Munro Scale research supports streamlining risk levels
The Munro Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale for Perioperative Patientsยฉ (Munro Scale) has made great strides in the past year. The tool, which assesses patientsโ risk levels at each phase of surgery (preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative), is available from AORN. Cassendra Munro, MSN, RN, CNOR, developed the Munro Scale and…
Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2018
As healthcare strives to become an industry of high-reliability organizations, identifying problems proactively is key. ECRI Instituteโs annual Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations list highlights looming patient safety challenges and offers resources for addressing them. In selecting this yearโs list, ECRI Institute relied on data regarding events…
Validate and verify medical devices to ensure safety
Sometimes surgeons ask to have nonmedical devices sterilized, such as spoons, hockey pucks, and fish hooks. Healthcare staff may want to accommodate their requests, but there are times when they cannot do so. A central service (CS) should only sterilize medical devices that have undergone validation testing, which demonstrates that…
ASC workforce stable amid rise in cases
Surgical volume in the past year increased for 40% of respondents to the 2018 annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, down slightly from the 48% reported in 2017. This result is intriguing in light of the proliferation of procedures now being performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Does this suggest some…
Blood management program reduces transfusions, improves outcomes for orthopedic patients
Editor's Note A blood management program at Johns Hopkins using a hemoglobin transfusion threshold of 7 g/dl in orthopedic surgical patients reduced blood use by 32.5% and resulted in similar or improved outcomes. Improved outcomes were primarily in patients 65 years of age or older. For this study, researchers evaluated…
FDA issues Safety Alert for Temporary Total Artificial Heart Companion 2 Driver System by SynCardia Systems
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on August 17 issued a Safety Alert for SynCardia Systemsโ (Tucson, Arizona) Temporary Total Artificial Heart Companion 2 Driver System. Final results from a post-approval study indicate higher mortality and stroke rates for patients initially supported with the C2 Driver System compared…
Effective interventions for postop opioid prescribing
Editor's Note Interventions at the physician or organizational level (eg, workflow changes) were found to be better tools for creating change in postoperative opioid prescribing than interventions at the patient level (eg, patient education), in this review. This analysis of eight studies published after 2000 that included 2,272 patients found…
CDC: Drug overdose mortality reaches new high
Editor's Note Preliminary data, reported August 15, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that drug overdose mortality in the US hit record high levels last year, increasing to more than 72,000 deaths. The increase in mortality was driven mainly by fatalities involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.…
Joint Commission: Additional changes made to elements of performance
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on August 15 that additional changes will be made to elements of performance (EPs) in the Nursing and Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services chapters of the accreditation manuals for critical access hospitals and deemed-status hospital programs, effective January 1, 2019. The Centers for…
[Free Whitepaper] Smarter Supply Chain Management: Why Aligning People, Process, and then Technology Matters
Technology adoption in healthcare has never been greater, as hospitals adhere to meaningful use criteria to make data more transparent in supporting patient care initiatives. But technology alone is not enough. Positioning for long-term operational success requires a strategic approach to change management that includes people, process, and technology. Supply…