Expect the unexpected: How we recovered operations after Hurricane Harvey
Whatever your facility’s disaster management plan, it needs continual refinement to account for the differences between imagined and real scenarios. Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston hard on Saturday, August 26, 2017, is a case in point. The storm brought more than 60 inches of rain within a couple of days,…
'Coming clean' in the SPD requires collaboration and competency—Part 2
Contaminated surgical instruments pose a danger to patients and to an organization’s bottom line. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed prevention strategies (OR Manager, April 2019, 14-15, 19). In Part 2, the focus is on investigating potential contamination, along with design considerations. Detective work Despite best…
Vigilance best protects ASCs from workplace violence
Violence is a fact of life in healthcare settings. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that, on average, healthcare workers are four times as likely to be victimized as those in private industry. Most types of violent incidents involve patients or visitors acting out against staff, accounting for 93%…
Joint Commission: Quick Safety addresses drug diversion
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on April 17 that the April issue of Quick Safety focuses on drug diversion and examines patterns and trends that could indicate drug diversion. It also offers safety actions organizations can take and describes how to take the mistakes other hospitals have made and…
Hospital safety culture linked to surgical patient outcomes
Editor's Note A hospital’s safety culture may influence certain surgical patient outcomes, finds this study. A Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), sent to administrators, quality improvement teams, nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons in 49 hospitals participating in the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative, found that OR safety culture had the highest scores…
Low-value procedures associated with hospital-acquired complications
Editor's Note Patients admitted to the hospital for procedures that would not be expected to require admission (ie, low-value procedures) are being harmed, consuming additional hospital resources, and delaying care for patients for whom the services would be appropriate, this Australian study finds. In this analysis of 9,330 episodes of…
Factors linked to, lessons learned from reduced mortality during military conflicts
Editor's Note The increased use of tourniquets, blood transfusions, and reduced time to surgical treatment (ie, within 1 hour) were the main factors that reduced mortality 44.2% during military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, this study finds. From October 2001 through December 2017, survival increase three-fold among the most critically…
FDA addresses potential medical device, product shortages amid shutdown of sterilization facility
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on March 26 said it will take steps to address potential medical product and device shortages because of the recent closure of a large contract sterilization facility, Sterigenics (Willowbrook, Illinois). Earlier this year, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued an order to stop…
Improving hand hygiene compliance among anesthesia providers in the OR
Editor's Note Educating anesthesia providers on the World Health Organization’s five indications for hand hygiene, increasing access to hand hygiene products in the OR, and monitoring hand hygiene among anesthesia providers can improve hand hygiene compliance, this study finds. Hand hygiene was observed in three phases: Preimplementation, postimplementation, and 60…
Effect of PPE doffing errors on healthcare worker self-contamination
Editor's Note The risk of hand contamination was higher when healthcare workers (HCWs) removed their gloves before their gowns during personal protective equipment (PPE) doffing, and HCWs who made multiple PPE doffing errors were more likely to have contaminated clothes after patient interactions, this study finds. In this analysis of…
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- Cardiovascular disease trends raise alarms on primary care
- Study: Kidney transplants safe between donors, patients with HIV
- Study: Women more likely to die from postoperative complications after high-risk surgery
- Study: Same-day aquablation surgery safe for ASCs
- Outpatient, ASC clinicians share perspectives on upcoming NOPAIN Act implementation
- Study dispels orthopedic surgeon turnover myth
- Feds take action on Hurricane-wracked medical supply chain with wartime powers, drug compounding guidance
- Study: Wearable devices improve postoperative physical activity in lung cancer patients
- Digital twin technology aids cardiac surgery at Boston Children's Hospital
- Study: Staff shortages increase hospital infection rates