Patient & Staff Safety
Physician Burnout Is An Obstacle To Patient Safety
March 12, 2013 9:18 am | by Bob Wachter, M.D. | Blogs | CommentsI’ve never been more worried about the safety movement than I am today. My fear is that we will look back on the years between 2000 and 2012 as the Golden Era of Patient Safety, which would be okay if we’d fixed all the problems. But we have not.
Double-Gloving Systems
March 8, 2013 10:04 am | by Cardinal Health | Cardinal Health | Product Releases | CommentsCardinal Health offers “blue” double-gloving systems in support of safety initiatives. The system includes a “blue” foundation with a light-colored overglove. Our undergloves - Protexis PI Blue with Neu-Thera and Protexis Latex Blue with Neu-Thera Surgical Gloves - are powder-free, available in synthetic polyisoprene (PI) and natural rubber latex (latex), and are blue in color.
The 2013 Pink Glove Dance From AORN
March 7, 2013 11:10 am | Videos | CommentsOn March 4, 2013, at 6:00 in the morning, more than 1,100 operating room nurses participated in a special Pink Glove Dance in San Diego, CA at Medline's 8th Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Breakfast.
Kinecting In The OR
March 7, 2013 10:25 am | Videos | CommentsA hands-on lookat how the capabilities of the Kinect gaming system could be utilized in the operating room.
Study Indicates Accurate Patient Monitoring Under Propofol Anesthesia
March 6, 2013 10:04 am | News | CommentsMassachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have identified specific EEG (electroencephalogram) signatures that indicate when patients lose and regain consciousness under the general anesthetic drug propofol.
Breast Cancer Patients’ Fear of Developing Lymphedema Far Exceeds Risk
February 26, 2013 10:38 am | News | CommentsWomen who have had the lymph nodes under their arm surgically removed during breast cancer treatment are warned to avoid certain practices that can cause lymphedema—a condition that causes chronic, painless swelling in the arm. Now, a new study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests that the vast majority of women who undergo breast cancer operations worry about developing this complication and that this fear far exceeds their actual risk of getting lymphedema.
Study: More Risk For Female Hip Replacement Patients
February 21, 2013 9:28 am | by CBS News | Videos | CommentsThe latest research on hip replacements finds female patients face a higher risk of needing a follow-up operation than men.
Cool Flow Vest System
February 19, 2013 10:11 am | by Polar Products | Product Releases | CommentsPolar Products' Cool Flow Vest System provides cooling comfort during long surgeries by continuously circulating cold water from a 15 quart cooler through over 50 feet of insulated tubing within the vest. Breakaway couplings allow freedom of movement as needed. The Fitted Vest weighs less than 8 ounces and has a snug, comfortable fit.
Positioning And The Surgical Robot
February 13, 2013 1:30 pm | by Dan Allen, Founding Partner, Medicus Surgical and Nursing CE Portal | Articles | CommentsHere's how to deal with the special requirements of the surgical robotics experience.
Mother-Daughter Cosmetic Surgery A Bonding Experience
February 13, 2013 12:29 pm | News | CommentsWhile the concept of couples' plastic surgery has remained in vogue for many years, a recent article reveals that many mothers and daughters are approaching cosmetic procedures together as a way to bond over beauty.
Study Questions Surgery For Kidney Tumor Removal
February 13, 2013 12:13 pm | by Marilynn Marchione, AP | News | CommentsA review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away. Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal.
Take A Deep Breath
February 13, 2013 12:08 pm | by Jill Trasamar, Marketing and Product Manager, Megadyne | Articles | CommentsWhen it comes to limiting surgical smoke exposure, the risks are very real and the lack of action we're taking is quite disconcerting.
Pain Relief System
February 13, 2013 10:13 am | by I-Flow | I-Flow Corporation | Product Releases | CommentsThe ON-Q Pain Relief System, manufactured by I-Flow, a Kimberly-Clark Health Care Company, is an elastomeric, non-narcotic postoperative pain relief system that administers an automatic and continuous flow of local anesthetic through a catheter(s) to the surgical site area or peripheral nerve.
Personal Beliefs About Obesity Impacts Perspective And Care
February 12, 2013 1:05 pm | News | CommentsThe findings are from a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who compared the relationship between primary care physicians' beliefs about the causes of obesity with the frequency of nutritional counseling.
Strokes Associated With Surgery Can Be Devastating
February 12, 2013 12:27 pm | News | CommentsStrokes that occur during or shortly after surgery can be devastating, resulting in longer hospital stays and increased risks of death or long-term disability. However, prompt identification and treatment of such strokes can improve neurologic outcomes.
The Pink Pad
February 11, 2013 10:08 am | by Xodus Medical | Xodus Medical | Product Releases | CommentsThe Pink Pad - Pigazzi Positioning System from Xodus Medical is designed to mold to the patient's body, providing stability and maintaining patient position throughout the procedure. Its for single patient use, and it decreases potential cross contamination with reusables.
Warning Signs For Complications In Colorectal Surgery Released
February 8, 2013 9:59 am | News | CommentsColorectal surgical patients are often discharged from the hospital with vague guidance on how to recognize complications, but researchers at the Michael DeBakey Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, aim to change that scenario.
What Are The Different Types Of Anesthesia?
February 6, 2013 9:53 am | by Shirie Leng. MD | Blogs | CommentsFor most people, anesthesia is one of the more mysterious branches of medicine. What we do for patients is done, generally, when they are asleep. We have done our job right if our patients don’t remember most of what we did.
Study Highlights Important Role That Patients Play In Determining Outcomes
February 5, 2013 10:32 am | News | CommentsWhen it comes to health care, patients with the motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their own health have better health outcomes and incur fewer health care costs. Using a Patient Activation Measure that assesses beliefs, knowledge and confidence in managing health-related tasks, the researchers found that patient scores on a questionnaire that ranks patient activation showed that patients' responses in effect predicted their overall care costs — even when adjusted by the severity of patients' health conditions, age, sex and income.
Hospitalist Survey: Patient Loads Often At Unsafe Levels
February 4, 2013 9:40 am | by Alvin Tran | Articles | CommentsNearly forty percent of hospital-based general practitioners who are responsible for overseeing patients’ care say they juggle unsafe patient workloads at least once a week, according to a study published Monday as a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine.
EMRs Could Help Prioritize ICU Resources
February 1, 2013 12:02 pm | News | CommentsA national shortage of critical care physicians and beds means difficult decisions for healthcare professionals in determining which of the sickest patients are most in need of access to the intensive care unit. Emerging health technologies – including reliable methods to rate the severity of a patient’s condition – may provide powerful tools to efficiently use health resources.
Suspect Blames Surgery For Urologist Killing
January 30, 2013 12:04 pm | by Gillian Flaccus & Robert Jablon, AP | News | CommentsA retired barber who told neighbors he blamed prostate surgery for his ill health, is scheduled in court on charges he shot a urologist to death in his exam room. Neighbors said the man was angry about his incontinence following a recent surgery.
Da Vinci Earnings Increase Despite Lawsuits
January 30, 2013 11:53 am | News | CommentsDespite a growing number of da Vinci Surgical System lawsuits, Intuitive Surgical saw healthy fourth-quarter earnings of about $175 million in 2012, an increase of 16 percent from the same time in 2011.
Transfer & Lift Device
January 30, 2013 10:55 am | by HoverTech International | HoverTech International | Product Releases | CommentsHoverTech International introduces a next generation patient handling solution: the HoverSling Combination Transfer & Lift Device for lateral transfers, repositioning, turning, and vertical lifting. The HoverSling streamlines patient handling tasks by reducing the time and money spent using multiple products, while creating a more comfortable transfer for patients.
"July Effect" Negligible For Spine Surgery Outcomes
January 29, 2013 12:06 pm | News | CommentsThe "July Effect"—the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals in July of each year adversely affects patient care and outcomes - was examined in a very large data set of hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery. Researchers found a negligible effect on procedural outcomes among patients treated by spine surgery.
