Same-Day Surgery – June 1, 2008
June 1, 2008
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Should you allow live broadcasts of cases? Some answer definitive 'no'
As part of his efforts to educate the public about heart health, Frederick Meadors, MD, a surgeon at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, AR, had planned to perform surgery on a patient while 330 people watched the procedure live through a video feed in a hospital auditorium. -
ASA advisory addresses operating room fires
The effects of operating room fires can be devastating. An estimated 50 to 100 surgical fires per year is one of the reasons that the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has developed a practice advisory to address the issue. -
Be prepared for wide range of patient questions
Ask questions. These words of advice are offered to patients, especially surgical patients, by accreditation organizations, medical societies, health care institutions, and individual physicians. -
Manage schedule closely for steady patient stream
Maximizing the use of your operating or procedure rooms can positively affect your bottom line. Although staff members can reduce turnover time to increase the number of cases each room can handle, what can you do about no-shows on the day of surgery or physicians who don't use all of the time blocked out for their procedures? -
Include patient education as part of infection control
Improper hand washing is the No. 1 way nosocomial infections are spread, says Sharon B. Hampton, MSN, RN, CAPA, patient care nurse manager for the ambulatory care unit, post-anesthesia care unit, pre-op holding unit, short-stay unit, and interventional radiology recovery unit at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. -
Same-Day Surgery Manager: Q&A: Getting surgeons to use your facility
Question: Why are our investors not using the surgery center they built after they convinced us to give up our jobs at the local hospital? I am a pretty savvy RN who understands business as well as the next person, but this doesn't make sense. We built out five operating rooms. We are lucky if we are using two, and that is stretching it. Is it us? -
Sedation system to raise compliance?
Diagnostic procedures range from easy and unobtrusive (maybe just a quick nasal swab, that's all), to highly obtrusive and uncomfortable (read, colonoscopy), with this spectrum largely determining patient willingness to pursue them.