Perioperative leaders are actively planning for future staffing needs. Still, the majority (56%) say they’re having problems filling staff nurse positions. And two-thirds (68%) anticipate problems in the next 5 years, according to OR Manager’s succession planning survey (related article). Nurse leaders in surgery accept the need “to grow their…

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OR directors continue to struggle with an economy resisting improvement. More than two-thirds (68%) say the economy affected their OR staffing in the past 6 months, according to the 22nd annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey—virtually unchanged from 69% in 2011. The economy may be causing employees to stay put. More…

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A weak economy continues to affect staffing in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), according to the 22nd annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, with about 80% of nurse managers saying staff turnover stayed the same compared to 12 months ago, similar to 2011 results. Other staffing parameters are also similar to last…

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The average age of a perioperative nurse is higher than the average of 47 for nurses overall. That makes retaining older nurses a critical need for OR managers. The immediate problem has subsided in recent years because of the poor economy. Still, “We’re concerned that as soon as the economy…

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Hospitals now have the flexibility under federal law to include practitioners other than physicians on their medical staffs. That’s one provision of Medicare’s revised Conditions of Participation (COP) for hospitals and critical access hospitals, which take effect July 16, 2012. The revision is the first major overhaul of the COPs…

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"Building hybrid rooms is building for the future," says Nicholas D. Troeleman, RNFA, director of perioperative services at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), Baltimore. "Having hybrid rooms in a research setting like the University of Maryland gives physician researchers the ability to develop new techniques and build on…

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Wanted: Operating Room Scheduler. Salary $33,000. Operating room schedulers reserve space for each surgical procedure in a hospital or ambulatory surgery facility. They determine how long a procedure will take and what staff is necessary. OR schedulers work with anesthesiologists to assign one for each procedure, as well as OR…

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In this issue: A nursing professor challenges nurse leaders to seek alternatives to 12-hour shifts, page 15. Read results of OR Manager's online survey on 12-hour shifts, page 17. Twelve-hour shifts are popular. Many nurses like working 3 12-hour days and having 4 days off. The extended shifts also help…

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In the middle of the night, a patient arrives with a leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm, and the surgeon wants to insert an endograft. Or a patient arrives with a major pelvic fracture. Another patient needs an image-guided craniotomy. Who will answer the call? In an ideal world, specialized teams for…

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Perioperative directors have seen their jobs expand, with growing demands for financial analysis, operational efficiency, and quality monitoring. To help provide support, HCA Inc, one of the nation's largest health care providers, developed the role of OR analyst. It's estimated more than 50% of HCA's 173 hospitals now have such…

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