Courses by Topic

Fires in the operating room can occur in a patient’s airway, face, body surface, surgical wound, and perineal area – potentially resulting in severe pain, disfigurement and, in some cases, death. The purpose of this educational program is to review the components of the fire triangle and to describe measures to prevent operating room fires. Actions to take if a fire occurs as well as considerations for a fire safety plan will also be discussed.

While the hazards of exposure to surgical smoke in the operating room are well documented, barriers to consistent use of smoke evacuation technologies exist. This course features Dr. Lisa Hunsicker, a surgeon champion for surgical smoke evacuation, who discusses her role in advocating for smoke-free ORs in her facility and in the legislature.

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.

The operating room has traditionally been one of the highest revenue generators for healthcare organizations. This continuing education activity will provide the perioperative nurse with information on ways to improve inventory management in the operating room. It will review the challenges and opportunities associated with effective supply management, and provide specific strategies on product standardization, inventory management and reduction, reduction of waste, data analysis, and improved physician preference card management.

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.

As more elective procedures are shifting to ambulatory surgery and endoscopy centers, these facilities are tasked with reprocessing an increasing volume of reusable medical devices, while adhering to the same regulations and standards as larger healthcare facilities. This program discusses how to meet these challenges and ensure devices are properly cleaned and disinfected.

This education activity reviews clinical considerations related to skin closure methods that can help meet the goal of infection risk reduction. The types of available skin closures will be presented, as well as how they can be differentiated from each other. Clinical outcomes for patients using different types of skin closures will be presented and compared.

This continuing education activity will provide an overview of how AORNs Guidelines are updated, insight into proposed changes to the guideline, and how perioperative professionals can provide feedback on the proposed changes.

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.

As Healthcare systems face the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant staffing constraints and budgeting challenges, implementing enhanced environmental hygiene protocols, such as UV room disinfection, with optimal efficiency is key. This educational webinar will provide a comprehensive primer sharing best practices for efficient and effective UV room disinfection. Dr. Ashish Mathur reviews best practices for implementing UV disinfection that fits into your operational workflow instead of disrupting it.

As healthcare systems continue to combat COVID-19, and the ongoing risk posed by Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs), ultraviolet (UV) room disinfection can be a valuable tool for enhanced environmental hygiene and surface disinfection. This program reviews the basics of how UV room disinfection devices inactivate microorganisms, the germicidal UV dose delivery required to achieve broad spectrum efficacy and the basics for evaluating and decoding UV device manufacturers’ claims and support, which can vary greatly.

This program will review the core elements of an effective UV disinfection program including current information on the challenge of preventing HAI, current evidence related to true UV device efficacy, and (3) best practices for efficient UV application and implementation. Key in-facility use sites, the value of a multidisciplinary collaboration, and device utilization metrics will also be discussed.

Many healthcare facilities overlook the role that contaminated air may play in the risk of infection. This program will provide healthcare providers and leaders with considerations for promoting a safe environment discussing airborne hazards, actions, and technologies that can be implemented to remove the health and infection risks to the surgical team and patient.

This continuing education activity will review the significance of irrigation fluid management, including the clinical care implications related to the use of irrigation fluid throughout the patient’s perioperative journey. The clinical team members’ roles related to irrigation fluid management will be outlined and the complications associated with the use of irrigation during a procedure will be reviewed.

The increased need to navigate to areas impossible to locate through touch, and an increased focus on oncoplastic approaches, have led to the development of several wire-free localization techniques that alleviate some of the evidence-based disadvantages of wire-guided localization. This program aims to educate a broader audience on the latest localization techniques for breast conservation surgery with a specific focus on Radar Localization.

The increased need to navigate to areas impossible to locate through touch, and an increased focus on oncoplastic approaches, have led to the development of several wire-free localization techniques that alleviate some of the evidence-based disadvantages of wire-guided localization. This program aims to educate a broader audience on the latest localization techniques for breast conservation surgery with a specific focus on Radar Localization.

Every healthcare working who cares for patients, or supports the staff who care for patients, will most likely have to use personal protective equipment (PPE) at some point during their work duties. This program explores the need of healthcare workers to protect themselves from transmissible diseases, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and from possible future threats to our health.

This continuing education ebook reviews common surgical positioning injuries, high-risk surgical positions, and how team collaboration and communication can help prevent patient harm. Strategies, techniques, and evidence-based guidelines for steep deep Trendelenburg, prone, beach chair, and lateral positions are covered.

Safe patient handling when positioning a patient is not only important for staff safety as it is for patient safety through the appropriate use of equipment and ergonomics. This course will review best practices for safe patient handling, a culture of safety, and proper ergonomics while positioning a patient in the operating room and how to mitigate occupational injury.

This course will review the primary types of PPE used in any healthcare setting, the hazards PPE is designed to protect against, and the criteria that must be considered when selecting PPE. Regulatory requirements for PPE use are discussed and case studies provide real-world applications of PPE to illustrate the implications associated with correct versus incorrect use of PPE in all healthcare settings.