Joint Commission announces new NAHQ report on quality competencies
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on June 19 announced that the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) has issued a new report−“Key Workforce Competencies for Quality-Driven Healthcare”− that focuses on creating a new framework for competencies needed by healthcare organizations to meet new goals for quality-driven healthcare. Among the competencies:…
Staff input enriches labor benchmarking data
Labor is the most important resource in an OR and must be used effectively to maintain the financial health of an organization and the well-being of patients. “OR leaders need data tools to manage their labor dollars. How do you know if you are doing it well?” asks Sharon Ulep,…
Operative outcomes of new vs experienced surgeons
Editor's Note The majority of differences in outcomes between new and experiences surgeons are associated with the context in which care is delivered and patient complexity, rather than inexperience, this study finds. A total of 694,165 Medicare patients treated by 8,503 experienced surgeons were matched to 68,036 treated by 2,119…
Cross-training staff solves competency and engagement puzzle
High labor costs, surgeon dissatisfaction, high staff turnover, and low staff competency are problems that dog many OR leaders at some point in their careers. When managers at the Stanford University Medical Center Main OR in Stanford, California, found themselves facing all of these problems at once, they knew something…
Study: Findings describe nurse manager role preparation, competency
Editor's Note Nurse executives need to evaluate the strength of their nursing leadership talent pool and develop policies and strategies that promote nurse manager competence, this study finds. A survey of 647 nurse managers, who manage 964 patient care units in 54 hospitals found the following: They rated themselves as…
'Coming clean' in the SPD requires collaboration and competency—Part 1
Contaminated surgical instruments made ECRI Institute’s 2019 annual top 10 list of health technology hazards, coming in at number five: “Mishandling flexible endoscopes after disinfection can lead to patient infections.” Number two on the list in 2018 was “Endoscope reprocessing failures continue to expose patients to infection risk.” It’s not…
Prioritizing patient safety unites and empowers OR team—Part 1
Communication breakdowns in the perioperative environment are a factor in 70% of events that adversely affect patients. Sometimes those breakdowns occur because OR staff are reluctant to voice their concerns in an environment that is hierarchical and intimidating. However, when an organization adopts patient safety first (PSF) initiatives, adverse outcomes…
Study: Bachelor’s degree nurses better prepared than associate degree nurses
Editor's Note In this study, nurses with bachelor’s degrees were found to be significantly better prepared than nurses with associate degrees in 5 of 16 test topics between 2007 and 2008, and in 12 of 16 topics between 2014 and 2015. Researchers tested the quality and safety educational preparedness differences…
Creating standardized process for training new surgeons in robotic surgery
Editor's Note Automated performance metrics can distinguish surgeon expertise during anastomoses and create an objective, standardized way to train new surgeons, this study finds. Researchers used a data recorder plugged into a robotic surgery system to evaluate expert and novice surgeons’ movements for 70 vesicourethral anastomoses (total of 1,745 stitches)…
Effect of Foley catheter placement by medical students on postop CAUTIs
Editor's Note Patients who have Foley catheters placed by medical students in the OR are at increased risk of postoperative catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), this study finds. This analysis included 891 patients who had Foley catheters placed in the OR by surgical residents (547 patients), OR nurses (227), or…
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