Nurse leaders on how to improve nurse wellness, reduce burnout
Takeaways Research shows that there are high nurse burnout rates from systemic workplace issues, including unmanageable case-loads, poor communication, excessive administrative burdens and an overall lack of care. Nurse wellness programsโincluding resilience training, peer-to-peer counseling, and meditationโare critical, because of high exposure to trauma and suffering, but these efforts need…
A look back: 10 years of staffing data show scope of challenges for OR leaders
Takeaways The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated staffing problems, and although some parameters have improved, challenges remain. Surgical volume took a sharp drop during the pandemic but is now rebounding. Over the years, the gap in difficulty between recruiting RNs and recruiting STs has narrowed. Last month, OR Manager looked back on…
CNOR specialty designations distinguish uncommon skillsets
The Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) is excited to announce a new development in our certified perioperative nurse (CNORยฎ) certification program: the introduction of specialty designations. Now, perioperative nurses can specialize in cardiac, bariatric, orthopedic, or vascular surgery, just as RNs can choose oncology, pediatrics, or emergency. A specialty designation…
Unveiling ECRI’s 2024 top 10 health technology hazards list
What is the purpose of the top 10 health technology hazards list, released every year by ECRI? โOur number one goal at ECRI is to reduce preventable harm,โ stresses Jason Launders, MSC, former director of operations, device evaluation, at ECRI. โWe know that every healthcare provider has a lot they…
Why OR leaders should revisit sterile processing basics
Sterile Processing Department (SPD) managers and technicians know a thing or two about pressure. In a recent webinar covering sterile processing basics, Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, president and CEO of Ofstead & Associates, Inc, and Abby Smart, MPH, research associate, cited the example of a 480-bed hospital that performed 13,650…
Editorial: Social media raises privacy, ethical concerns
After spending many years in management roles, I can testify to the truth of one old proverb: โThe more things change, the more they stay the same.โ Patient privacy is a prime example. Confusion on this topic seems just as rampant today as in the early 2000s, amid the widespread…
South Korea issues deadline, threatens prosecution for junior doctors amid surgery-stopping strike
Editor's Note A week after a walkout of junior doctors in South Korea halted about a third of surgeries at large hospitals in Seoul, the government is threatening prosecution and the revocation of medical licenses if the walkout doesnโt end by February 29. As reported by the Associated Press February…
Study: Postop emergency appendectomy complications more likely for Black children
Editor's Note In a recent study, black children undergoing emergency appendectomy had a four times greater risk of postoperative complications than white children, independent of socioeconomic status or type of appendicitis. Anaesthesia, the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists, published the findings February 22. Researchers note that this is the…
Virtual-reality brain measurements illuminate real-world health conditions
Editor's Note Two researchers from South China University of Technology have developed an affordable electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement system that can be incorporated into virtual reality (VR) headsets. In the future, the researchers hope to use the device to explore people's brain activity while navigating specific virtual environments and to study…
Study: bariatric surgery effective for pediatric weight loss, but may adversely affect bone health
Editor's Note What researchers say is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to report on bone health outcomes from pediatric bariatric surgery shows the procedure is highly effective at achieving weight loss amid a childhood obesity crisis of epidemic proportions. However, the surgery also could put patients at greater risk…