....
Keep Your OR Free of Slipping and Tripping Hazards
It’s common to back-burner an issue that you know needs addressing when a repeat occurrence has not happened for a while. But after a handful of slips, trips and falls incidents last year at our busy community hospital,...
The Gold Standard of Smoke-Free Surgery
The Gold Standard of Smoke-Free Surgery; When a nurse had an asthma attack following a plume-generating surgery, our perioperative team sprang into action.
Hand Hygiene Enforcement Done Right
Every time Lauren Bryan, RN, notices an OR team member following her facility’s robust hand hygiene protocols, she makes it a point to verbally acknowledge the compliance she just witnessed. It’s positive recognition, sure....
Surface Disinfection Done Right
Most surgical professionals are relatively knowledgeable about the best surface cleaning practices, and tried-and-true manual methods remain the best way to...
Ideas That Work: Warning: Fast-Track Admission in Progress
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Surgery Center Fremont (Calif.) has devised an effective solution for addressing situations when surgeons are a bit too eager to get to the next case. At the center, patients are asked to arrive earlier...
Ideas That Work: Create a Wall of Inspiration
During the first wave of the pandemic, a colleague of Rebecca Norton, RN, said, “We’re going to do this.” She meant the staff at CentraState Healthcare System’s Ambulatory Surgery Center in Freehold, N.J., would successfully...
Ideas That Work: Reward Staff With Hand Hygiene Trinkets
A little recognition and positive reinforcement go a long way. At UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, Colo., dedicated auditors reward staff who follow the facility’s hand hygiene protocols with a small bottle...
Staffing: Act Now to Stave Off Staffing Shortages
The extraordinary measures nurses took to combat COVID-19 has taken their toll on the profession and continue to worsen the ongoing crisis for the nursing workforce....
Ideas That Work: A Better Way to Communicate? Roger That!
Staff at Eye 35 ASC in Schertz, Texas, make sure a team member in each department is always available on a walkie-talkie. The devices — used by pre-op and PACU nurses, surgical team members and runners who turn over...
Your Sharps Injury Prevention Playbook
If you doubt the contention that it can take years — or even decades — for evidence to trickle into clinical practice, look no further than the lack of progress in implementing...