New education programs help nurses obtain and maintain skills
Hospitals in Texas and Wisconsin have partnered with academia and AORN to add the PeriOp 101 curriculum to BSN programs—an approach that shows promise for developing OR nurses of the future. Launched in 2012, both programs have helped prepare new nurses for the rigors of the OR and they’ve also…
Onus on OR managers to scope out competency of endoscopy staff
Recent highly publicized outbreaks of infections linked to improper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes have raised concerns about infection prevention in gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures. Because of the headlines, legislatures are hearing from their constituents that they are fearful of being exposed to infections, and legislatures are getting involved. The Society of…
Editorial
Attending several professional meetings each year is a rewarding part of my job and a critical component of my ongoing education. As a non-clinician, I learn a lot from listening to healthcare professionals, and capturing some of what’s presented at these meetings is an attempt to keep readers abreast of…
Take a breath with Conference speaker Juliet Funt
Keeping the OR trains running on time, keeping a lid on costs, and keeping team members’ behavior in check are a few of the hurdles in the path of every perioperative nurse leader each day. Another stressor that is probably not even on the radar but should be is lack…
Academic-clinical partnership adds perioperative component to BSN curriculum
Including AORN’s PeriOp 101 curriculum in a bachelor of science (BSN) curriculum has allowed the University of St Thomas in Houston to break new ground in nurse education. Launched in May 2012, the program—a partnership between AORN, the University of St Thomas School of Nursing (UST), and Harris Health System—exposes…
New perioperative immersion clinical steadily spreading its wings
A perioperative immersion clinical for nurses pursuing a bachelor of science degree has gotten off to a good start in Wisconsin. Launched in 2012, the program matches students with preceptors during the final semester of their senior year. Students complete 252 clinical hours and the entire AORN Peri-Op 101 curriculum,…
Orientation redesign improves employee satisfaction, retention
What do you do when your orientation program isn’t effective in educating and retaining OR staff? Carol Pehotsky, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, CPAN, director of peri-operative education at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, found herself in that position 3 years ago. “We blew it all up and started over,” she…
'Education Day for Surgical Services' hones skills, builds team spirit
For the past 3 years, Tanner Health System has conducted “Education Day,” a mandatory perioperative skills course that supplements online courses, in-services, and other types of education. Staff attend the half-day course on a Saturday in early January to learn about complicated high-risk, low-volume, problem-prone procedures as well as new…
Having more reliable performance data will boost your credibility
Most OR leaders use performance reports to inform and guide critical decisions. The problem is that in most hospitals, the data used to create these reports are not reliable. Why? Even the smallest surgery department is too complex for the most sophisticated OR data solution. To yield reliable reports, information…
Oregon surgery center is pioneer in outpatient hysterectomy
Surgeons perform about 600,000 hysterectomies per year in the US, but less than 1% of these take place in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Richard Rosenfield, MD, is trying to change that. Before he founded Pearl Surgi-Center in Portland, Oregon, Dr Rosenfield performed outpatient hysterectomies at several local hospitals as an…
Free Daily News
- FDA: Surgical mesh mini-slings comparable to mid-urethral slings for stress urinary incontinence
- Federal regulations require written consent for pelvic exams at hospitals, medical schools
- Survey: More than half of ED nurses experienced violence in past month
- Heart transplant research proves out 24-hour organ preservation method
- Healthcare safety report: Outcomes improving, but workplace violence persists
- Annual CMS rules support underserved, under-resourced communities, promote value-based care
- Data resource details causes, health implications of sleep deprivation
- Medical error initiative from Joint Commission affiliate NQF targets preventable harm, “never events”
- EPA rule to limit dangerous emissions from medical sterilization plants
- Newly FDA-approved microsurgical system holds promise for training, new treatments