Same-Day Surgery – April 1, 2018
April 1, 2018
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Put Reprocessing Compliance on This Year’s To-do List
Surgery centers that fail to pay close attention to their reprocessing processes could end up causing dangerous — even fatal — infections. Although the rate of infection from endoscopy is low, it’s likely that some infections related to reprocessing problems are not reported because patients do not attribute their illness to a procedure they might have undergone several weeks earlier. Experts recommend creating site-specific reprocessing guidelines based on federal and/or other expert recommendations.
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Where to Find Reprocessing Guidelines
When an ASC begins revamping its reprocessing program, a good place to start is with guidelines that can be found easily. Here are some suggestions based on recommendations from federal agencies and other professional organizations.
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Helping New Nurses Thrive in ASC Setting
New nurse graduates could be a great solution to filling staff needs at ASCs if they are supported through training programs and their preceptors.
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The Challenge of Improving the Nursing Hiring Pipeline
Any program designed to increase the number of new nurses who go into ambulatory nursing must address early exposure to ambulatory care in nursing schools. Developing an ambulatory nursing residency program is one possible solution. It might not be feasible for every ASC, but there are some smaller steps administrators could take to improve orientation and training of new nurses or training of experienced nurses who are new to ambulatory care.
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Misunderstood Overtime Rules Could Cost ASCs Thousands of Dollars
Within the past seven years, federal lawsuit filings regarding wage overtime rules have increased by 30%, a trend that should jar surgery centers into taking preventive actions.
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Planning Your Success
Following last month's strong response to useful tips on saving money, our columnist decided to offer some more information about putting everyone on the same page and ensuring financial success.