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.

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.

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.

Salina Regional Health Center saved $90,000 by implementing a lean inventory management process for their robotics service line. You’ll hear best practices and key lessons learned from their success.

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.

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.

An overview of the types of chest drains, indications for effective use and key management factors will be described. The safe and effective use of chest drainage systems will be discussed so that nurses can provide high quality care for their patients to achieve optimal care outcomes.

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.

This learning activity discusses alternative options for indwelling catheters that can reduce a patient’s risk for developing catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), a hospital-acquired infection that increases with duration of use of an indwelling catheter and costs the United States healthcare system millions every year.

This continuing education activity provides a review of the key considerations for the appropriate selection and use of surgical gowns as an infection prevention measure for both patients and the surgical team. Standards and guidelines pertaining to the selection and use of surgical gowns published by various federal agencies and professional organizations are covered.

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.

This program is specifically designed to enhance the skills of all team members. The focus is on the essential steps of cleaning, disinfecting, and maintaining surgical instruments, particularly clip appliers fundamental in heart surgeries.

This program is a pivotal step towards mastering advanced fascial closure techniques, ensuring safer surgical outcomes and setting a higher benchmark in the prevention and management of port-site hernias.

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.

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.

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.

An overview of the types of chest drains, indications for effective use and key management factors will be described. The safe and effective use of chest drainage systems will be discussed so that nurses can provide high quality care for their patients to achieve optimal care outcomes.

Review advanced treatment strategies for the management of venous leg ulcers (VLUs) including maintaining an optimal environment for wound healing and the benefits of compression therapy to reduce pain, facilitate healing and prevent recurrence.