Editor's Note In this retrospective cohort study, researchers looked at the association between inflammation and various outcomes following major abdominal surgery. The study, titled "Postoperative systemic inflammation after major abdominal surgery: patient-centered outcomes," was published in the journal Anaesthesia, of the Association of Anaesthetists, in August 2023. Data came from…

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Editor's Note Researchers from the University of North Carolina developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can predict whether cancerous tissue has been fully removed from the body during breast cancer surgical procedures. Their findings were published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology August 2023 issue.  During the procedure, surgeons…

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Editor's Note Transgender people are subject to mistreatment in healthcare encounters, including harassment, assault, and denial of care, according to this September 2023 qualitative study published by Annals of Family Medicine. This study comprised 30 transgender adults and found the following experiences among transgender patients: Transgender people often found clinicians’…

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Editor's Note The nonprofit Leapfrog Group has joined forces with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to recognize hospitals providing exceptional care for patients with diabetes, Chief Healthcare Executive September 12 reports. Earning the designation will be based on how well hospitals meet ADA’s standards of care, in addition to their…

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The OR is the financial motor of a hospital. As such, inefficiencies in this space adversely impact patient safety as well as the financial stability of the hospital and/or healthcare system. The first case on-time starts (FCOTS) metric is one of the primary benchmarks for assessing OR efficiency. The following…

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Editor's Note This cohort study, published by the British Journal of Anesthesia in September 2023, finds that surgical patients who are discharged with prescribed opioids have higher risks of hospital readmission and mortality.  The study looked at data from a territory-wide retrospective cohort of patients in Hong Kong who underwent…

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Editor's Note Researchers for a long time have expressed concern about how time and temperature might contribute to changes that affect the cleaning and sterilization of instruments. However, there have been few studies examining these claims. A September 2023 study in Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology from the Association for the…

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Editor's Note A new study in Journal of Nursing Management, published on September 6, found that when the majority of nursing shifts in mental health and community wards were 12 hours or longer, there was a significant increase in the risk of patient incidents.  Some highlights of the study include:…

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Editor's Note “What happens when two worlds collide?” asked one of the speakers when discussing the combination of the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and the inpatient unit at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. The speakers were Cohen Children's Sharon Goodman, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, CPNP, director, pediatric service line; Kristen Martin, MSN,…

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Editor's Note What is a hard stop? “Think about it,” Amy Bethel, MPA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, education coordinator for the OR Business Management Conference, urged this year’s OR Manager Conference attendees. “You all know what a hard stop is, and I know all of you have had hard stops. But…

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