Bone-graft substitutes are one of the most challenging types of materials OR teams must consider. They include grafts made from human tissues, animals, synthetics, and combinations. They all attempt to replicate the "gold standard" for bone repair, the patient's own tissue. This issue continues our series on bone-graft substitutes in…

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These are examples of types of bone allograft products and purposes they serve. With the chart on page 12, this information can help OR teams determine where a new allograft product would fit into current inventory. Allograft cancellous chips Cancellous chips, a common nonstructural human allograft bone material, serve as…

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It's a common scenario. A patient has a minor orthopedic procedure, such as a hammertoe repair, and receives a cast. The patient is immobilized at home and ends up with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Venous thromboembolism (VTE), a frequent complication of surgery that manifests as DVT or pulmonary embolism (PE),…

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Profile of the typical OR nurse leader The typical leader of a hospital OR in the OR Manager Salary/Career Survey: earns an average salary of $127,000 for an administrative director, $104,000 for a director, and $89,000 for a nurse manager received a raise of 3.5% holds the title of director…

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Collaborative and hands-on—those are common themes in letters nominating Lorna Eberle, RN, BSN, CNOR, as the 2010 OR Manager of the Year. As director of perioperative services at Providence St Peter Hospital (PSPH) in Olympia, Washington, Eberle manages, in addition to the 11-room OR, 8 other departments with a total…

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Second in a series on selecting and hiring perioperative nurses and integrating them into the staff. It has become increasingly evident that ORs need to train their own circulators. St Luke's Boise Medical Center in Idaho has developed a 14-step onboarding program that helps to recruit and retain qualified RN…

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Malignant hyperthermia hotline 1-800-644-9737 Outside the US: 1-315-464-7079 Download a sample MH emergency therapy poster at http://medical.mhaus.org When malignant hyperthermia (MH) surfaces in an ambulatory surgery setting, minutes count—the patient needs to be stabilized immediately and transferred to a hospital. But will the ambulance service have the right equipment and…

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Flu vaccinations should be a condition of employment or privileges for all health care personnel, two infection control societies advocate. Being vaccinated is a "professional and ethical responsibility" and not complying with a facility's vaccination policy should not be tolerated, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) said in…

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