Editor's Note The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on January 22 opened its new Veterans’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The program will facilitate the transition of United States military veterans into professional nursing by providing an opportunity for up to 10 veterans per semester to…
Editor's Note This Canadian study finds that transformational leadership practices lead to high quality care and increased retention of new nurses. Conversely, abusive managers lead to poorer quality care and a strong intention for nurses to leave healthcare facilities and quit the nursing profession. The authors surveyed a sample of…
Editor's Note Hospitals with better nursing work environments and above-average staffing levels were associated with better surgical value (ie, lower mortality with similar costs), especially for higher-risk patients, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, found. The study compared outcomes and patient costs at 35 focal hospitals recognized nationally as…
Change is uppermost in people’s minds as a new year begins, so the time seems right to anticipate changes we’ll see in healthcare in 2016. To imagine some of what the future holds, consider two recent changes in how providers are being reimbursed: ICD-10, the vastly expanded DRG codes that…
Part 1 of this two-part series, published in the January issue of OR Manager, discussed the concepts of professional peer review (PPR). In this article, experts from University Medical Center (UMC) in Lubbock, Texas, and Boston Medical Center share strategies for implementing the process. Staff involvement Once staff understand…
Editor's Note Nurses have topped Gallup’s annual Honesty and Ethics ratings every year but one since 1999, when they were added to the list. The exception was in 2001, when firefighters were included on the list on a one-time basis after September 11. With an 85% rating, nurses are 17…
Hundreds of nurse leaders filled the room for a presentation on dealing with difficult people during the annual OR Manager Conference in October 2015—a testament to the prevalence of bullies and disruptive behavior in the OR environment. “In early 2011, a Google search was run using the terms ‘nurse bullying’…
Workplace violence reached a whole new level with the San Bernardino mass shooting earlier this month that left 14 dead just a week after three people died in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs. These incidents occurred for different reasons, but both cut short people’s lives…
The most successful perioperative services leaders are those who have built excellent teams that balance individual responsibility and accountability with respect for all team members, regardless of the roles they play. To create that culture, OR leaders must model the behavior and attitudes they expect from their staffs. One way…
Editor's Note Significant progress has been made toward transforming nursing roles, responsibilities, and education to meet the nation’s healthcare needs, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report assesses the progress made since the Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report on the future of…