Reducing fatigue, errors during night shifts
Editor's Note This Canadian study finds that nurses who received 40 minutes of bright light exposure before their night shifts had reduced fatigue and committed fewer errors at work. Researchers at the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, enlisted 57 nurses who were on a rotating schedule of both day and…
ACS: COVID-19 will disrupt cancer reporting for years
Editor's Note New research from the American College of Surgeons and American Cancer Society describes ways the National Cancer Database (NCDB) was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the study, researchers reviewed 4,045,097 cancer cases of adults 18 years or older who were diagnosed with cancer and/or received their first-course…
FDA updates Safety Communication on Halyard surgical N95 respirators
Editor's Note In response to questions, on April 21, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an update to its Safety Communication that enables the use of existing inventory of the O&M Halyard FLUIDSHIELD Surgical N95 Respirator Masks, Orange (Regular), Level 3, (Model 46727). The FDA recommends that, if necessary,…
Nancy Norton, RN, Announced as Closing Keynote Speaker at the 2023 OR Manager Conference
ROCKVILLE, MD – April 25, 2023 – The OR Manager Conference, a premier educational opportunity for perioperative leaders, has announced that Nancy Norton, RN, will be a keynote speaker at the 2023 conference, taking place from September 18-20, 2023, at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Norton will present The…
Effectiveness of alcohol flush, drying cycles of AERs
Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, finds that air flush cycles used in automated endoscope reprocessors (AERs) may not adequately dry endoscope channels, particularly narrow air/water channels. Endoscopes were reprocessed per protocol with a 3-minute or 10-minute air flush following reprocessing.…
Sleep, food, exercise, stress—working on one improves all
Editor's Note This April 24 report from Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London explains how giving a little extra attention to any one of four components of good health—sleeping enough, eating well, exercising, and coping with stress—can improve the others. It all begins in the brain with stress. If the brain…
US pauses green card applications for foreign nurses
Editor's Note The US State Department will not accept any more applications for green cards for foreign nurses this year, and only applications that were submitted by June 2022 will be processed until the backlog eases, the April 24 Becker’s Clinical Leadership & Infection Control reports. Current green card processing…
How benchmarking data informs leading practices: Part 2
Takeaways Leading practice is innovative, people-centered, and evidence-informed and can encompass best practices and benchmarking data. This article includes survey data on preadmission and preoperative practices, block scheduling, and room delays/turnover. The total number of respondents for Part 2 of the survey was 133, the majority of whom (70.7%) were…
State of perioperative workforce in 2023: Part 2
Takeaways Perianesthesia and sterile processing leaders are feeling the pain of staffing shortages. Strategies to recruit and retain staff include raising pay, establishing clinical ladders, training programs, and a positive work environment. A 2022 study found that Certified Post Anesthesia nurses are more satisfied with their jobs than noncertified nurses.…
Editorial
According to data released by The Joint Commission in April 2023, serious patient safety events in healthcare facilities rose by 19% in 2022, compared to 2021. The Joint Commission found that “failures in communication, teamwork, and consistently following policies” were primarily behind these incidents, the accreditation body reported. A recent…