There were boxes of suture hiding everywhere at AdventHealth Surgery Center Lenexa (Kan.), some opened and some outdated, some stored on the big suture cart...

The winner of this year's OR Excellence Award for Patient Satisfaction goes to great lengths to get patients to fill out their post-op surveys and even greater lengths to...

We've shaved some precious minutes off our turnover times by creating a "runner" position to help the RN, surgical tech and the 1 to 2 instrument techs we staff for each...

When I'm Queen of the World, new-job orientation will be department-specific. I don't know a thing about ICU or ER, nor do I need to, yet I just endured an incredibly,,,

If your surgeons have too few or too many of the instruments and supplies they need for a case, your preference cards are inaccurate and outdated. It's too few if your...

Last fall, Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla., made a big push to improve point-of-use instrument cleaning by posting a new regimen for staff to follow...

Surgeons come in all shapes, sizes and sexes with individual ergonomic needs. Those instruments designed for the burly 6-foot-6 surgeon who played middle linebacker...

The surgeon had signed the patient's left side and was about to begin surgery, but something didn't feel right to the medical student in the room. "Can we check...

We've all seen patients with post-op delirium. They're disoriented and confused immediately after surgery. They have trouble focusing and are unable to participate...

What type of immune response does your surgical mesh elicit in patients? That's a question you and your surgeons should ask, says Stephen F. Badylak, DVM, MD,...

It costs the Graystone Eye Surgery Center in Hickory, N.C., $1.05 to warm a patient. A loaner linen service charges $1 to clean a blanket, and the cost of using the...

This interactive vending machine houses, tracks and dispenses Xenco Medical’s sterile-packaged spinal instruments and implants. The Wi-Fi-enabled machine uses an advanced...

First, a disclaimer on emerging alternative wound-closure devices: There is nothing superior to the traditional suture in terms of approximating wound edges. On this, plastic...

It sounds almost too good to be true: a credit card without interest for medical expenses. But if you're losing out on potential patients who can't afford skyrocketing...

We hang an image of the American flag on the OR door to alert the surgical team that the patient is a combat veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder...

It’s one thing to log and track laboratory specimens and post their results in the patient’s chart. But that doesn’t confirm that the ordering healthcare provider read...

My orthopedic patients are often groggy from the effects of anesthesia when I meet with them minutes after surgery to let them know how the procedure went and what...

Children at Roxana Cannon Arsht Surgicenter in Wilmington, Del., were so stressed saying goodbye to their parents before heading to the operating room for dental...

Certain procedures cause anxiety for patients. That’s especially true at my facility, where we’re treating children. When we received a $13,000 grant for 3 virtual reality...

When Outpatient Surgery Magazine invited me to walk the exhibit hall at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Annual Meeting in San Diego,...