Editor's Note Technological advances have made robotic surgery an attractive option for many procedures. Whether you’re considering an upgrade for existing equipment or purchasing robots for the first time, the Surgical Robotics Showcase at the annual OR Manager Conference at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, provides an opportunity…

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Editor's Note The PACU Manager Summit, launched in 2017, has doubled in size and will once again offer best practices for improving patient satisfaction and outcomes. Held in conjunction with the OR Manager Conference, the PACU Manager Summit is a 3-day program with an in-depth workshop and numerous breakout sessions.…

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Editor's Note The OR Manager Conference Exhibit Hall opens at 4 pm on September 17 and features more than 180 exhibitors (see participating vendors at www.ormanagerconference.com). “Music City” will be celebrated with activities including whiskey tasting, a Best Boot Contest, and giveaways. (Attendees: Be sure to wear your favorite Western…

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Editor's Note Appropriate nursing staff mix is important for quality care,  and understanding how staffing skill mix affects outcomes allows policymakers and clinicians to make good staffing decisions, finds this study. Researchers from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario analyzed 626 studies on the effectiveness of RNs on clinical, patient,…

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Editor's Note Accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other value-based payment (VBP) models are increasing in the US, and there is no longer any question of whether private payers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will continue to support value-based payments, according to the August 14 Health Affairs…

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Editor's Note With the announcement by Amazon, Berkshire-Hathaway, and JP Morgan to form a nonprofit consortium to manage costs and quality of healthcare for their employees, nursing leaders are looking at its implications and asking questions: Is nursing care affordable if it is not linked to improved outcomes? What price…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 11 released new infection prevention resources for podiatry and orthopedic and pain management settings. Free resources include: Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Podiatry Settings (available now). Guide to Infection Prevention in Orthopedic and Pain Management…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken steps to ensure that medical device manufacturers do as much as possible to defend against hacking and other threats to their devices, according to a new report from the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General. The…

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Editor's Note Automated performance metrics can distinguish surgeon expertise during anastomoses and create an objective, standardized way to train new surgeons, this study finds. Researchers used a data recorder plugged into a robotic surgery system to evaluate expert and novice surgeons’ movements for 70 vesicourethral anastomoses (total of 1,745 stitches)…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 10 posted the announcement by Pharm D Solutions, LLC, (Houston, Texas) that it had voluntarily issued a recall of all sterile compounded drugs because of a potential lack of sterility. The company says concerns about practices at the pharmacy that…

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