Hundreds of thousands of patients undergo total knee replacements in the U.S. every year, with increasing numbers of the procedures performed in outpatient facilities. Thanks to rapid technological advancements...

The Gold Standard of Smoke-Free Surgery; When a nurse had an asthma attack following a plume-generating surgery, our perioperative team sprang into action.

Last month marked two years since George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest on a Minneapolis street. After his death, the nation confronted systemic racism and continued to...

AdventHealth Tampa in Florida has made significant investments in cutting-edge care by constructing The Taneja Center for Surgery, a $300M marvel that opened its doors in October 2021 and features 18 fully integrated ORs....

It’s possible to make great strides in increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in surgery without the benefit of a national platform, whether it’s returning to the OR after a tragic accident, deciding to take on inequities in patient...

Outpatient surgeries blossomed when providers figured out that inpatient stays followed by extended bed rest weren’t always necessary, or even good for their patients. Many patients were better off recovering...

The attention to detail that’s required to properly care for the tools of surgery takes on even greater importance when microsurgical instrumentation is involved. Proper care and regular maintenance extend...

Every time Lauren Bryan, RN, notices an OR team member following her facility’s robust hand hygiene protocols, she makes it a point to verbally acknowledge the compliance she just witnessed. It’s positive recognition, sure....

Warming patients before, during and after surgeries delivers two primary benefits. The most obvious is the comfort. Warmth can do wonders to soothe a shivering, nervous...

What is the biggest difference between inpatient and outpatient infection prevention? Generally, there isn’t a playbook for the outpatient setting. If you become an infection preventionist for the inpatient world, there’s online...

No sterile processing department (SPD) manager wants to add another step to the complex and strategically redundant process of sterilizing surgical instruments....

Most surgical professionals are relatively knowledgeable about the best surface cleaning practices, and tried-and-true manual methods remain the best way to...

No matter how hard one tries, the skin simply cannot be made sterile. It can, however, be made surgically clean. Optimizing the skin’s cleanliness prior to surgery is the target that...

There are between 75 and 100 intricate steps involved in the proper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes. That means there are countless opportunities for staff to miss critical steps...

Studies have shown that up to 30% of the population may be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in their nares and up to 5% of U.S. hospitalized patients...

Zero is always the goal. Our surgery center works tirelessly on multiple fronts to ensure no patient walks away from an elective procedure with a surgical site infection (SSI). Of course, hitting that elusive benchmark is always...

For the past two-plus years, the world has constantly turned to infection preventionists and epidemiologists looking for answers on how to combat an insidious and...

Outpatient Surgery Magazine: What are your thoughts about the supply chain, especially on the ASC side of things — how it's been through the pandemic,...

Concerns from surgeons and nurses about the quality of our instruments forced us to determine the root cause of the issue. First, we had to find out if it was related to...

My son is 29 years old and living with autism. It’s been challenging as a parent to raise him in a world that doesn’t always understand or accommodate his unique needs....