When it comes to retained surgical items (RSI), you shouldn't assume anything, you should prove it. And if you don't see it, you should find it. Working in surgery,...

Cleaning dirty endoscopes is a high priority, but the equally critical process of getting dirty scopes safely to the cleaning area — and keeping them clean on the way back...

It's no secret that a stapler failure can quickly turn a routine procedure into an emergency. What's surprising is the alarming number of times staplers have misfired...

Yes, accreditation surveys are all but guaranteed to cause you some degree of stress. But a sense of overwhelming dread shouldn't accompany a surveyor's visit to...

If you don't ask your patients if they smoke weed, you might want to start. As more states legalize both medicinal (33 states and D.C.) and recreational (10 states and D.C.)...

The Laser Spine Institute's final day started like many others. Prospective patients called in from as far as the coast of Africa for consultations. Families flew in from Canada...

Halyard designed this one-size-fits-most cap with the latest surgical attire recommendations from AORN in mind: Headwear should completely confine hair...

To stay on top of your daily demands, host a daily morning huddle to get your team leaders on the same page. It’s a small change, but one that can help you manage...

It's easy to lose sight of how vulnerable your patients are when they're laid out on the operating room table, sedated, anesthetized, cold and exposed, precious little...

In OR years, I’m officially old. I’m that nurse who thinks that if it’s not broken, keep it so I don’t have to learn how to use new stuff. And I’m that nurse who’s suddenly surrounded...

Of the safety measures surgeons tend to turn their masks up at, double gloving ranks up there with safety sharps and smoke evacuation. But surgeons have loosened...

If your patient drinks all her prep the night before her colonoscopy screening, her colon will be fully cleaned out when she goes to bed. But the digestive system never sleeps....

Soon after a total joint or a colon resection patient settles into his pre-op room at Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Boardman (Ohio) Hospital, he's greeted by a nurse holding a box...

We've always known about the hidden bacterial threat in your OR's anesthesia work area, the microbes lingering on the anesthesia machine and the pathogens...

Ever take a close look at your trash? When we did, we found we were needlessly throwing away sponges and supplies. • Sponges. Only sponges that are grossly saturated in blood...

When you rewrite your policy on reducing pressure injuries, you then need to get the right pressure redistributing devices to implement the policy. We invited vendors...

Despite what anyone claims, nobody is a born leader. Sure, some people are born with certain skills — communication, showmanship, empathy, charisma...

My day begins at 5:45 a.m. sharp when I walk from pre-op to PACU to check on everything from medical gases to medications. Here’s the mental checklist I complete...

Sometimes overlooked in the world of surgery, particularly in the faster pace and turnover of the outpatient setting, is the need to prepare patients' bodies for...

In 2006, an outbreak of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) caused shockwaves in the ophthalmology community. Task forces were formed, studies were undertaken,...