Courses by Topic

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.

According to governing and recommending entities, frequent monitoring and timely feedback provides the best information to help drive and improve outcomes. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of various compliance monitoring methods, and implementing the most compatible method, can assist organizations with acquiring sustained improvement.

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.

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.

The purpose of this continuing education activity is to provide a review of the clinical considerations regarding the appropriate selection and use of facial protection devices in healthcare practice settings. It provides an overview of the health hazards inherent to the general healthcare and perioperative environment, criteria for appropriate selection and use of facial protection devices, and relevant regulations and recommendations for manufacture and use.

This program traces the evolution of methods of surgical hemostasis, reviews the risk factors for perioperative bleeding, highlights the steps in the coagulation cascade, and details the properties, mechanisms of action, components, and safety considerations for several categories of hemostatic, sealant, and adhesive agents.

This program identifies concerns currently associated with intraoperative transfusion and describes effective PBM strategies, including the use of topical hemostatic agents. The importance of using a validated intraoperative bleeding scale to assess and compare the efficacy of these agents is emphasized.

Management of bleeding is an important part of any invasive procedure, and a wide variety of topical adjunctive hemostatic agents are available to supplement the surgeon’s application of conventional approaches to this critical outcome. This course begins with a description of the components of whole blood and the natural process of hemostasis, followed by an explanation of where topical hemostats act within this sequence of events.

Learn about how an evidence-based and team-based approach for positioning is needed to ensure a safe surgery. Evidence-based guidance from AORN and other safety sources is outlined in this elearning, including specific safe positioning recommendations for all surgical positions, even high-risk positions such as steep Trendelenburg.

This educational program identifies the clinical considerations related to surgical instrument care, cleaning, test functioning, routine maintenance, and basic repairs. This information will help you keep instruments in excellent condition so patients can receive the best care possible.

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.