OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Shortened hours for preoperative fasting in otherwise healthy patients with no comorbidities have been in place for 12 years. They are left essentially unchanged in a new update by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) of its practice guidelines for preoperative fasting.…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 How well hospitals perform on SCIP measures will affect part of their Medicare payment starting in late 2012. Yet a new study is the fourth to find that the SCIP infection measures aren’t correlated with surgical site infection (SSI) rates. In the…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Impact on ASCs of economic conditions ASCs that have experienced financial difficulties due to current economic conditions Financial difficulties these ASCs have experienced: Financial challenges continue to buffet ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), according to the 21st annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Almost…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Respondents to hospital survey Region Response Northeast 17% Midwest 39% South 26% West 19% OR directors and managers are striving to stay ahead of a weak economy, according to this year’s OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Much has changed in the past 10…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 More than 60% of uniforms worn by physicians and nurses tested positive for potentially pathogenic bacteria, including drug-resistant organisms, in a new study from Israel. The team of researchers collected swab samples from 3 parts of the uniforms of 75 RNs and…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 9; September 2011 Why more BSN-prepared nurses are needed Though the causal relationship between RNs’ academic degrees and patient outcomes is not conclusive, according to the Future of Nursing report, several studies report a significant association between RN education and outcomes in acute care: At…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 9; September 2011 Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) continue to feel the grip of a weak economy, according to results from the 21st annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. They also face changes in the health care landscape, with more consolidation, reduced reimbursement, and more physicians becoming…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 9; September 2011 Economic conditions continue to challenge OR staffing. Though fewer OR directors and managers than in 2009 say they are reducing use of overtime and eliminating open positions, more than two-thirds (69%) say the economy did affect their staffing in the past 6…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 9; September 2011 The government’s long-awaited plan for quality reporting by ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) was issued July 1, 2011. If the proposal is finalized later this fall, the time-line could be short. ASCs might need to have quality-reporting systems in place as early as…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 9; September 2011 A circulating nurse reports she called 3 times, asking a technical support assistant to bring a piece of equipment to the OR, but the equipment never arrived. Later, it’s learned the assistant didn’t know what the equipment was and was afraid to…

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