Editor's Note An enhanced recovery pathway (ERP) allowed liver surgery patients to return to normal function sooner than a traditional pathway in this study. Patients on the ERP reported lower immediate postoperative pain scores, fewer complications, and decreased length of stay than those on the traditional pathway. ERP patients also…

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Editor's Note Postoperative hip fracture patients are more likely to be successfully discharged home if they are rehabilitated in centers that care for at least 25 hip fracture patients per year, this study finds. Successful discharge was 43.7% for high-volume facilities (> 24 admissions/year) vs 18.8% for low-volume facilities (1-6…

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Editor's Note Specific hospital resources can overcome the weekend effect seen in urgent general surgery procedures, this study finds. Resources that were predictors for overcoming the weekend effect included: full adoption of electronic medical records, home health program, pain management program, increased RN-to-bed ratio, and inpatient physical rehabilitation. The study…

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Editor's Note In this pilot study of 50 surgical patients from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, the majority preferred online postoperative visits to in-person visits. Online visits were accepted by patients and surgeons, took less time, and effectively identified patients who required further care.    

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission is offering a new integrated care certification option that is focused on helping health care organizations improve coordination across the continuum of care. The new certification assesses how well a health care organization integrates information sharing, transitions of care, hand-off communications, and other key activities…

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Editor's Note New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing shows patient and nurse outcomes in Kaiser Permanente hospitals were significantly better than other hospitals. Differences in nursing explained a significant proportion of Kaiser’s outcomes advantages. The researchers found that Kaiser hospitals have significantly better nurse work environments,…

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Editor's Note Though a nurse practitioner in Connecticut pleaded guilty recently to taking $83,000 in kickbacks from a drug company, the payments were not listed in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments Database. That’s because companies are not required under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act to publicly…

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There is no OR nurse university. Nurses can’t go away to college, pay tuition, and learn to be a perioperative nurse. “Faced with a staffing shortfall, how are we going to deal with this? How are they going to learn and acquire skills needed to work in the OR?” These…

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The number of specimens that are mishandled on a nationwide basis is difficult to know, but even one such incident is too much for any patient who is affected. “If a specimen is placed in a fixative and it wasn’t supposed to be, additional testing may be compromised,” says Ann…

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Certain words and phrases are used frequently in nursing—sometimes so frequently that their true meaning is lost. For some, the term “shared governance” is one of those. What is shared governance? “A dynamic staff-leader partnership that promotes collaboration, shared decision making, and accountability for improving quality of care, safety, and…

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