What exactly is required to prepare instruments for transport to the decontamination room after a surgical procedure? Point-of-use cleaning, which may also be referred to as precleaning, has been used to describe instrument preparation at the point of use after a surgical procedure. But both point-of-use cleaning and precleaning have…

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Advancements in technology have made it easier to distract children and ease their fears when they are undergoing surgery, but managing this patient population presents unique challenges. To guide parents and children through the surgery experience, leaders at some ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have turned to child life specialists, innovative…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, quantify the current representatives of the US healthcare workforce and changes during the past 2 decades. Among the findings: The percentage of White men among physicians…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on July 9 announced a new breast cancer skills program for breast cancer patients. Patients have access to evidence-based knowledge, checklists, and skills training to support them from preoperative preparation through postoperative recovery. Given in advance of surgery, the ACS Surgical Skills…

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Editor's Note In this study by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, mass COVID-19 preprocedure testing detected positive asymptomatic patients who were missed by clinical screening alone. The median test turnaround time was 7.8 hours. Of 75, 528 preprocedure tests performed: 318 (0.4%) patients tested positive…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on June 25, identified the recall of DeRoyal Industries’ surgical procedure packs as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because the packs contain 1% lidocaine that had been mislabeled as 0.5% bupivacaine. The procedure packs are used for cardiac…

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Editor's Note The American Medical Association (AMA) has released a new survey of 301 US practicing physicians that shows 96% have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Of those not yet vaccinated, 45% plan to do so. Vaccination rates did not differ across: primary care physicians (98%) or specialists (95%) regions—North…

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Does it really matter if surgical instruments are submerged in cleaning solution when technologists or nurses scrub them after a case? Is there a reason for the 3-foot separation between dirty and clean areas? Do germs stop at the red line? During the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention has been focused…

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Many of today’s medical facilities have been modernized, but some still have areas of aging infrastructure. The central sterile processing (CSP) department at Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton, Ohio, is one such example. The original Terrazzo floor from when the facility was built in 1953 had become hazardous. The…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on June 16 that the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has launched a new Medication Safety Self Assessment for perioperative settings to gauge how well organizations are doing in protecting surgical patients from medication errors. The new tool, which is for hospitals, ambulatory…

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