Specific care bundles successfully cut surgical site infection rates
Three new studies on reducing surgical site infections (SSIs) were reported at the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) conference in July. Researchers at three different institutions identified several process changes that, once implemented, brought down SSI rates. Each study used different methodology, but all…
Vanderbilt's anesthesia QI program reduces adverse postoperative events
The anesthesia quality improvement program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville can claim a variety of successes, notably less postoperative hypo- and hyper-glycemia and fewer wound infections. When anesthesia providers noticed they weren’t monitoring blood glucose in patients with diabetes as frequently as their own goals specified, they put…
Researchers identify ways to reduce UTI rates
Three new studies on reducing urinary tract infections (UTIs) were reported at the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) conference in July. Researchers identified several process changes that, once implemented, brought down infection rates. Each study and its findings are described below. The S.T.O.P.…
OR team uses evidence-based practices to reduce readmissions
Concerted efforts to reduce readmissions have paid off at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. Among its bragging rights since launching an initiative last year: decreased length of stay for colorectal surgery patients and a downward trend in readmissions. To learn how they did it, OR Manager spoke with…
Surgical patients warmed with forced air still experience hypothermia
Even in patients actively warmed with forced air during surgery, hypothermia is routine during the first hour of anesthesia, a new study finds. Intraoperative core hypothermia causes complications such as coagulopathy, surgical site infections, and possibly myocardial complications. It also decreases drug metabolism, prolongs recovery, and causes thermal discomfort. Warming…
Surgeon sees standardization and data as keys to higher value healthcare
Over the past decade, the number of quality measurement programs has grown exponentially as hospitals respond to public and government demands for greater accountability and improved patient care. During this time, quality programs have been focused largely on how to do quality, how to measure it, how to improve it,…
Leaders may be barrier to evidence-based practice
Serious barriers—including resistance from nursing leaders—are keeping nurses from adopting evidence-based practices that could improve nursing outcomes, finds a survey of more than 1,000 RNs. Leader and manager resistance was ranked among the top barriers along with politics and organizational cultures. Asked what would help, respondents named education, access to…
Electronic tool aids in navigating preop process
Preop “nurse navigators” aided by an electronic tool are helping a Pennsylvania health system create a more standardized, user-friendly preoperative process for preparing patients for surgery. A cornerstone of the process is evidence-based guidelines for preop evaluation developed by a 50-person task force. “We wanted to optimize our approach so…
Rapid methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening in infection control programs
Editor's note AUGUST 2011 OR leaders are striving to make evidence-based decisions about new technology. OR Manager, Inc., and ECRI Institute have joined in a collaboration to bring quarterly supplements with summaries of the Institute's Emerging Technology Evidence Reports to OR Manager readers. ECRI Institute is an independent nonprofit organization…
Is your OR as clean as it could be? Evidence shows more is needed
Every OR has policies and procedures for environmental cleaning. But how do you know surfaces are truly free of pathogens that could transmit infection? The stakes are high. Environmental contamination plays a role in the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and Clostridium difficile, among others. Evidence…
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