Home Issues OR Manager
January 2015 See the full issue

Strategic succession planning essential to OR economic success

Perioperative nurse leaders anticipate a tsunami of retirements will soon sweep away the wisdom that makes the OR the profitable cost center it is. A 2013 survey found that more than a third (37.8%) of OR nurse leaders plan to retire by 2018 and nearly two-thirds (64.8%) plan to exit…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

The three R's of staff engagement: Relationships, rounding, and recognition

Staff in the OR must be fully engaged each day to ensure they are providing excellent patient care. But finding time to develop that engagement is particularly challenging for OR leaders. “The OR environment is intense and dynamic, changing minute by minute,” says Amy Bethel, MPA, RN, NE-BC, from UnityPoint…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Editorial

Education is always high on my list of goals at the start of a new year, and OR Manager’s two annual events are excellent resources for new insights into the care of surgical patients. Both will feature experienced leaders addressing the key issues that affect the management of ORs in…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

FDA, Joint Commission cite safety concerns with power morcellation

Reports about problems associated with power morcellation in gynecologic surgery led to safety warnings in November 2014 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Joint Commission. The FDA on November 24 updated its Safety Communication on the use of laparoscopic power morcellation in hysterectomies and myomectomies. The previous…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

CMS replaces flash sterilization with IUSS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has replaced the term “flash sterilization” with “immediate use steam sterilization” (IUSS) in surgical settings. The change in terminology, which applies to Medicare-participating hospitals, critical access hospitals, and ambulatory surgical centers that are subject to Conditions of Participation or Conditions of Coverage,…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Reusable protective eyewear tied to greater risk of contamination

Protective eyewear is supposed to prevent infectious materials from reaching the eyes of OR staff, but recent research has revealed a link between reusable protective eyewear and an increased risk of cross contamination and infection. “We found that the protective eyewear itself can be a causal factor in ongoing contamination,”…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

No time to waste: A children's hospital Lean team streamlines its turnover process

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) is renowned for patient care, but by early 2013 the increased complexity of new technology and other factors had eroded efficiency. Orthopedics had fallen to the bottom quartile compared to national benchmarks for turnover times, and executive leadership called for change. Within orthopedic surgery,…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Getting all OR staff to buy into debriefing process boosts efficacy

The main distinction between good and bad debriefings comes down to the level of staff engagement. That’s what the surgical team at the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, learned during a project designed to improve the quality of the 30- to 60-second conversations held after surgery. “In a good debriefing,…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Be constructive, not combative, with union staff

Union membership has declined steeply in recent decades. Increasingly, organized labor is targeting the healthcare industry as a growth opportunity. This is creating a leadership challenge for OR directors and managers. In 2012, approximately 21% of hospitals in the US had a union nursing staff. That percentage could soon increase…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Online patient records: A trend ASCs should learn to embrace

Most ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have some form of computer-based recordkeeping, such as scheduling and billing systems. So far, however, few have made the leap to electronic medical records (EMRs). With an EMR, clinicians enter data at the point of care, and that information is accessible to other clinical and…

Read More

By: OR Manager
December 16, 2014
Share

Join our community

Learn More
Video Spotlight
Live chat by BoldChat