Burnout increases after patient safety incident
Editor's Note Physicians and nurses involved in a patient safety incident experience significant negative outcomes, this study finds. Of 5,788 nurses and physicians analyzed, 9% had been involved in an incident during the prior 6 months. Involvement in a patient safety incident was linked to: a greater risk of burnout…
Shoulder surgery new testing ground for opioid alternatives
Editor's Note As part of the drive to reduce opioid use, rotator-cuff repairs are becoming a testing ground for alternative approaches to pain management, the May 23 Wall Street Journal reports. Because rotator-cuff surgery is one of the most painful procedures to recover from, physicians hope that if alternative painkilling…
Surgical patients at Denver hospital possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis
Editor's Note Denver's Swedish Medical Center is asking some 2,900 surgical patients to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C after finding that an OR employee may have stolen narcotics, the February 3 Denver Post reports. Surgical technologist, 28-year-old Rocky Allen worked in the OR from August 17,…
Drug diversion in the OR: How can you keep it from happening?
It's every OR manager's nightmare—a drug diversion that hits the local news. That nightmare came true for 2 Colorado facilities—Rose Medical Center in Denver and Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs— this year when scrub tech Kristen Diane Parker was accused of not only stealing fentanyl, but also of transmitting…
When an MD has a substance abuse problem
Somebody's going to get hurt." It took that statement for one OR director to get administration and the medical staff to take action when an anesthesiologist was abusing cocaine. "They had been tiptoeing around it," she says. Ultimately, the physician was caught in the act. That was more than 20…
Substance abuse in the OR: Saving lives through treatment, prevention
The second of two articles. To outside observers, Mary Jones, RN, lived a charmed life: She was married to a bank owner, had 3 lovely children, and lived in a beautiful home overlooking a park. Colleagues in the OR where she worked enjoyed working with her. But Mary was hiding…
Substance abuse in the OR: Why managers should not ignore it
The first of two articles. Cecil King, RN, MS, CNOR, is a perioperative advanced practice nurse at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. King is an outgoing, knowledgeable nurse. He's a mover and shaker in the perioperative world: active in AORN, speaking at national meetings, and writing articles for nursing journals. He's…
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