February 2022

Shelley Harris, RN, opted for the transient lifestyle when she was young, single and ready to explore the world. Twenty-two years later, she’s still at it. The New Hampshire...

Angela Francois couldn’t sleep. The painful numbness in her hands was waking her up in the middle of the night on a more consistent basis. She had been experiencing...

The steady movement of total hip and knee arthroplasties to outpatient ORs shows no signs of slowing down thanks to advances in minimally invasive surgical...

Most cataract surgeons can remove a cloudy natural lens and implant an IOL in less than 10 minutes, so high-volume ophthalmic facilities thrive by finding ways to...

You notice a sudden rise in the patient’s temperature and end-tidal CO2 levels along with an elevated heart rate and the early signs of muscle rigidity. The symptoms point...

Instrument cleaning and sterilization is a complicated process rife with potential oversights and failures, so how can you be completely certain your facility’s tools are...

If you want to get a glimpse into the potential of outpatient surgery, look no further than orthopedics. Surgeons, armed with the industry’s latest technologies and tools,...

Managing postoperative pain is a key to success in same-day surgery, as it is one of the core factors that allows patients to go home hours after procedures. Use this quiz...

Manual surface cleaning isn’t completely effective. Your staff can’t eliminate every pathogen, no matter how much elbow grease they apply and diligence they display....

The increased centralization of the nation’s anesthesia provider groups mirrors what’s happening in the ASC market — many physician-owned centers are being...

Understanding the Dangers of Perioperative Hypothermia; The preventable condition increases risks of post-op infection, serious complications and longer recovery times.

Successful airway management can mean the difference between an uneventful surgery and a devastating outcome. “Anesthesia providers need to diligently evaluate...

Staff appreciation gestures have been a mainstay of the first year of operations at National Ambulatory Surgery Center in San Jose, Calif. Whether it’s a more formal designation for the Employee of the Quarter...

During fire drills — as well as in the event of an actual fire emergency — some facilities place a magnet on the outside of a room that says “Checked” or similar language to confirm that a room has been evacuated. This ensures...

Discharge specialists at Vance Thompson Vision in Sioux Falls, S.D., recover patients and help them to their cars when they’re ready to head home. “We decided to prioritize discharge efficiency, which allows for better...

Last-minute changes to the surgical schedule, surgeon requests or cases that require specialized instrumentation could throw a wrench into how smoothly instruments flow through your facility. Installing a whiteboard in the hall...

Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan (OAM) at Midtowne, a freestanding surgery center in Grand Rapids, provided free lunches to joint replacement patients and the person who accompanies them to the facility after launching...

You want to know the likes, dislikes and quirks of every staff member on your team, but it’s not always easy to get to know the person behind the mask. To remedy this issue, one problem-solving director came up with a simple way...

My favorite part about going on a trip is coming home. I’m not opposed to traveling and have been fortunate to visit incredible cities and beautiful beaches, but my stampless passport is collecting dust in my nightstand...

Why not? That’s the attitude Frances Farley, MD, instilled in me when I was training to be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Michigan Medicine. Dr. Farley, a fellow pediatric...

Surface cleaning has been at the top of everyone’s mind for nearly two years during the pandemic. The truth is, this should always be the case, as ORs are high-risk areas...

There’s a lot to juggle at a busy health system with nine operating rooms in which an average of 50 surgical cases are performed each day. When it came to my attention...

Great ideas for your OR

You wouldn’t have devoted your life to surgery if you hadn’t fallen head over heels the first time you laid eyes on an OR. Sure, your commitment has been tested...