Our facility's break room is very small, so we've posted a sign that says only six employees at a time can gather there during the pandemic. Numerous staff members are on break at once, though, so we spaced chairs...

Reprocessing techs in our hospital who prepare instrument sets for sterilization use a seven-point checklist to ensure trays have been properly assembled. The checklist helps techs ensure instrument sets are loaded properly,...

Late last month, my cellphone buzzed with a text from my mom. She had sent a picture of her "I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and said my dad got his, too. I was working on deadline, but paused, surprised by...

In the past tumultuous year as the pandemic raged across the country, outpatient facilities have been the subject of a renewed focus within the healthcare community...

If you want to roll out a patient warming protocol that requires your facility to invest time, resources money — and, of course, a change to the status quo — you need to give leadership a compelling reason why...

Now's this for stressful? A surveyor from one of the main accrediting agencies knocked on our surgery center's door early one morning in October 2019. The surprise visit...

The two-inch red circle on the patient's sacrum was unmistakable. A PACU nurse noticed the deep tissue injury during a post-op assessment and called over to pre-op to see if one of her colleagues had documented...

Test your knowledge of current best practices with this informative exam.

We have a multi-step protocol to complete for each knee, hip and shoulder replacement patient before the day of surgery. This protocol includes making pre-op calls to conduct a health assessment, an in-person visit...

What prompted you to go architecture school after medical school? I double-majored in biology and art history, with a fine arts minor, so I've always had an interest in architecture. I just assumed...

"If you build it, they will come." That famous statement about building baseball fields in Iowa also applies to constructing new spine centers. With recent technological advances,...

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the entire country, altered our daily lives and brought once-thriving industries to their knees. And yet, our ASC has increased case volume by...

Hetland ENT was overwhelmed by its volume of phone calls to and from patients each day. The Bismarck, N.D., surgery center tried an online patient portal, but only a small...

High-tech cleaning devices such as UV lights and hydrogen peroxide misting machines aren't new to surgery. Facilities have used these products for years. But the effects of...

To say the pandemic has been a struggle for outpatient surgery professionals is a massive understatement. Now that facilities are back up to speed after last year's...

COVID-19 has all healthcare workers on edge — especially those involved in airway management. The coronavirus is found in sputum and upper airway secretions,...

How did you become a social media sensation? I was friends with Dr. Elvis Francois (aka, the "Singing Surgeon") when we were residents at the Mayo Clinic. He knew I played piano;...

Random. My 28-year-old daughter, Dani, called to say she'd lost her sense of taste and smell. She's a pediatric occupational therapist in South Carolina. Her colleague has the same symptoms and tested positive...

With critical shortages of personal protective equipment during the pandemic and a manufacturing industry that can't keep up with the staggering demand from healthcare...

Surgical facilities across the country are ramping case volumes back up to pre-pandemic levels even as the coronavirus rages through communities still recovering from...