Twelve-hour shifts: Is it time to look for a better alternative?
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…
Specialty staff versus generalists: How do ORs strike the balance?
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…
OR analyst: A support for periop leaders
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…
Who's going to take your place? Developing a plan for succession
The average OR nurse manager is 51. Do you know where your replacement is? Though a lot of attention has been focused on the nursing shortage, not as much has been paid to the pending shortage of managers. By 2010, about 20% of current nurse leaders plan to retire, and…
Family & Medical Leave Act and OR staffing
OR managers are raising questions about the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). They say they try to be sympathetic to the needs of employees that the act is supposed to alleviate, but the prolonged leaves can cause staffing problems. Questions focus on the privacy requirements of the act.…
Free Daily News
- OR Business Management Conference, daily coverage begins
- Healthgrades names best hospitals for patient outcomes
- FDA announces Class 1 recall for ventilator system
- Research review: Nurse-led preoperative visits reduce anxiety, build trust
- Moody’s downgrades health insurance outlook as medical costs surge
- Criminalizing anesthesia errors has unintended consequences, experts warn
- FDA approves new non-opioid analgesic
- Legislation proposes to halt Medicare physician payment cuts
- Cigna ties executive pay to patient experience
- Proposed tax credit aims to bolster nurse preceptor ranks