On January 19, 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic, the UT Health Austin Ambulatory Surgery Center officially opened its doors...

Gone are the days of needing to use nothing but landmarks and intuition for an anesthesia provider to place a needle near a nerve before injecting...

Whenever I get up in the morning before a long shift, I need to check the weather forecast....

The people working in an Ambulatory Surgery Center are incredibly valuable, and it is crucial to have structured, consistent practices for recruiting...

When my six-year-old son returned from a day of treasure hunting in “the dungeon” — my mom’s long-neglected basement — he was wearing a mischievous grin...

To reduce hospital-acquired infections among surgery patients, don’t let your fingernails grow beyond your fingertips and understand that, in many cases, less handwashing...

The benefits of pet therapy have been well-established, from stress reduction to reduced loneliness and enhanced social interactions....

If you’re looking to improve the effectiveness of your training, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, consider borrowing some ideas from...

Ultimately, your leadership role often requires you to make tough decisions and, at times, even fast ones in response to situational changes....

Ensuring patients leave an ASC safely is key to their recovery. Operating on this foundational principle, WellSpan Apple Hill Surgical Center in York, Pa....

Your OR may seem spotless and sterile, but tiny airborne particles could still be lingering in the air, potentially causing post-op surgical site infections (SSIs)....

Success in the rapidly growing endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) space often comes down to striking a delicate balance between two sometimes disparate factors...

Skin antisepsis practices that destroy microorganisms and inhibit the microbial load on your patients’ skin should be the cornerstone of every surgical procedure...

The day before I spoke with Peter Kim, MD, an orthopedic hand surgery specialist in the Boston area, he performed a unilateral endoscopic carpal tunnel release on a friend and colleague...

Patient and staff safety are obvious core values of every surgical organization. Yet problems in this realm are ever-present, and less-than-stellar...

Just because you lead a team doesn’t mean you should unilaterally produce immediate solutions to problems your staff may encounter....

How do well-meaning sterile processing professionals make sense of and track the myriad complex steps in a typical endoscope manufacturer’s IFUs?

Burnout has always been part of the healthcare profession, but today it has reached new heights across every level and type of provider....

Warming every patient no matter the duration of the surgery is the best course of action for facilities, says J.D. Buchert, MSN, M.Ed., MS, RN, workforce safety manager...

Most surgical cases were done open or laparoscopically back then. No emergent, complex or urgent case was performed in a minimally invasive fashion....