September 2021

The eight OR Excellence Award winners profiled on the following pages are top-performing facilities that set the standard for high-quality, cost-effective care....

Florence “SeeSee” Rigney, RN, figures it’s about time to slow down. The spry 96-year-old finally called it a career in July, retiring from MultiCare Tacoma (Wash.) General Hospital...

Bonnie Weinberg, MSN, RN, CNOR, is a soothsayer of simulation training. “She truly has a gift,” laughs Donna Lagasi, RN, MS, BSN, director of OR services at The Valley Hospital...

The opportunity to start a surgical facility from scratch is a rare one for any healthcare provider, so when Brandy Ginzinger, RN, was named director of surgical services at UCF Lake Nona Medical Center in Orlando, Fla.,...

While many facilities were shuttered during the pandemic’s first wave, OMNI Surgery Center’s quick action allowed surgeons to use the facility’s four operating rooms for urgent cases when former New York Governor...

Efforts to ensure members of the LGBTQ+ community feel welcome at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan in San Antonio began five years ago in the maternity ward,...

Cataract surgeries are commonplace at Andersen Eye Surgery Center in Saginaw, Mich., so nearly all of the patients the staff care for are well into their autumn years. The senior...

In order for an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol to work as intended, you often need an extra something that could make some medical professionals a little...

The Surgery Center of Fairbanks was rolling along, kept afloat by revenue from GI cases and other small procedures, while its leadership was blissfully unaware that the...

ORX Awards 2021- Environmental Stewardship - Reusability Is the Responsible Choice; Reusability Is the Responsible Choice Houston Physicians’ Hospital ditched blue wrap...

From meticulous bedside pre-cleaning to high-level disinfection, endoscope reprocessing is a complex process that benefits greatly from standardization. That’s no...

The catherization lab built in the new Quincy Medical Group (QMG) Surgery Center is the first of its kind in Illinois and showcases the tantalizing potential of outpatient...

A lot can go wrong when patients are placed in steep Trendelenburg. This high-risk position has many well-known dangers, such as shearing injuries that occur when...

This is an article about endoscope reprocessing. You know what that entails by now. Or at least you should. Scopes are wiped down with an enzymatic cleaner at the bedside...

Many patients at Einstein Endoscopy Center in Blue Bell, Pa., leave behind the no-slip socks they’re provided. “The socks are used only for a couple of hours, and we used to throw them away, but, at the suggestion of a patient,...

Reading about a wide range of topics and people helps to build awareness about the importance of cultural diversity, says Crystal N. Johnson-Mann, MD, an assistant professor of minimally invasive and bariatric surgery...

Reprocessing techs at outpatient ophthalmic facilities don’t often deal with grossly contaminated instruments, so it helps to alert them when tools are in need of extra attention before sterilization. “Enzymatic detergents...

Surgeons at Houston Premier Surgery Center in The Villages sign surgical sites in pre-op and huddle with the surgical team in the OR to make sure they signed the correct spot. It’s often a straightforward process, but orthopedic...

Asking patients to follow strict NPO restrictions is no longer commonplace — and for good reason. Allowing patients to drink clear fluids up to two hours before their scheduled procedures keeps them hydrated, reduces...

When linens were in short supply during COVID-19, staff at Houston Physicians’ Hospital (HPH) struggled to procure enough cotton blankets to keep their patients warm. When they reached out to vendors to try to obtain more...

SeeSee Rigney is something else. I’ve followed the twilight of her surgical nursing career that has spanned seven decades through online articles and features on national...

The 2022 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and ASC Payment System proposed by CMS is filled with changes that are more curious than cause for serious concern. CMS, which ultimately intends to slow...

Many of you have learned, implemented, tweaked and documented new cleaning practices and infection control protocols — measures that seemingly changed from week to week — to keep your patients and staff safe...

Your staff must know how to immediately respond if a patient’s airway catches fire, surgical equipment starts to spark or flames erupt in the sterile field. It’s helpful to designate specific roles for each surgical team member...

Surgery centers are highly dependent on anesthesia services to run productive and dynamic surgical businesses, but maintaining working relationships with quality provider groups has never been more challenging....

Great ideas for your OR

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already seen the well-deserving winners of the 2021 OR Excellence Awards. Because the editors of this fine publication didn’t feel the need to solicit input from their backpage banterer...