Safety Total joint procedures are gradually moving to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) as technology, medical expertise, and cost pressures combine to make the ASC an increasingly attractive alternative to an acute care hospital. The key to success for these and other complex procedures, experts say, is a combination of careful planning,…
How can OR managers better prepare staff to handle crisis situations? How can they encourage teamwork? Increasingly, OR leaders are turning to simulation to answer those questions. OR leaders who think they can’t afford a high-fidelity manikin (one that talks and exhibits physiologic changes) and state-of-the-art simulation lab might…
Emergencies such as the one described above don’t happen frequently in the OR, but it is important to prepare for them, and simulation has emerged as an ideal educational tool. This scenario took place in a simulation lab, not a real OR, so the danger to the “patient” (manikin) consisted…
Successful hiring for the OR depends on ensuring nurses have the right education and clinical skills as well as the right attitude: Are they are willing and able to be team players? OR nurse leaders at Saint Luke’s Health System (SLHS), Kansas City, Missouri, have been revamping their intern and…
Analytics is a buzzword in today’s healthcare world, but behind the buzz is a very real tool. If used appropriately, analytics can help OR managers achieve improvements in stubborn problems such as turnover time. But OR leaders must first understand analytics principles before applying them in their management practice. Analytics…
The number of specimens that are mishandled on a nationwide basis is difficult to know, but even one such incident is too much for any patient who is affected. “If a specimen is placed in a fixative and it wasn’t supposed to be, additional testing may be compromised,” says Ann…
Certain words and phrases are used frequently in nursing—sometimes so frequently that their true meaning is lost. For some, the term “shared governance” is one of those. What is shared governance? “A dynamic staff-leader partnership that promotes collaboration, shared decision making, and accountability for improving quality of care, safety, and…
Most hospitals use some form of performance dashboard to communicate with surgeons and hospital senior leadership. The dashboard is intended to show the efficiency of processes within the surgical suite. However, to be truly effective, the dashboard must provide accurate, reliable, and useful information. Does your dashboard do what you…
As implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues, OR leaders are looking ahead and finding the view murky. “I think every organization is struggling because our crystal ball is not very clear as to what is coming,” says Donna Doyle, MS, RN, NE-BC, CNOR, administrative director for surgery and…
What can you do when you need to store about 9,000 sq ft of equipment in just 7,000 sq ft of storage space? What if your OR supplies are housed in such cluttered, disorganized drawers that staff have difficulty finding things? Unleash the Lean teams, of course. At the University…
