Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 4, released its Sentinel Event Data 2022 Annual Review, which covered serious adverse events from January 1 through December 31, 2022. There were 1,441 sentinel events reported in 2022, a 19% increase over 2021, and a 78% increase over 2020, with COVID-19 continuing…

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Editor's Note A new meQuilibrium Self Check survey finds that good managers are pivotal to retaining employees in the face of rising rates of workplace incivility, the March 29 HealthLeaders Media reports. Of 5,483 employees surveyed, the most common forms of incivility identified were: Being ignored (26.1%) Having one’s judgment…

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Editor's Note This investigation by the Kentucky Department for Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of eight cases of rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) infections in a Kentucky hospital after total joint replacement procedures found that the presence of a particular OR nurse was significantly associated with the…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), on March 29, issued a news report urging the public to learn to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved naloxone for sale over the counter. Naloxone, which is commonly sold as a…

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Takeaways Perioperative staffing issues are likely to continue throughout 2023 because of rising case volumes and a lack of experienced staff. Travelers are expected to remain a core part of staffing. Perioperative leaders are using multiple strategies to recruit and retain staff, including float pools for health systems that have…

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Congratulations. You have worked hard to master your skills in the sterile processing department (SPD). You have prepared, been interviewed, and finally been promoted to a leadership position. Now, what? Yesterday you were working as a peer in your department, and now you are the leader. Are you prepared for…

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Nurse leaders know that a successful workplace fosters and celebrates teamwork. In the OR, teamwork among surgeons, surgical technologists, circulating nurses, anesthesiologists, and first assistants, to name a few, is critical to ensure patient safety and positive outcomes. And teamwork does not have to be reserved for inside the surgical…

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Editor's Note A recent survey by online platform The Muse finds that Generation Z workers are the most likely to leave a job because of a toxic workplace, even though they have spent the least amount of time in the workplace, the March 14 Benefit News reports. The survey showed…

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Editor's Note Between 2016 and 2021, some 7,600 fraudulent nursing degrees were sold to individuals so they could qualify to sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing exam (NCLEX), the February 27 Yahoo News reports. NCLEX is a rigorous exam that usually takes about 5 hours to…

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Editor's Note More than 900 New York nurses, who studied at the seven Florida-based nursing schools that were shut down for allegedly selling fraudulent degrees, were given 14 days to prove their credentials or surrender their licenses, the February 21 Times Union reports. Another 2,400 New York students, who were…

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