New AORN recommendations focus on infection prevention, patient safety
AORN leaders’ efforts over the past few years have led to evidence-rated recommendations for some of the 2013 Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices (RPs), representing “landmark progress in the evolution of recommended practices,” according to Ramona Conner, MSN, RN, CNOR, manager of the standards and recommended practices. Conner introduced speakers…
Surgical growth hinges on good service line information
OR Business Performance is a series intended to help OR managers and directors improve the success of their business. Does your hospital’s CEO expect you to grow surgical volume in the upcoming fiscal year? Hospitals have always depended on surgical services to drive revenue and profit. Today, in the…
Risk assessment helps prevent falls in ACS patients
Anyone undergoing surgery is at heightened risk of falling, especially during recovery from sedation, and for the most vulnerable patients, a fall can be disabling or even deadly. Falls are among the adverse events monitored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state surveyors. The science of assessing…
Minnesota's adverse event reporting system has led to patient safety improvements
The number of patient falls, wrong-site procedures, and suicides increased slightly in Minnesota during 2012, but pressure ulcers, medication errors, and objects left in patients decreased, according to a recent study of the state’s hospitals and surgery centers. The “Adverse Health Events in Minnesota 2012 Public Report,” released in January…
Safety, cost savings, simplicity back broader use of bloodless surgery
More than 120 centers throughout the US have bloodless surgery programs to serve patients who refuse blood transfusions for religious and other reasons. The practice, which began more than 50 years ago, has evolved through research on blood conservation and new techniques to minimize the need for transfusions. The Joint…
Has your checklist effort stalled? Some advice on how to restart it
Fifth in a series on ten elements of safer surgery. This marks the fifth year since the worldwide roll-out of the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist. In some hospitals, the checklist has taken root and become a way of life. In others, acceptance is slower. For others,…
Editorial
When the Pentagon decided in January to lift the military’s official ban on women in combat, it wasn’t news to many who have served. But women’s service stretches farther back than I realized—and one group involved nurses. In 1942, during World War II, 99 Army and Navy nurses were swept…
Health care reform and the 'Golden Age' of nursing
Perspectives on health care reform vary widely, and some view it negatively. But Kathleen Sanford, DBA, RN, CENP, FACHE, believes it will provide nursing with new opportunities—along with new challenges. Sanford, senior vice president/chief nursing officer at Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), Englewood, Colorado, will share her perspective during a general…
Free Daily News
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- AI model grades nursing procedures with near-human precision
- Study: Hospitals can safely cut low-value preop tests before routine surgeries
- New studies highlight opportunities to improve pediatric anesthesia safety, comfort
- Social and behavioral factors emerging as key predictors of recovery quality after surgery
- Hospitals being squeezed: Anesthesia workforce gaps, payer cuts threaten surgery access
- CDC layoffs cripple national injury and overdose tracking, leaving prevention efforts in doubt
- The Joint Commission makes nurse staffing a national performance goal for 2026
- Telehealth in limbo: Providers split on continuing Medicare services during shutdown
- States take aim at outpatient facility fees driving higher commercial health costs
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