Infection Prevention 
As a perioperative leader, have you ever considered… a perioperative mascot? Because this is something that exists in Australia. A cuddly little stuffed bear named Sir Stitches is now an employee of sorts with The Government of Western Australia’s WA Country Health Service. The tiny mascot is traveling to facilities…
This month’s Periop Leader Week included programming intended to foster cross-functional communication and collaboration between OR teams and sterile processing departments (SPDs), as well as between infection preventionists and SPDs. Conversations with Periop Leader Week speakers and attendees who work in sterile processing revealed a unanimous desire for SPD to…
As autumn approaches, awareness about COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses is on the rise. With some medical professionals and patients concerned about a lack of direction from the federal government on vaccines, the American Medical Association (AMA) has announced that it has collaborated with the Vaccine Integrity Project to complete…
The CDC has published prevalence survey results in the New England Journal of Medicine that find that healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevalence in U.S. hospitals was lower in 2023 than in 2015. Similar surveys of U.S. hospitals showed that one of 25 patients had an HAI in 2011, which lowered to one…
With cyclosporiasis cases on the rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated this week that it has “received reports of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and is aware of more than 5,100 cases that require further analysis to confirm the illness as domestically acquired cyclosporiasis.” The…
A possible risk from total hip or knee replacement procedures is periprosthetic joint infection, which can result in joint replacement failures that require additional surgeries, prolonged hospital stays, and a poor patient experience. The risk rises in patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or a history of tobacco use. Yale…
“Please come to the OR. We have moisture in our tray.” My hope is that you never hear these words. But if you do, leadership must act quickly to protect patient safety. Understanding the risk Sterilization is designed to remove harmful microorganisms, but sterility depends on keeping items dry after…
An investigation by media outlet Spotlight PA found that “Penn State Health struggled to maintain a usable supply of sterile instruments for the thousands of surgeries it performed at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center throughout 2025 and into this year.” “Internal documents” obtained by Spotlight PA discussed “persistent, mysterious black…
The Guardian on Friday published devastating reporting about the state of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The headline: “Inside the CDC’s leadership vacuum: work at a ‘standstill’ and low morale as 80% of top posts remain vacant.” The well-sourced article describes CDC as “in a state of…
At some point in our lives, most of us have dropped food on the ground, quickly picked it up, and ate it – the classic “five-second rule.” Should surgical teams apply the same “rule” when an instrument hits the floor in the OR? Most healthcare providers likely would think not,…
