Periop Nursing
FDA updates safety recall of certain saline, sterile water medical products
Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 24 updated its safety recall communication from November 6 to add to the voluntary recalls of saline and sterile water medical products associated with Nurse Assist, LLC. The FDA recall notice lists various water-based medical products manufactured by Nurse…
Blast from the past: Improving medication safety in the OR
The US Food and Drug Administration receives more than 100,000 medication-related reports, and some of them, according to the AORN Journal, “involve patient death.” AORN’s 2024 updated guidelines include safety updates for perioperative staff when handling, transporting, and administering medication, which can be a complex process prone to errors. In…
Supporting healthcare staff with on-demand staffing solutions
Healthcare systems worldwide, regardless of their size or market, are facing the same challenge: how to meet the growing demand for qualified staff without straining hospital budgets. According to a report by the American Hospital Association, health systems are experiencing a significant workforce turnover that began in 2016. On average,…
Healthcare employment up in December, defying expectations
Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US rose by 37,700 from December 2023 to January 2024, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on January 5. Overall, employment rose by 2.7 million in 2023 (an average monthly gain of 225,000), which is less than the…
Nursing exam pass rates turn around in 2023
Editor's Note Nursing exam pass rates are on the rise after years of decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a January 1 report from MedPage Today. During 2020 and 2021, the share of US candidates who passed the national licensure exam to work as an RN fell from…
Perioperative management: Top challenges, priorities for OR leaders in 2024, per survey
Staff recruitment and retention is the top priority of OR leaders going into 2024, according to a November/December survey conducted by LeanTaaS in collaboration with OR Manager. Out of 84 respondents (some skipped), while 76% chose staff recruitment and retention, both improving operational efficiency (65%) and sustaining volume (36%) also…
Meeting the SPD staffing challenge
Takeaways • Failure to understand the complexity of the work performed in the sterile processing department (SPD) can lead to staff shortages, errors, and significant financial loss. • Strategies for addressing SPD staffing include effective orientation, certification, competency assessment, analyzing staffing needs, and leader visibility. • SPD schedules should reflect…
The issue of fake nursing diplomas in the healthcare workforce
Initially, the massive nursing credentials scam—disclosed by federal prosecutors early last year—involved three once legitimate, now-shuttered, Florida nurses’ training institutions. Some two dozen criminal operators and recruiters have been arrested and indicted; an as-of-yet unknown number face decades behind bars. According to multiple indictments, most for wire fraud, the scammers…
Taking a hands-on approach: A day in the OR manager role
Kim Rosencrans, RN, BSN, has worked as a surgical nurse in a number of successively more senior roles over the past 20 plus years—and she has retained a hands-on approach, even as an OR manager in the Surgery Department at Trinity Health in North Dakota, one of the nation’s largest…
Award winners stress collaboration, flexibility, asking for help
Emerging from the thick of the pandemic has been tough for OR managers and clinicians, between rampant healthcare industry burnout and other challenges. Yet the winners of this year’s OR Manager leadership awards, presented at the OR Manager Conference, are proving that the right combination of hard work, empathy, and…
Free Daily News
- AI boosts accuracy in surgical reports, outperforming surgeons
- AI models improve prediction of surgical complications using preoperative clinical notes
- Ambient AI healthcare documentation gains traction as capabilities expand
- Healthcare M&A faces tighter review as FTC retains guidelines
- Healthcare giants prioritize shareholder payouts over patient care
- Texas abortion ban linked to spike in pregnancy complications, maternal death
- AI streamlines documentation, frees time for nurses at Cedars-Sinai surgical unit
- Study identifies potential non-surgical treatment for inguinal hernias
- Rural hospital closures remain a growing concern despite slight financial improvement
- Session: Hoisting the Sails—Winning Strategies for Growing Service Lines in an ASC