On-call requirements in perioperative services can be a barrier to recruiting younger RNs and in retaining older nurses. Covering the daily surgical schedule with fatigued staff who have worked during the night can be a safety issue or a staffing issue if the call team is too tired to work…

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A heavy call schedule at one community hospital was driving the perioperative staff away and raising concerns about patient safety because of staff fatigue. With a staff turnover rate of 40% in 2007, the perioperative management team knew changes were needed. Since then, a new staffing model has almost eliminated…

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A float position that combines the duties of a surgical technologist (ST) and a central service (CS) technician creates closer ties between the OR and CS departments and improved morale in CS for a 400-bed community hospital. “These have been independent workforces, but they are highly related,” says Brian Whorley,…

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Perioperative leaders are actively planning for future staffing needs. Still, the majority (56%) say they’re having problems filling staff nurse positions. And two-thirds (68%) anticipate problems in the next 5 years, according to OR Manager’s succession planning survey (related article). Nurse leaders in surgery accept the need “to grow their…

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First article in a 2-part series.   Management should be the job people aspire to, says John Olmstead, MBS, RN, CNOR, FACHE, director of surgical services and emergency department at The Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana. “In too many hospitals, it’s the hot potato. People say, ‘I wouldn’t want to…

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