Intraoperative hypotension in ambulatory surgery centers.

Study Objectives: To measure the incidence of intraoperative hypotension (IOH) during surgery in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and describe associated characteristics of patients and procedures.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: 20 ASCs.

The Use of Remifentanil as the Primary Agent for Analgesia in Parturients.

Pain control in parturients can be particularly challenging for the hospital staff. To achieve optimal outcomes in anesthesia patients, it is important to consider multiple options for pain control, especially when traditional options pose a problem or are not options. In particular, there are parturient clients for whom the use of neuraxial anesthesia (epidural and spinal blockade) is not an option.

Thinking of serving nursing abroad: how technology assists nurses on mission trips.

Advances in technology have assisted in the proliferation of short-term, faith-based international medical mission trips. Many of these mission trips include health care not only to local citizens but also building schools and churches and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Included in this article are my own personal experiences in short-term, faith-based medical missions.

Geriatric simulation: practicing management and leadership in care of the older adult.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients age 65 and older account for 43% of hospital days. The complexity of caring for older adults affords nursing students opportunities to assess, prioritize, intervene, advocate, and experience being a member of an interdisciplinary health care team. However, these multifaceted hospital experiences are not consistently available for all students.

Simulation and rubrics: technology and grading student performance in nurse anesthesia education.

The use of simulation technology has introduced a challenge for simulation nurse educators: evaluation of student performance. The subjectivity of student performance evaluation has been in need of improvement. It is imperative to provide clear and consistent information to the learner of expectations for their performance.

Medication order entry and clinical decision support: current nursing informatics issues.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has greatly increased the acceptance of electronic health record technology by providing incentives and punishment standards. A key criterion of the HITECH Act, meaningful use, has vendors clamoring to design clinical decision support (CDS) systems that fulfill this objective. Users should be aware that more emphasis may be placed on achieving the goals for compliance than on working out details that are clinically meaningful.

Nurse knowledge of intrahospital transport.

Preventable adverse events and other medical errors occur to hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. The financial burden of these preventable events is estimated to be $29 billion. According to the World Health Organization, reducing medical errors has become an international concern.

Interprofessional simulation of a retained placenta and postpartum hemorrhage.

To improve quality and safety in healthcare, national and international organizations have called for students to receive dedicated training in interprofessional communication and collaboration. We developed a simulation for nurse-midwifery and nurse-anesthesia students, using the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice framework. The simulation, involving a postpartum women with a retained placenta and acute blood loss, allowed students to collaboratively manage a high-risk situation.