The AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo will be held April 6-10, 2019 in Nashville, TN. This year's focus is Harmonized Care: the Key to Safety. It is the largest Gathering of Perioperative Professionals in the World with over 5,600 executives, directors,...
Patient Positioning
Foam or Gel for Patient Position: What Does the Evidence Say?
One of the biggest responsibilities of the operating room (OR) team is to ensure patient safety. There are many facets to patient safety in the OR. Safe patient positioning is a critical facet since the patient is unable to tell you if they are in pain or...
Supine Positioning: Enhanced Approaches to a Common Surgical Routine
Amos Schonrock, MAN, RN, ST, PHN, CSSM, CNAMB, CNOR, NE-BCPerioperative Practice and Safety SpecialistOne of the highly common surgical positions is supine. This approach involves the surgical team’s watchful eyes to oversee a patient that will lie on their back with...
Pressure Injuries: Protect your Patients in Extreme Surgical Positions
Some surgical procedures require extreme positioning to ensure that the targeted surgical area is accessible to the surgeon and the surgical team. Extreme positioning requires extreme positioning devices, manufactured to meet the need for surgical access....
Pressure Injury Prevention in Pediatrics
Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment “Little is known about pressure ulcer prevention practice among pediatric patients,” Razmus and Bergquist-Beriger lamented just two years ago in Wound Management & Prevention. For one thing, the authors explained, risk factors for...
Protect the Heels with Evidence Based Interventions
The supine position is the most common surgical position with the patient lying on their back with the head, neck and spine in a neutral position. This position is not without pressure injury risk as there is increased pressure and shear forces to the scapula,...
Take the Time for a “Time Out”
Decrease Patient Injury and Improve Teamwork The “time out” is one part of the Universal Protocol developed by the Joint Commission to prevent wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person surgery. Each are considered never events by the National Quality Forum and...
Enhancing Patient Safety with Viscoelastic Gel Overlays in Surgical Positioning
Surgical nurses play a critical role in protecting patients from positioning-related pressure injuries during surgical procedures. One of the most effective tools to support this mission is the viscoelastic gel overlay, a material designed to reduce pressure, enhance...
Pressure Injuries in Ambulatory Surgical Centers
An ambulatory surgical center (ASC) is a healthcare facility that focuses on providing same-day surgical care that includes diagnostic and preventative surgery. When looking at the ASC, it has transformed the outpatient surgical experience for millions of Americans by...
Gel Overlays: A Head-to-Toe Tool in the Prevention of Perioperative Pressure Injuries
Amos Schonrock, MAN, RN, ST, PHN, CSSM, CNAMB, CNOR, NE-BCPerioperative Practice and Safety SpecialistAs perioperative professionals, the operating room team has a constant dedication and calling to the creation and maintenance of an environment that keeps our patient...