Competency matrix modeled on ski trail difficulty validates staff skills at...
Surgeon concerns about staff competency and high turnover of surgical technologists at Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC), Vail, Colorado, prompted the development of a staffing skills competency...
View Article‘Education Day for Surgical Services’ hones skills, builds team spirit
For the past 3 years, Tanner Health System has conducted “Education Day,” a mandatory perioperative skills course that supplements online courses, in-services, and other types of education. Staff...
View ArticleOrientation redesign improves employee satisfaction, retention
What do you do when your orientation program isn’t effective in educating and retaining OR staff? Carol Pehotsky, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, CPAN, director of peri-operative education at the Cleveland Clinic in...
View ArticleOnus on OR managers to scope out competency of endoscopy staff
Recent highly publicized outbreaks of infections linked to improper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes have raised concerns about infection prevention in gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures. Because...
View ArticleFocused competencies give anesthesia technicians a leg up on the efficiency...
Demand for anesthesia technicians is on the rise, according to a recent Chicago Tribune headline. The article touts the position as a way to “work in the operating room without going to medical...
View ArticleSoftware orients staff, advances ‘rep-less’ model
What started out as a software package to train medical device representatives for the OR has evolved into a program to train OR personnel to scrub and support a “rep-less” model. The software,...
View ArticleForging a path toward OR nursing education
There is no OR nurse university. Nurses can’t go away to college, pay tuition, and learn to be a perioperative nurse. “Faced with a staffing shortfall, how are we going to deal with this? How are they...
View ArticleStructured OR educational programs shorten orientation period
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...
View ArticleZones establish structure and routine for OR setup
Learning to circulate can be overwhelming and intimidating for new nurses. They may learn two or three different ways to set up a room, on two or three different days, from two or three different...
View ArticleResearchers identify ways to reduce UTI rates
Three new studies on reducing urinary tract infections (UTIs) were reported at the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) conference in July. Researchers...
View ArticleSurgical staff tackle CAUTIs with refined techniques
Urinary tract infections are the most common type of healthcare-associated infection reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network. Of urinary tract...
View ArticleST to RN program speeds nurse orientation and bolsters perioperative workforce
When it comes to filling OR nursing positions, finding candidates who can fit into that environment is one challenge, and getting them up to speed quickly is another. Perioperative nurse leaders and...
View ArticleLower patient satisfaction associated with nurses educated abroad
Many countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, rely on nurses trained abroad during times of nursing shortages. However, little is known about how this practice affects quality of care...
View ArticleProfessional peer review compels staff to improve performance and quality—Part 2
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...
View ArticleSimulation lab a safe way to practice crisis management
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...
View ArticleSimulation can be an affordable tool for improving care
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...
View ArticleEffect of resident involvement in surgery
Editor’s Note Resident involvement in surgery is associated with comparable patient morbidity and lower mortality outcomes than procedures without residents, this study finds. The analysis used data...
View ArticleAssociation between ‘July phenomenon’ and emergency general surgery patient...
The influx of new surgical residents and interns at the beginning of the academic year is assumed to be associated with poor outcomes. Referred to as Importance the July phenomenon, this occurrence has...
View ArticleMilitary surgeons develop framework to sustain surgical skills
New education and training paradigm proposed to help deployed military surgeons enhance the level of care they provide to wounded soldiers and keep their surgical skills competitive upon returning to a...
View ArticleDoes surgical skill in one bariatric procedure predict outcomes for another?
Editor’s Note Surgical skill in laparoscopic gastric bypass does not predict outcomes for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, this study finds. Surgeons with skill ratings in the top, middle, and bottom...
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