Regional anesthesia provides potent perioperative pain control, reduces the risks of problematic complications and decreases the need for unnecessary opioid prescriptions....

The jury's been in on double-gloving for quite some time now. Wearing two layers of protection is an easy, cost-saving and low-tech way to reduce risks of cross-contamination...

How did your widely used scale come to be? I met Donna Wong, the late co-author of the scale, in 1981. We shared a concern about...

The persistent pain above her ribcage made sleeping at night nearly impossible. "My primary care physician dismissed it as a muscular injury that would correct itself,..."

We should all engage in dialogues with people who are different than we are — whether that's a different race, gender identity, cultural background or generation — to learn about perspectives other than our own. Listening sessions...

Everyone believes they have a general sense of "what" pain is. We've all stubbed our toes, slipped and fell, had horrible headaches or, worse still, stepped on Legos. Of course, this type of pain is incidental, unanticipated...

As you read this column, I will have been vaccinated against the dreaded virus we've been fighting for the past 12 months and started a new assignment as a travel nurse. I plan to retire at the end of the year, so this gig...

The coronavirus has forced us to change how we present ongoing education for our medical center's 120 perioperative team members. Monthly staff education at our hospital used to occur in a large conference room...

Numbing nerves with local anesthetics relieves post-op pain for days at a time. Freezing them with a blast of targeted cold therapy can provide the same soothing effect for...

It's important to keep everyone on your staff engaged and connected, and fun group activities can help create a sense of community among the team. Try inviting members of your perioperative department to submit unique...

My career as a nurse anesthetist recently began at two plastic surgery centers, where I knew I'd face significant challenges in managing PONV. Rates of the relatively common...

Abulatory surgical facilities have pivoted quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shown clinical teams are able to make a number of changes in short order. In this new world of "must-dos," though, we can't lose...

Great ideas for your OR

Early this year, one of the first total hip replacements paid for by Medicare was performed on a woman in her late 80s at our outpatient surgery center. This was only possible because the Centers for Medicare...

Success in cataract surgery is often defined by excellent outcomes achieved quickly and safely. SightTrust Eye Institute in Sunrise, Fla., has that process down to an exact science....

Though often considered more of a niche procedure, replacing only the diseased part of the knee offers advantages to the right patient, including a faster recovery and higher satisfaction with the overall results, says...

Surgical incisions create openings and opportunities for the trillions of bacterial cells that live inside of the body, so efforts to prevent post-op infections shouldn't end until...

Patients who are discharged hours after procedures that used to require inpatient stays to recover don't hurt any less. Today's pain control methods must advance along with...

A cardiac procedure is on the schedule and there are eight different-sized stents — at $80 a pop — that could be used. Your surgical team opens all eight, even though seven will likely be thrown away. That's $560 worth...

Our "Above and Beyond" program allows staff members to nominate their colleagues for recognition whenever they are seen upholding our facility's core values, which include always putting the patient first, being inclusive,...