Finding your voice as a new nurse in the operating room can be terrifying. It’s challenging to navigate all the different personalities, and it’s not something nursing...

Every time I talk with a surgical leader about their past survey experiences, I’m instantly transported back to the dinner table of my childhood home where my parents, both...

When we approached Santa Cruz (Calif.) Surgery Center CEO/Administrator Lisa Cooper about a video the ASC produced and posted on LinkedIn about postoperative pain...

Cord management is a recurring problem for many nurses when they bring patients into the OR. Sometimes the best solutions for these types of nagging issues come...

One weekend each month, all the rooms at Knoxville (Tenn.) Orthopaedic Center are treated with liquid and vaporized isopropyl alcohol, a protocol that serves as an...

Ann M. Cook, BHA, RN, CASC, is director of nursing at The Center for Surgical Care in Florence, Ky., which opened way back in 1988. Even though her center is 37 years old...

As ASC administrators, we feel the heaviness of the many hats we wear. Many of us take on multiple crucial roles within our surgery centers – many of which staff, surgeons...

Missing instruments. Wrong instruments. Contaminated instruments. Each creates a losing proposition for surgery, from costly delays to frustrated OR staff and surgeons to...

The person at ASCs charged with overseeing practices to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs) usually has another role (or three), so it’s crucial for centers to count on the latest...

Have you checked on the quality of the water that’s coming into and moving around your facility, particularly the water that your sterile processing department (SPD) uses...

Achieving optimal and timely recoveries for total joints patients isn’t easy....

Even though outpatient shoulder replacements were approved years after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave total knees and hips the nod, it’s still a...

Michelle King, MT(ASCP), MPH, CIC, LTC-CIP, underwent a major surgical event after the birth of her second child....

Ambulatory surgery centers face intense scrutiny each year as they endure rigorous inspections to ensure they are providing top-tier patient care and safety....

Perioperative teams keep patient and staff safety top of mind at all times, even during days with high volumes of cases that could pose distractions to providing safe care...

For decades, patients heading into joint replacement surgery have heard their procedure should be a simple, no-frills affair, only to experience a much different...

Most patients know to expect some pain following surgery, as their own common sense tells them that an operation will hurt....

The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? Michael Jordan or LeBron James? Spinal or general anesthesia? Each of these comparisons can spur heated debate....

During our latest annual salary survey, we added a question about the ongoing anesthesia staffing and payment crisis at ASCs, and it’s clearly on the minds...

Are you feeling overwhelmed, overworked and facing a never-ending to-do list? When was the last time you participated in discussions that include best practice solutions...