Editor's Note Informational brochures help patients discuss anesthesia options with their anesthesia providers, finds a study presented at the Anesthesiology 2015 annual meeting in San Diego. In the study, 67 patients were given brochures during a preoperative clinic visit that explained the different types of anesthesia, risks, and benefits, and…

Read More

Editor's Note More physicians and nurses are needed as Medicare and Medicaid reach their 50th anniversary, Healthcare Finance News reports. Medicare and Medicaid paid $15 billion toward residency training programs in 2012, and the Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted a shortage of between 46,000 and 90,000 physicians by…

Read More

Five years have passed since the Institute of Medicine recommended changes in nursing education and practice. Soon after the IOM issued its report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) partnered with AARP to launch the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action to…

Read More

Successful hiring for the OR depends on ensuring nurses have the right education and clinical skills as well as the right attitude: Are they are willing and able to be team players? OR nurse leaders at Saint Luke’s Health System (SLHS), Kansas City, Missouri, have been revamping their intern and…

Read More

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…

Read More

Perioperative nursing needs a standardized educational path for entry into the profession, according to James X. Stobinski, PhD, RN, CNOR (cover story), yet there’s no single entity for taking charge and making that happen. Stobinski lays out some options for how to achieve the education and competency needed for the…

Read More

Some 300 surgical services leaders from across the US gathered in Orlando in February for the OR Business Management Conference to escape from winter and absorb the collective wisdom of a stellar group of presenters and exhibitors. Presentations on Lean management, scheduling innovations, staff relationships, nurse education, and cost-saving measures—to…

Read More

When it comes to patient safety in the OR, the risk of fire or other damage caused by surgical instruments is an area that deserves greater attention. Professional medical societies concerned about such risks have developed a multidisciplinary curriculum that addresses appropriate and safe use of energy devices in surgery…

Read More

Education is always high on my list of goals at the start of a new year, and OR Manager’s two annual events are excellent resources for new insights into the care of surgical patients. Both will feature experienced leaders addressing the key issues that affect the management of ORs in…

Read More

What started out as a software package to train medical device representatives for the OR has evolved into a program to train OR personnel to scrub and support a “rep-less” model. The software, designed by a former perioperative nurse, helps orient staff to new procedures, documents their competency, and streamlines…

Read More