Courses by Topic

Review the basic principles of wound healing, the types of wound drains and drainage systems available, and wound drain system maintenance. You'll learn about standards of care and recommended practices for wound care to aid in infection prevention and positive patient outcomes.

Nurses and infection preventionists are balancing staff and patient safety, prevention of hospital-acquired infections, and the ever-changing regulatory environment. This program focuses on isolation gowns because they are a critical element of PPE, in that they prevent staff and patient exposure to infectious diseases and improve patient outcomes.

This educational activity reviews the clinical team members roles related to fluid management, clinical considerations for use of fluid management, proper patient positioning, possible complications associated with fluid management, safety considerations and recognized (AORN, AAGL) standards of care.

Gloves are a common medical device used as barrier protection in the medical field. This continuing education discusses how latex surgical gloves are being replaced with synthetic alternatives to create latex-safe environments.

Kidney function is an essential vital sign for hospitalized patients. Identifying the first signs of acute kidney injury can help protect patients from advanced stages of kidney injury that can lead to the development of chronic kidney disease. Nurses and other frontline care providers can benefit from understanding the correct approach to tracking the renal health of their patients, including through accurate measurement of urinary output. They can also benefit from being familiar with technologies available to automate urinary output monitoring. Additionally, it is beneficial to understand which patients are at high risk for acute kidney injury so nurses and other members of the patient’s care team can collaborate to understand a patient’s renal function and act swiftly when this function changes to prevent long-term complications.

All patients and members of the perioperative team deserve to be protected from the byproducts of surgical smoke and the potential complications that can follow. The decision about whether to evacuate surgical smoke is often left up to the surgeon’s discretion. But consistently using smoke evacuation equipment in the perioperative environment creates a safer environment for all.

Electrosurgery may be hazardous, so it is important that clinicians understand how electricity behaves and relates to electrosurgical function and applications can contribute to its safe use. Knowledge of the intraoperative and postoperative medical and nursing considerations and interventions can impact positive patient outcomes.

Review the problem of retained surgical items (RSI), including their economic and clinical implications. Assessing human factors, creating a safety, quality culture and how you, as a leader, can help reduce adverse events such as RSIs is also discussed. Strategies to reduce the incidence of RSIs and promote positive patient outcomes, including the role of adjunct technology, are outlined.

Early mobilization is a key component for optimizing patient outcomes in the ICU. A standardized progressive mobility protocol provides an outline to develop and implement evidence-based interventions that will improve patient mobilization safely and effectively.

This ebook has been designed to assist perioperative professionals deliver safe and effective patient care when smoke evacuation is used during operative and invasive procedures. The topics presented include: what we know about surgical smoke; the best defenses against surgical smoke; recommended United States (US) practices, guidelines, standards and regulations as well as international recommendations/guidelines on surgical smoke; and suggested steps for implementing a smoke evacuation program.

This ebook discusses foreign debris-initiated post-surgical complications and their associated pathological mechanisms. It reviews the sources of debris contamination, including a description of foreign microbody characteristics that can further amplify pathological responses. Strategies to determine the presence of lint in the OR and recommendations for minimizing their presence are highlighted.

Learn about updated guidance for the prevention of the transmission of CRE (arbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae) and related superbugs during gastrointestinal endoscopy and new standards of practice regarding infection prevention and control in the GI endoscopic setting.

Patients can experience urinary and/or fecal incontinence for a number of reasons that can require short-term or long-term care. A focus on collaborative, evidence-based and patient-centered care is necessary to support patients in achieving the best outcomes. In this process, physicians, advanced care practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals need to be skilled in identifying skin integrity and any skin breakdown conditions to address. They also need to be knowledgeable in evaluating appropriate incontinence management strategies and recognizing complications a patient may be experiencing or at risk of developing. Taking a collaborative and strategic approach to managing a patient’s incontinence, including their emotional needs and preferences is important to help them maintain dignity and ideally resolve incontinence.

Review the process of normal wound healing, as well as the consequences of delayed healing, and the techniques and products used to promote successful healing. The pathogenesis and consequences of adhesion formation are also explained in this course, followed by a discussion of the methods used to prevent adhesions.

Des cas de brûlures accidentelles ont été documentés. De plus, des rapports de brûlures résultant d’une exposition prolongée à l’éclairage chirurgical traditionnel, en particulier avant l’adoption de la technologie des diodes électroluminescentes (DEL). Cette activité éducative permettra de cerner les risques associés aux éclairages opératoires pour les patients et les stratégies visant à améliorer la sécurité des patients.

Explore different types of ostomies and the components used for pouching systems. You'll learn about the role of the interprofessional team while emphasizing best practices for ostomy management.

This learning activity will focus on hypertension, the importance of accurate and standardized blood pressure measurement with proper patient positioning and best practice integration of blood pressure measurement in the clinical setting.

This continuing education activity will address the role of environmental contamination in the transmission of HAIs, describe the latest research on environmental hygiene in the operating room (OR), and list the monitoring methods available to objectively evaluate environmental hygiene. Process improvement methods and new technologies such as self-disinfecting surfaces and “no touch” area cleaners utilizing ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and hydrogen peroxide vapor will be described.

This educational program will explain the importance of meticulous surgical instrument handling beginning at the point of use to mitigate contamination and preserve instrument integrity.

This continuing education activity will provide a historical review of the evolution of the use of surgical gloves as a protective barrier. The impact of occupational exposure on healthcare workers will be presented. The implications of double gloving in the surgical practice setting will be discussed, including approaches to implement a change in practice and the identification of perceived barriers.