Action Products

Nursing shortages, burnout and compassion fatigue require nurses to practice self-care.

Compassion Fatigue can occur with exposure to one case or can be due to a “cumulative” level of trauma. Compassion fatigue develops over time, taking weeks, sometimes years to surface. It is a low level, chronic clouding of caring and concern for others. Over time, the ability to feel and care for others becomes eroded through overuse of the skills of compassion.

Distractions and interruptions occur frequently in the operating room and procedural suites. They can negatively impact patient safety, care coordination, and efficiency by causing errors and patient harm. Distraction and interruptions in the OR and procedural suites are defined as events that divert attention from a primary task. Interruptions occur when distractions are responded to, abruptly disturbing and diverting attention away from the primary task. Many distractions and interruptions may be inevitable; however, techniques should be considered to mitigate their impact.

The annual Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day is just around the corner on November 18, 2021.  Let’s not forget that perioperative pressure Injury prevention strategies decrease overall hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) in the non-reimbursable CMS “never event” category.  Awareness around perioperative pressure injuries and the focus on patient risk identification, including environmental and extrinsic risk factors, is gaining traction within the surgical and medical device community. As a result, skin injury prevention bundles, hospital policies, and safety strategies are being researched and recommended throughout the healthcare industry.

Each year the Joint Commission, with input from practitioners, provider organizations, purchasers, consumer groups, and other stakeholders, determines patient safety issues that are the highest priority and creates National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG). NPSG were established in 2002 to help accredited organizations address specific areas of concern related to patient safety.

Benchmarking efficiency is nothing new to the perioperative team; it is talked about in huddle, in services, and staff meetings. Efficiency in the Operating Room (OR) is measured by time, including start time, end time, turnover time, incision to closure time, block time utilization and more.