The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic run deep in the nursing profession. As one respondent to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey noted: “[The pandemic has] caused healthcare workers to rethink the reason they went into this profession. Also the fact that we could die doing our jobs.” Part of…

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Staff turnover and open positions have increased in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) during the past year, according to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, indicating the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. About half (49%) of ASC leaders reported increased RN turnover (more than double the 24% in 2020), and…

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Editor's Note American Hospital Association statistics show that 1,850 US hospitals, or nearly 30%, have now announced COVID-19 vaccination mandates for their healthcare workers (HCWs), the August 17 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Several states, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Main, also are requiring HCWs to get vaccinated.…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in July to a seasonally adjusted 15,990,500 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on August 6. That’s up 36,800 since June. Hospital employment was up 18,300 jobs. The overall unemployment rate fell to 5.4%.

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The Joint Commission on June 18 issued prepublication standards for its New and Revised Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements, which will apply to all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals starting January 1, 2022. Revisions range from some wording changes in existing requirements to the addition of new Elements of Performance (EP) within certain…

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Choosing words carefully to send the message that was intended is a critical skill in the high-stress environment of the OR. Frances Cole Jones, an expert in the nuances of language, will inspire OR Manager Conference attendees to think differently about how they communicate during her keynote address on October…

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Editor's Note This study led by Linda H. Aiken, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, finds that establishing safe nurse staffing standards in hospitals in Chile could save lives, prevent readmissions, shorten hospital stays, and reduce costs. The researchers collected data from 1,652 nurses practicing in…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was down in June to a seasonally adjusted 15,954,500 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on July 2. That’s down 12,200 since May. Hospital employment was down 5,500 jobs. The overall unemployment rate rose to 5.9%.

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Many ingredients go into the recipe for patient safety, and culture is one ingredient that is often overlooked. If the perioperative culture penalizes those who call out patient safety issues and doesn’t commit to continuous quality improvement (QI), it’s likely only a matter of time before a serious error occurs.…

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Communication is an underlying theme in several articles in this issue. We examine the concept from many different angles, but a common thread is its impact on safety—for patients and providers alike. In the COVID-19 era, safety has been a chief driver of decision making. Early in 2020, elective surgical…

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