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How will artificial intelligence impact surgical patient care? Part 1

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be coming to your OR sooner than you think. AI is already being used to identify areas needing quality improvement by analyzing surgical workflow, communication patterns, and errors that went unnoticed during a procedure. OR leaders need to understand AI and participate in its development and…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
April 22, 2019
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Imagining the unimaginable: Preparing for mass casualty

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission require healthcare facilities to have policies and protocols in place for emergency situations and to hold regular practice drills. With natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, or fires, often there is at least some warning—some amount of time to…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
April 22, 2019
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Editorial

Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to pop up in headlines nearly every day. With applications ranging from individual nutritional guidance to prediction of premature death, ever-evolving computer-based algorithms present intriguing possibilities for the future of healthcare. Depending on how proactive your facility is and how rich in resources, you may already…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
April 22, 2019
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Conference keynote puts compassion at the heart of patient care

Compassion fatigue can come into play at any stage of nurses’ careers. Nursing is growing at a faster rate than other occupations, but it carries a high risk for burnout. Loss of job satisfaction, job-related distress, or perhaps exposure to too many traumatic events can threaten the ability of staff…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
April 22, 2019
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Expect the unexpected: How we recovered operations after Hurricane Harvey

Whatever your facility’s disaster management plan, it needs continual refinement to account for the differences between imagined and real scenarios. Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston hard on Saturday, August 26, 2017, is a case in point. The storm brought more than 60 inches of rain within a couple of days,…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
April 22, 2019
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Cross-training staff solves competency and engagement puzzle

High labor costs, surgeon dissatisfaction, high staff turnover, and low staff competency are problems that dog many OR leaders at some point in their careers. When managers at the Stanford University Medical Center Main OR in Stanford, California, found themselves facing all of these problems at once, they knew something…

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By: Judith M. Mathias, MA, RN
April 22, 2019
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'Coming clean' in the SPD requires collaboration and competency—Part 2

Contaminated surgical instruments pose a danger to patients and to an organization’s bottom line. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed prevention strategies (OR Manager, April 2019, 14-15, 19). In Part 2, the focus is on investigating potential contamination, along with design considerations.   Detective work Despite best…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
April 22, 2019
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New technology and workflow lead to surgical volume growth

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) in Sarasota, Florida, is a Level 2 trauma center with 839 beds and more than 900 physicians. The 430 members of the surgical staff perform more than 24,300 inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures in the 34 operating suites each year. With this level of…

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By: OR Manager
April 22, 2019
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Vigilance best protects ASCs from workplace violence

Violence is a fact of life in healthcare settings. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that, on average, healthcare workers are four times as likely to be victimized as those in private industry. Most types of violent incidents involve patients or visitors acting out against staff, accounting for 93%…

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By: Jennifer Lubell
April 22, 2019
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