Conference Agenda
Sunday, September 17
As the name suggests, the OR Manager Conference Reverse Expo flips the traditional expo format – the vendors come to you for one-on-one meetings! We understand your time at the conference is valuable, and you need to make the most of your time on the Exhibit Hall floor finding the suppliers that fulfill your needs. Since these meetings occur before the Exhibit Hall opens for all attendees, it provides you a dedicated time to ask questions that might otherwise be more difficult while others travel across the show floor.
New perks for participation include a complimentary room night at the Omni Nashville Hotel, and a private reception for Reverse Expo participants and vendors! Confirm your interest during registration and you will be contacted shortly with more details.
*Participation in the Reverse Expo is required. If you are approved and agree to participate, but do not attend the Reverse Expo event, your room night coverage will be rescinded.
Room: 208
More ASCs are expanding into new service lines such as total joints, complex spine, robotic cases and vascular procedures. This workshop will discuss strategies to help providers become more competitive in the market and best position their outpatient surgery center for growth. Learn about opportunities in different service lines, capital expenditure requirements, costs for implementation, justifying the ROI and how to present the case to your board.
Learning objectives:
• Learn the trends in ASC service line growth and how they can transform the patient experience.
• Learn how to get surgeon buy-in and transfer surgeries to an ASC setting.
• Understand how to fully integrate a new service line in an ASC center.
Take-home tool:
Business plan for service line growth and procedural covered list for ASC and HOPD Medicare rates.
Upon successful completion, this workshop counts as 3 CEs.
Room: 202
Mike Ellrich, Healthcare Portfolio Manager, Gallup
Kevin Merrigan, Founder and Director, Orlando Tai Chi + Qigong
Caregiver wellness remains low as worry and stress have persisted at unprecedented levels well into and after the pandemic. Many leaders are rightfully concerned about declining wellbeing and the threat it poses to caregiver safety, productivity, and performance. Join Gallup to explore strategies for dealing with burnout and stress.
Attend this workshop and explore strategies for dealing with burnout and stress. This workshop will be interactive and discuss issues nurses face and how to practice self-care to ensure their own well-being. In addition to the education, there will be a Tai Chi activity focusing on mind/body practices during the final hour of the workshop.
Learning objectives:
• Discover the “ripple effect” and how employee burnout undermines caregiver health, safety and productivity.
• Learn about the 5 root causes of stress and burnout impacting your team.
• Understand how prioritizing your own wellbeing first will help others improve their wellness.
Upon successful completion, this workshop counts as 2 CEs.
Nurse leaders control the largest part of an organization’s labor budget and in some cases the largest part of the overall budget. This workshop will provide new managers with education on key financial concepts necessary to effectively manage the financial performance of perioperative services. Content of the program includes an analysis of staffing in the perioperative areas, including productivity calculations and possible reasons for not meeting targets. In addition, the workshop will provide an understanding of an organization's measurements for financial success, a deeper understanding of revenue/expense variances, operational budgets and capital equipment justifications. Content will be applicable to both ambulatory and inpatient surgery departments.
Learning objectives:
• Calculate FTE need, including staffing mix and benefit time.
• Interpret productivity metrics and understand actions to take to meet productivity targets.
• Learn the process for justification of capital equipment and articulate methods to budget for supplies.
Take-home tool:
Staffing matrix spreadsheet, 15-year capital budget template and sample capital proposal.
Upon successful completion, this workshop counts as 3 CEs.
The 2023 OR Manager Conference will offer experiential education with a field trip to the TriStar Centennial Medical Center Advanced Joint Replacement Institute and the Vanderbilt Case Cart Operations Center. Transportation will be provided and departs from Music City Center at 2:00 PM local time. Arrive by 1:30 PM for check-in and to board the bus.
TriStar Centennial Medical Center Advanced Joint Replacement Institute
Tour the newly renovated eighth floor of TriStar Centennial Medical Center. Strategically located near the existing Orthopedics Medical Office Building, the TriStar Centennial expansion is a “hospital within a hospital” and was redesigned with all stakeholders in mind. Built to serve Patients, Families, Staff, Physicians and Vendor Partners, this state-of-the-art facility features all the bells and whistles. Explore their non-traditional orthopedic operating rooms, PACU spaces, pre-op/recovery spaces as well as their beautiful lounge area, expanded storage, robotics equipment and a “dream” sterile processing department.
Vanderbilt Case Cart Operations Center
Come tour the 51,000 square-foot offsite sterile processing facility at the Vanderbilt Case Cart Operations Center. This facility was built to solve inventory and space challenges. During the tour, you will see how sterile processing and supply chain work together to create a complete case cart build. Learn how implementing an offsite sterile processing and supply chain department can improve efficiencies to increase surgical case volume.
Enjoy this private reception for Reverse Expo participants and vendors! Confirm your interest during registration and you will be contacted shortly with more details.
Monday, September 18
Grab a quick bite and network with your peers before the Keynote kick-off for the week!
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Today’s leaders are challenged like never before. At the same time, they are in a unique position to have a greater impact on the future of their industry. So how can you stay inspired and continue to grow and evolve as a leader when chaos reigns, morale is low and change is a constant? Spend a high-content, high-fun hour with The Inspiration Nurse and get primed, pumped-up and supercharged for the coming decade!
Learning objectives:
- Identify and avoid the perils and pitfalls of being an experienced leader.
- Create physical and emotional accessibility.
- Self-management strategies to support your success.
Room: Hall B Foyer, Level 3
The ASC has expanded its ability to perform complex spine procedures that at one time were only performed in a hospital. This expansion includes complex procedures such as two-level anterior disk replacement, 360s, and three-level lumbar cases which are performed daily. This presentation will provide ASC leaders with tools and knowledge to negotiate managed care contracts, implant costs, and how to successfully bill the cases. You will learn how to carve out spine codes for managed care contracting, work with vendors for implant pricing, and the importance of coding the cases to meet the managed care contractors' requirements.
Learning objectives:
• Provide an overview of how to develop a complex spine service line.
• Review the CPT codes used in the complex spine case using a scenario-based example.
• Understand the importance of insurance verification and confirming authorization.
Take-home tool:
Process flow charts on insurance verification, confirming implant and biological needs, and instrumentation
How do you maintain profitability when costs are increasing, reimbursement is stagnant, and surgery contribution margins are decreasing? Attend this session to understand how to analyze profitability, maximize service lines and report your OR's performance.
Learning objectives:
•Review processes that drive actionable change in contribution margin.
•Understand key partnerships for process improvement.
•Present data driven results to your OR governance committee and hospital leadership.
Room: 201
John Kimsey, V.P. Operations, STERIS Instrument Processing Solutions
Sterile Processing is key to the success of any OR. Ensuring you have the right systems in place requires knowledge and predictable processes to meet daily OR needs. Hear how Rush University Medical Center in Chicago teamed up with STERIS to standardize their operations and culture leading to improved staff and leadership engagement and performance. Not only are staff following proper procedures every time, their work on missing instruments saved over $600,000 in instrumentation spend as well as impressed and surpassed expectations for The Joint Commission visit. Attend this session to receive the latest updates on sterile processing standards, compliance and how to assemble the right team.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how SPD can provide the OR what they need every day – in a predictable and reliable manner.
• Understand how to comply with ST91 Scope Requirements – even if you don’t care about scopes.
• Discuss the advantages of standardizing to an SPD Playbook – ensuring every process is completed in a predictable and uniform manner no matter who is doing the work.
Take-home tool:
Handout with steps to improving your sterile processing department
The nurse staffing crisis, competing demands and shrinking hospital margins are putting nurse leaders to the ultimate test. In order to be an effective leader, the stakes are higher than ever. The need to balance optimism in the face of adversity is paramount to confront reality and build a resilient team.
Effective leadership has to look very different to motivate teams today. This presentation will address issues related to racial bias in healthcare, patient care delivery models, sustainability and integrating well-being to effectively lead today.
Learning objectives:
• Learn the key characteristics and traits of effective leadership.
• Verbalize the importance of social corporate responsibility in leading a team.
• Develop leadership tools to navigate today's challenging environment.
Take-home tool:
Strategy guide to effective leadership
Jennifer Neissen, MSN, RN, CNOR, OR Manager, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Kristy Perry, MSN, RN, CNOR, Clinical Coordinator NT Operating Room, UF Health Shands
Kaye Reiter, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Perioperative Subject Matter Expert and Consultant, Impact Advisors LLC
Newly promoted and overwhelmed, are you wondering how you’ll get it all done? You are pulled in so many directions, responsible for so many things and juggling daily tasks just to get through the day. You may be left wondering – where should I focus and how can I prioritize? Attend this session for a deep dive on focusing on what you can control and learn how to articulate your needs to the C-suite so you can get the help you need and effectively lead your team.
Learning objectives:
• Develop a gap analysis to know what your challenges are and how to prioritize them.
• Know the difference between what you can and cannot control.
• Build strategic relationships with people who can help you solve problems.
Take-home tool:
Gap analysis spreadsheet customizable for any facility
Lydia G. Casteel, MSN, RN, CCRN, Director of Nursing, Surgical Services, WellStar Paulding Hospital
Katherine Houle, MSN, RN, CPAN, Manager, PeriAnesthesia, CRNA, Sedated Imaging, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
Janet Quigley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Nursing Director: Post Anesthesia Care, Massachusetts General Hospital
From bottleneck to throughput to phase II and phase I, your day is filled with judgment calls. In this session you will have direct access to postoperative leaders who have a combined 45+ years of experience leading the PACU. Learn their secrets to success - they are eager to share their insights and experiences with you! Bring your most pressing questions to help you overcome your greatest challenges.
Learning objectives:
• Learn the fundamental concepts of PACU leadership and how to empower your team.
• Adjust your leadership style to cope with challenging situations in post-operative care.
• Discover best practices for optimizing patient throughput and managing communications between departments.
Perioperative nursing curricula is absent from many collegial nursing programs which can reduce the awareness of opportunities to build a career in the perioperative space. In particular, busy ASC centers have been facing nursing shortages and some newer nurses may lack clinical experience and have gaps in understanding certain clinical standards. This session will dive into the intent to develop a perioperative training program for ASCs, and how to attract and retain new talent into the profession.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how to attract new nursing graduates into the ASC training program.
• Understand why you need an orientation training program and steps to implementation.
• Discover the value of orientation and why it’s a great retention tool.
Take-home tool:
Curriculum requirements for building an orientation training program for new nurse graduates
Room: 207 AB
Cynthia Harms, CST, Business Manager, Surgical Services, Children's Hospital and Medical Center - Omaha
For most hospitals, operating rooms are one of the most expensive and challenging resources to manage. Surgeons complain about not being able to schedule cases, yet ORs sit idle throughout the day. As a result, surgical services leaders face mounting pressure to make expensive decisions such as building new ORs, adding additional care teams, or having difficult conversations with surgeons about block time – particularly when surgeons have the option to take cases elsewhere.
Join Children’s Hospital & Medical Center (Omaha)’s Director of Surgical Services and Manager of Business Operations to hear how access to accurate, timely, and transparent data that incorporates predictive and prescriptive analytics unlocked OR capacity and increased access to valuable OR time, bridged historical gaps in communication with surgeons, and ameliorated decision making. Additionally, you will learn how making a smart, strategic investment in technology can leverage EHR data to not only deliver results but also deliver a quick and measurable ROI.
Session objectives:
- Explain why, even after a significant EHR investment, hospitals still need to invest in data management systems and “easy-to-use” solutions.
- Describe the benefits of adopting a culture of data transparency and open communication in perioperative analytics.
- Analyze how Children’s Hospital Surgical Services effectively collaborates across teams and disciplines.
Takeaway tool:
Project charter template for integrated IT / surgical services projects
Karen Lehnherr, BSN, RN, CNML, Pre-Admit Testing and Impact Clinic Nurse Manager, UCHealth North
The traditional model of pre-op clinics and pre-admission testing are designed to coordinate a perioperative plan of care and provide patient education. But for high-risk surgical patients, a better approach to pre-admission is needed to ensure improved patient outcomes.
Hear how one facility developed a “Pre-habilitation” optimization clinic for high-risk patients, engaging them weeks before surgery to improve co-morbid medical conditions. Learn how they decreased the rate of complications and improved patient outcomes through collaboration with various service lines, primary care, senior leadership, nursing and anesthesia.
Learning objectives:
• Discover the benefits of a “Pre-habilitation” clinic for high-risk surgical patients.
• Learn communication tools to collaborate across teams to improve pre-surgical plan of care.
• Evaluate processes to decrease the rate of adverse events and improve patient outcomes.
Take-home tool:
Blueprint to launch a “Pre-habilitation” clinic that can be implemented in any-sized healthcare system
Carrie Steiner, Senior Director, Operations Excellence, University of Rochester - URMC, SMH
To be competitive in today’s surgical suite, health care systems must establish an environment of continuous improvement for safe patient care and staff satisfaction. To ensure the highest level of quality and safety, it is imperative to develop a framework between hospital leadership and perioperative services.
Hear one case study on how cross-functional teams came together to launch a continuous improvement initiative. Learn how they engaged staff, identified weaknesses in processes, and how they used lean and six sigma tools throughout the process.
Learning objectives:
• Track and report perioperative process improvement initiatives.
• Understand the importance of continuous improvement in healthcare.
• Learn how to replicate the program as desired at other institutions.
Take-home tool:
Step-by-step guide on building a continuous improvement structure incorporating six sigma practices
One of the key concepts for managing costs and ensuring you have adequate supplies is understanding how to optimize your supply chain. Whether you are a large health system working with a GPO or a small facility making your OR’s purchasing decisions, knowing how to control your inventory is key to success.
Learning objectives:
• Understand key concepts for value analysis and how to put a process in place.
• Discuss best practices for contracting with vendors and maintaining inventory control.
• Understand how to manage costs in times of extreme inflation.
Take-home tool:
Supply chain planning dashboard that can be implemented in large or small health systems
Katherine Shaw, RN, Perioperative Nurse, UCHealth
Creatively utilizing the entirety of a nurse’s scope of practice can provide professional opportunities and help to address challenges related to healthcare demand. Hear a case study from one facility facing logistical challenges with staff and how the perioperative leaders came together to cross-train PACU nurses to provide procedural support.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how to increase utilization by cross-training staff for procedural care.
• Explain the clinical standards required for procedural care in the recovery area.
• Understand who the key stakeholders are to help you need in the procedural care process.
Take-home tool:
Checklist to identify appropriate procedural space and training for the PACU nurse
Room: 209
Attend this lunch presentation to learn about a multi-modal approach on the use of aromatherapy as an effective adjunct for stress, anxiety, pain, and post-operative/post-procedural nausea & vomiting.
Learn the outcomes and the importance of nurse-led research for three projects in an urban-based, safety-net community hospital system focusing on the improvement of staff wellness and patient care outcomes.
Learning objectives:
• Understand how the use of aromatherapy reduced stress levels in nurses during a worldwide pandemic.
• Learn how the use of aromatherapy on surgical patients reduced pain scores and PRN opioid use.
• Discover how using aromatherapy on post-operative and post-procedural patient population reduced secondary use of PRN antiemetic use for nausea and vomiting.
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Perioperative leaders face challenges in optimizing the use of operating room time due to the common mindset among surgeons that their block time is the only means of accessing the OR. Block management processes and procedures are often manual, time-intensive, and retrospective. To improve OR utilization, hospitals and perioperative teams are adopting a proactive, data-driven approach with predictive and prescriptive analytics to support block allocation and drive strategic operational decision-making.
In this session, MultiCare’s Associate Vice President of Perioperative Services will provide insights into leveraging people, process, and technology to enhance block utilization and allocation.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the challenges associated with traditional block allocation methods.
- Explain the benefits of leveraging data-driven insights with predictive and prescriptive analytics during the block allocation process.
- Learn how Multicare adoption of technology unlocked OR capacity and optimized resource allocation.
Room: 207 CD
This session will discuss the CMS Quality Measure Reporting Program for ASCs. Learn what quality reporting measures are required and get key definitions and answers to frequently asked questions.
Learning objectives:
- Define the quality reporting that is required by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).
- Identify the different look-up tools available for participants to utilize.
- Discuss possible future program measures and topics for consideration.
Room: 208
Elizabeth P. Ninan, MBA, PA-C, AVP of Procedures and Therapeutics, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Perioperative services have faced significant capacity challenges due to physical space constraints, finite equipment resources, and national staffing shortages. This session will focus on strategies to optimize staffing capacity through aggressive onboarding, cross-training and migrating non-complex cases to ambulatory surgery centers.
Learning Objectives
• Evaluate the effectiveness of staffing models in addressing capacity challenges and improving job satisfaction among perioperative staff.
• Understand the impact of case load management strategies, including decanting non-complex cases and transferring non-surgical procedures to local ambulatory surgery centers.
• Measure the effectiveness of aggressive load leveling strategies in increasing OR utilization and recapturing maximum capacity per day.
Take-home tool:
A framework to implement simultaneous initiatives designed to stabilize and enhance staffing, increase efficiencies, improve job satisfaction and reduce burnout
Room: 207 AB
Joseph Jimmerson, OR Program Director, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
Manual OR processes and first-generation analytics tools frequently prevent hospitals from achieving OR revenue and utilization goals. Innovations in automation, behavioral science, and comprehensive real-world data are being embraced by leading health systems to transform how healthcare is provided to their patients, especially with their surgical programs. In this session, learn how a major health system has rapidly transformed its OR scheduling processes with AI-based automation software. By providing their teams with these innovative tools, they have reduced workload while simultaneously increasing utilization and surgical case volumes, despite staffing challenges
Learning objectives:
•Learn how to improve OR staffing predictability through the use of AI-based automation software.
•Discover how you can grow robotic cases by 30-50% leading to increased OR efficiency.
•Learn how you can reduce manual work leading to increased staff satisfaction.
Barry McElyea, MSN, RN, CNOR, NE-BC, FACHE, Assistant Vice President, Nursing, Perioperative Services, Inova Fairfax Hospital
Precepting is vital to helping new nurses achieve the critical skills necessary to ensure patient safety in a new environment. Hear from one facility on their educational endeavors to mentoring new staff and how they implemented a successful program across their health system. Plus, hear how they transitioned experienced nurses from other specialties into their perioperative fellowship program. This session will provide you with a step-by-step guide to developing an effective preceptor training program at your facility.
Learning objectives:
• Understand best practices in transferring knowledge and skills when orienting.
• Learn how to provide constructive feedback to empower the novice learner.
• Discover how effective preceptor training can serve as a powerful retention tool.
Take-home tool:
A detailed guide outlining principal learning objectives to mentor new staff
Ken Benning, Executive Director Surgical Services, CentraCare
Kayla Dingmann, MBA, BSN, RN, CSSM, CNOR, Director of Surgery, CentraCare
Maria Mallory, MD, General Surgery, Acute Section Clinical Dyad Partner, CentraCare
The OR is a challenging and stressful environment for all people. Behavioral issues among teams pose challenges not only for team dynamics but also for patient safety. Hear how one anesthesiologist developed a "Three-Legged Leadership" tool to bridge anesthesiology, nursing, and surgeons to better manage behaviors in the OR and increase staff satisfaction.
Learning objectives:
• Discover the "Three-Legged Leadership" approach to managing behavior.
• Develop an action plan to improve team dynamics.
• Learn communication tools to change negative behavior in the OR.
Take-home tool:
Framework for building a “Three-Legged Leadership” plan
In your new role, one of your daily challenges is likely staff scheduling. In today's healthcare world, travelers are more common, and recruitment and retention of permanent staff are high priorities for all systems. Hear from one facility on how they assembled a team to develop a surgical case schedule, established relationships with teams outside of the OR, and implemented a pod structure to improve communications leading to increased staff satisfaction and scheduling optimization.
Learning objectives:
• Discover creative ways to think outside the box to develop an innovative staff schedule.
• Learn how to support staff growth and upskill your team.
• Focus on areas to develop clinical operations nurse managers.
Take-home tool:
Creative staffing model template that can be customized for any type of facility or health system
Room: 204
Kristen Martin, MSN, RN, CPN, CPAN, CAPA, Clinical Professional Development Educator, Cohen Children's Medical Center
Jennifer Simonetti, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, CPN, Director, Magnet Program, Patient Experience, Cultural Leader, Cohen Children's Medical Center
This session focuses on managing expectations when patients are held for an extended length of stay in the PACU due to lack of inpatient beds. PACUs require large nurse to patient ratios contributing to the cost of care, straining staffing capacity, and impacting patient experience. Learn creative strategies to increase staff utilization and achieve higher patient satisfaction scores.
Learning objectives:
• Transform the patient experience by integrating a nurse-led interprofessional cabinet structure.
• Learn training tools to help staff care for patients during extended length of stay in the PACU.
• Plan the locations and equipment required for extended stay patients.
Take-home tool:
Blueprint to design an interprofessional team and build a Magnet culture of excellence in patient care
Attend the OR Manager Awards Ceremony and support your colleagues! Three awards will be presented to the best-of-the-best in perioperative leadership: OR Manager of the Year, Ambulatory Nurse Leader of the Year and PACU Leader of the Year.
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Where are we now with patient safety after 3 years reacting to changing pandemic protocols? Attend the afternoon keynote session to understand how the industry can refocus, prevent medical errors and take a different approach to patient safety.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how to take a total systems approach to improving perioperative safety.
• Identify root causes of failure and how to incorporate strong and reliable actions along the way.
• Discover how your OR might be missing the mark on patient safety and how to fix it.
Room: Halls AB, Level 3
OR Manager would like to welcome you to the exhibit hall on the first evening of the conference! Take advantage of this first opportunity to interface with vendor partners, catch up with colleagues, and explore the latest solutions for the surgical suite. Engage with more than 140 vendors who offer products and solutions designed to maximize efficiency in the OR, improve operations, optimize scheduling and staffing, and design the OR of your dreams. Whether you have an immediate or a future need, creating lasting partnerships with your vendors will benefit your facility for years to come!
Sponsors:
LeanTaaS and LiveData
Tuesday, September 19
Room: 207 CD
LEAN thinking begins with one simple process, identifying value. Value-based procurement encourages outstanding healthcare by rewarding quality not quantity of healthcare services. Integrating the two brings the possibility of perfect value to the customer, through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste to the healthcare facility.
Attend this breakfast presentation for an enlightening discussion on the use of LEAN principles in value stream improvement and propose a plan that implements value-based procurement in a LEAN environment for your facility.
Learning objectives:
- Compare the integration of the primary pillars of LEAN with the primary components of value-based procurement.
- Acknowledge common pitfalls in cost-containment while determining value-add opportunities in healthcare supplies.
- Cite 4 types of value and how LEAN strategies can generate best outcomes in the healthcare environment.
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Claudia Cambero, PhD, Healthcare Operations Research Scientist, Fujitsu
Robert W. Choquette BSN, RN, Director, Baptist Health Surgery Center Coral Gables
Christian Gregory, Solution Innovation Consulting, Fujitsu
Randy Heiser, MA, BA, President, Sullivan Healthcare Consulting, LLC
Let this be your inflection point to explore a new paradigm and discover how decision science and intelligent guidance can help improve your OR planning and performance. In this session, you will learn how to address the root cause of surgical schedule and planning inefficiencies by holistically accounting for all the resources that need to be brought together in an optimal way. Optimized capacity planning leads to maximum OR utilization and surgical throughput, translating into revenue increases, better employee experiences as well as positive impacts on patient experience and health.
Learning objectives:
• Discover how decision science can be utilized for enhancing OR planning and performance.
• Gain insights on stabilizing the day of surgery and reducing unplanned disruptions that lead to unplanned overtime and patient dissatisfaction.
• Learn the intelligent recommendations that transform OR planning habits leading to unprecedented improvement in planning and performance.
Learn strategies from one surgery center on how they are thriving on a shoestring budget. No need for high-tech block scheduling, this surgery center is not only small, but mighty! Learn how you can efficiently schedule surgeon cases, team up with community hospitals and increase utilization by thinking outside the box.
Learning objectives:
• Understand how your surgery center can do more with less and be profitable!
• Learn how to improve efficiencies and increase staff utilization.
• Learn how to manage surgeon expectations in the ASC setting.
Room: 207 AB
Frank Sciolino, MAML, BSN, RN, CNOR, Director Surgical Services, Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital
Hospitals start each day with solid schedules and expert staff trained in best practices. Unfortunately, within the first 15 minutes of each day, dozens of operational disruptions leave physicians and staff uninformed and confused. The root cause of this confusion lies in the disconnect between great plans and practices and the needs of dozens of departments and hundreds of stakeholders to have minute-by-minute situational awareness, guidance, and coordination. In this session, we will explore the extraordinary potential of deploying the novel concept of a Minute-by-minute Coordination System (MCS) that improves execution of disparate workflows across an entire medical center. Such systems are loved by clinicians, administrators, and IT because they require virtually no training and they do not change any current practices or IT systems.
Hear directly from a hospital administrator how a Minute-by-minute Coordination System benefited their medical center and instilled a culture of accountability. In addition, hear how the MCS enabled a medical center to continue to perform surgeries after a ransomware attack forced the cancellation of all surgeries in affiliated hospitals for over ten days.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the historical evolution of Minute-by-minute Coordination Systems that transformed the manufacturing and transportation industries in the U.S. and are now transforming hospital operations.
- Discover the key attributes of these systems that drive significant improvements in productivity, patient safety, and patient and staff satisfaction.
- Learn how to champion the deployment of a MCS within your hospital, building the business case and securing the support required.
Room: 201
Ann Marie Morris, MSN, RN, CNOR, Associate Clinical Director Quality and Safety, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Quality Improvement (QI) projects in the OR are essential to remain competitive and provide the highest standard of patient care. While QI projects are essential to running a highly efficient OR, the introduction of new technologies and service lines can pose challenges for staffing, processes and workflows.
Hear from one facility how they introduced a new service line procedure that was traditionally performed in the radiology department and transitioned to a state-of-the-art hybrid OR. Understand how they navigated the new environment, the training required, and the steps they took to improve workflows during the transition.
Learning objectives:
• Develop a plan to ensure safe patient care during a QI project.
• Learn how to effectively manage workflows during transitional change.
• Improve team communications and efficiencies while implementing a QI project.
Take-home tool:
Educational tool to ensure a positive workflow during a QI project
Hope Johnson, DNP, MBA, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, Vice President of Perioperative Services, Lehigh Valley Health Network
Since the pandemic, hospitals are looking for creative strategies to bridge the staffing gap. Hear from one facility who was particularly struggling to find surgical technologists (ST) to staff the OR. Learn how they created an innovative approach to fill the ST shortage by designing a licensed professional nurse (LPN) scrub internship program to support multiple campuses within the health system. The LPN to ST hire ratio was 7:0, validating the program's benefit to staffing the OR.
Learning objectives:
• Discover how LPNs can effectively contribute to the OR.
• Learn key components to a successful LPN internship program.
• Develop a strategy to utilize alternative staff resources.
Take-home tool:
A curriculum to match the LPN scope of practice applicable to the OR environment, encompassing both didactic and direct clinical instruction
Room: 202
How do you manage disruptive behavior in your OR? The OR Nurse Manager shoulders responsibility to create an inclusive, safe environment for the entire surgical team addressing threats including disruptive behavior. Disruptive behavior directed towards others, often witnessed, and violating the standard of respectful conduct, may be expressed by increasing levels of severity as incivility, micro-aggressions, bullying, or sexual harassment. It’s important to respond in a consistent, timely manner to improve staff morale, and increase productivity and staff retention. Using tools to help guide you along the way, such as the “Safe Surgery Debriefing Protocol” (SSDP) can be your key to success.
Learning objectives:
• Define “Safe Surgery Debriefing Protocol” (SSDP) as a tool to address issues in communication.
• Learn how using demonstration videos and mock debriefings can serve as a tool to mitigating disruptive behavior.
• Build self-confidence for all team members to speak up.
Take-home tool:
An electronic copy of the Safe Surgery Debriefing Protocol (SSDP)
Patient flow, acuity, staffing, and nurse competency present challenges for effectively meeting patient and organizational needs on a daily basis. This session discusses a collaborative process used to recruit, train, and retain competent PACU nurses without prior critical care nursing experience through a transition to practice program. This session shares the successes and challenges at a large academic medical center and a community hospital.
Learning objectives:
• Learn the benefits of creating a transition to practice program for PACU nurses.
• Outline the characteristics of core curriculum requirements of the orientation program.
• Understand how to overcome common challenges implementing the transition to practice program.
Take-home tool:
A step-by-step guide to create a new graduate or medical-surgical experienced-nurse into a PACU orientation program
Many of the most problematic Joint Commission standards are applicable to the Operating Room and invasive procedural areas of your hospital. Attend this workshop and learn how to identify each of these issues, highlight how surveyors attempt to assess your compliance with them, and share methods to install bullet-proof solutions to ensure a finding-free survey.
Learning objectives:
- Prepare your operating room and central sterile processing department for survey.
- Advance the safety of care delivery with sustainable process improvements.
- Develop strategies to avoid the most commonly cited regulatory deficiencies.
Take-home tool:
Examples of what surveyors look for when spotting deficiencies that are often right under your nose. Examples of processes that if adopted and sustained assure that you will have a successful regulatory survey and improved quality of care day in and day out.
Upon successful completion, this workshop counts as 2 CEs.
Room: 208
Amy Brinkman, Certified Surgical Tech and Sterile Processing Supervisor, Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA)
Andrea Coppolecchia, MPH, Director of Health Economics and Clinical Regulatory, Stryker
Amy Shepard, BSN, RN, PACU Nurse Manager, Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA)
Amy Zanoth, RN, OR Manager, Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA)
The independent ASC leader looks for the latest technology tools to improve patient care, increase utilization, streamline staffing and run an efficient and profitable surgery center. This session will provide you with information on the latest technology trends to modernize your ASC and increase staff satisfaction.
Learning objectives:
• Discover the impact of a CT-based robotic-assisted technology to hospital and patient outcomes in joint replacement surgery
• Review case studies on intraoperative efficiencies with a CT-based robotic-assisted joint replacement
• Learn how robotic technology can be used as a tool to increase patient volume and improve staff satisfaction.
Room: 207 AB
Attend this session to understand key financial metrics to evaluate block management strategies.
Learning objectives:
• Define key financial metrics for the OR.
• Understand the financial impact of various block allocation and management strategies.
• Compare tools for block-related financial analysis.
Room: 201
In 2023, Oregon joined three other states in passing legislation requiring smoke evacuation in all surgeries likely to generate surgical smoke. The legislative process began in 2011 and took nurses and other OR stakeholders over a decade to change the culture in the OR and change the law.
This case study will start with the background of the concern, institutional history and failed change management. It will also outline the process by which OR clinicians and leaders engaged with lawmakers and professional bodies to draft and support legislation to require smoke evacuation in the OR. This includes having constituent meetings with lawmakers and providing testimony to state congressional committees as well as coming to compromise with those groups opposing the bill language.
Learning objectives:
• Understand the importance of nursing engagement in advocacy to progress the profession.
• Learn how to connect with professional bodies to understand what current nursing practice issues are being discussed in legislation.
• Understand why legislators need to hear directly from nurses and nurse leaders.
Take-home tool:
Educational tool for making connections to professional organizations to understand current issues impacting nursing and perioperative services
Room: 205
Deborah Hickman, DNP, MS, RN, NEA-BC, CRNFA, Nurse Administrator FLA Inpatient, Surgical and Diagnostic Services, Mayo Clinic
Mary Wack, MSHI, MPA, RN, Sr. Product Manager, Vizient Inc.
Rosanne Zagone, MSN, RN, Associate Principal, Vizient Inc.
A patient’s journey through the perioperative process encounters many barriers and bottlenecks. Where do leaders begin to identify these roadblocks, and what is the root cause of the roadblock? Attend this session for a deep dive conversation with Perioperative Services leaders about their journey to identify and overcome throughput barriers, and how you can apply these lessons in your practice.
Learning objectives:
- Define OR throughput.
- Identify the primary and underlying forces driving or impeding OR throughput.
- Understand how to use data to identify throughput trends and areas of opportunity.
Lori Terry, MSN, RN, CNOR, CSSM, AVP, Surgical Services, LifePoint Health
Leaders must define critical success factors to ensure patient safety and quality within the surgical environment. You make quick decisions, but empowering your team to make hard stops is critical at potential points of failure. Attend this session to learn best practices to empower your team to speak up and establish a safe environment of care.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how to empower your staff and establish a culture of safety.
• Understand how to assert yourself and instill effective tactics for your team.
• Discover where you have failure points and where you can implement hard stops to ensure patient safety.
Room: 204
Molly Litchfield, MBA-HM, BSN, RN, CNOR, Senior Director of PeriOperative Services, St. Peter's Health
Ensuring your PACUs are efficiently staffed but not too lean is always a challenge. Attend this session to hear strategies on developing a PACU staffing model tool. Accurately assess the number of staff needed at any given time of day, organize shifts to cover those times, demonstrate the need for nursing and hospital leadership to gain support.
Learning objectives:
• Develop a staffing plan to lesson call burden and obligation.
• Create a staffing schedule from budgeting full-time equivalents (FTEs) to actual hours of operation.
• Develop a strategy and plan for staffing overnight patients.
Take-home tool:
Staffing model template that can be adapted for any sized facility
Engage in more educational sessions presented by the exhibitors! Exhibitors will be hosting sessions throughout the day in their booths, as well as at the 2 theaters on the exhibit hall floor.
Room: Booth 801
Perioperative nurse leaders and surgeons share a mutual goal of delivering safe, efficient patient care. However, access to OR time to deliver that care tends to revolve around difficult conversations. Staffing shortages, unpredictable case volume, add on cases, lack of anesthesia coverage, deep rooted cultures, and more make critical operating decisions extremely challenging for perioperative leaders, particularly when they don’t have reliable or credible data to make timely decisions.
Typical “best practices” and benchmark data often fail to identify and address underlying issues related to scheduling and utilization challenges. Despite best efforts, organizations often lack a standardized approach to key operational decision-making with visible and transparent “single source of truth” data. In today’s healthcare environment, nurse managers require accurate tools to simplify workflows, create ease of access to available resources, and smooth out the surgery schedule workload during primetime hours.
Maximizing surgeon and staff productivity and efficient use of operating room time (and minimizing conflict) that arises around surgeon accessibility and efficient use of operating room time is an achievable goal when all stakeholders have the capability to easily access transparent and actionable data. Adopting technology with predictive and prescriptive data analytics drives meaningful conversations, builds a collaborative culture and strengthens multidisciplinary relationships, while improving access to optimal patient care.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the key tools to use when having difficult conversations with surgeons.
- Describe the value of adopting a culture of data transparency and metric standardization.
- Evaluate the benefits of implementing tools built on prescriptive and predictive data analytics into the perioperative workflow
Speakers:
Nancy Mann, BSN, Customer Engagement Manager, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
As a Customer Engagement Manager, Nancy has worked with multiple leading healthcare organizations by using iQueue to optimize the operating rooms space. Previously, Nancy has experience working for Atrium Health in the perioperative space and also Quality Division where her key focus was healthcare quality improvement and analytics. Nancy holds a BSN from East Carolina University.
Jenny Desir, MBA, BSN, RN, Customer Engagement Specialist, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
Jenny is a Customer Engagement Specialist for iQueue for Operating Rooms. Prior to joining LeanTaas, she was a Perioperative Services Business Consultant at Holy Cross Health, where she was responsible for implementing various strategies, conducting integrated data analysis, and developing complex reports to optimize healthcare in all areas of perioperative services. Prior to working at Holy Cross, in addition to being an Operating Room registered nurse working in various specialties, she was the frontline leader for the operating room department as an expert in the magnet journey at Inova Health System, where she implemented different portfolio systems, provided staff training presentations, and oversaw various projects. Jenny holds a B.S. in Nursing from George Mason University and an MBA from American University at the Kogod School of Business.
Meet us in the exhibit hall for our 2nd annual Pitchers & Pitches event! Grab your cocktail or mocktail, take a seat in the audience, and hear from 5 vendors at rapid-speed. Each company will have 10 minutes to tell you about their products and solutions, giving you more opportunity to identify potential partners for your facility. You will have ample time to visit their booth for a demonstration and follow-up after the session.
Schedule:
10:48 AM - 10:58 AM - Stryker
10:59 AM - 11:09 AM - D.A. Surgical
11:10 AM - 11:20 AM - Allergan Aesthetics
11:21 AM - 11:31 AM - Opmed.AI
11:32 AM - 11:42 AM - AJ Manufacturing
Room: Booth 501
This continuing education program aims to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to optimize operating room (OR) scheduling and create a predictable environment for surgical procedures. Participants will delve into the intricacies of OR management, exploring strategies to streamline scheduling processes, minimize disruptions, and improve patient access. Through case studies, interactive discussions, and practical exercises, attendees will gain insights into the latest tools, technologies, and best practices for achieving efficient OR schedules, ultimately enhancing surgical team coordination and patient satisfaction.
Learning objectives:
- Develop and maintain a predictable OR schedule to optimize resource utilization.
- Create a predictable environment for surgical procedures through efficient scheduling.
- Streamline scheduling processes to enhance team collaboration and improve patient and staff satisfaction.
Speaker:
Steve Burmeister, RN, Lead Clinical Solution Architect - Perioperative, Qventus, Inc.
Steve Burmeister is the Lead Perioperative Clinical Solution Architect at Qventus, where he provides perioperative clinical expertise in product design, development, and implementation.
Previously, Steve was a Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist where he led large scale quality improvement initiatives in the perioperative domain. Prior to this, he was an OR Circulating RN, PM Charge RN, and Acute/Perioperative Informatics Nurse.
Steve holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Health Innovation & Leadership and Certificate in Healthcare Design & Innovation from the University of Minnesota. He is also ANCC Board Certified in Informatics Nursing and an AONL Certified Nurse Manager & Leader.
Room: Theater 1
COVID had a significant impact on the national anesthesia labor market resulting in ongoing staffing shortages, service interruptions, quality deficiencies, and overall operational challenges directly impacting Operating Room performance. This session will explore the anesthesia challenges currently and commonly facing O.R. leaders, while also examining the strategies and options to address the challenges for improved and sustained O.R. performance.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the current anesthesia labor market and service challenges directly impacting the Operating Room.
- Explore key strategies and alternative options for addressing the anesthesia labor, service, and performance challenges.
- Identify the key areas for achieving a sustainable, high-performing anesthesia partnership in the Operating Room.
Speaker:
Hugh Morgan, MHA, CMPE, CPHQ
Vice President, Operations
Somnia, Inc.
Room: Booth 601
This session will examine strategies for right-sizing equipment inventory based on utilization and value the right-sizing process will bring to forecasting capital and operating budgets. Steps to achieve appropriate asset mix for procedure volume and reduction of loaner dependency and risk will be discussed and practical approaches for implementing the right-sizing process will be presented.
Learning objectives:
• Explain how asset utilization can assist in right sizing inventory.
• Identify common challenges caused by lack of insight into asset utilization.
• Identify key metrics used to evaluate asset utilization.
Speaker:
Amy K. Williams, DNP, RN, CPAN, CSPDT, CSPM, Sr. Manager, Clinical Education Compliance, STERIS Instrument Management Services
Dr. Amy Williams is the Senior Manager for Clinical Education Compliance with STERIS Instrument Management Services. She is a Registered Nurse with 27 years of clinical experience as a staff nurse, Nurse Educator, and Nurse Manager in Adult Med-Surg and Intensive Care, and Perioperative Services including PACU, OR, and Central Sterile Processing. Amy earned a Master of Science in Nursing Education in 2009 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Organizational Systems and Leadership in 2017. She also has 10 years of experience as a Nurse Educator in the academic setting and has served as a faculty member and Program Chair for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in Louisiana and Tennessee. She is a published author, frequently serves as a peer-reviewer for nursing journals and textbook publishers and served on a task for the Tennessee Department of Health to advise on development of certification criteria for Central Sterile Processing Technicians in the state of Tennessee.
Room: Theater 1
Join Savanna Morgan, BSN, RN, T-CSCT, to review ergonomic challenges in the operating room, understand the prevalence and risk for various types of injuries, and learn potential strategies and solutions for prevention. Based on her experience in hospital and ASC settings, she will share successful tips for staff training, team collaboration, and fostering an ongoing staff safety focus.
Learning objectives:
- Understand prevalence and impact of MSDs in the perioperative setting.
- Discuss relevant standards and best practice recommendations for ergonomic safety in the operating room.
- Share strategies for staff engagement in education and adoption of potential practices and solutions to reduce injury.
Speaker:
Savanna Morgan, BSN, RN, T-CSCT- Clinical Education Manager, Ansell
Savanna is a Clinical Education Manager in the West Territory for Ansell Healthcare. She has 15 years of clinical experience focused primarily in the perioperative setting at both hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, where she has worked in senior leadership for the past 7 years. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Governors University in 2018.
Room: Booth 1122
Air disinfection is achieved by ventilation. Ventilation is one of the most important means to control cross transmission by removing or diluting bacteria, viruses and mold-laden aerosols from occupied spaces. This session will describe an upper room ultra-violet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) air disinfection system. This UVGI system is a proven adjunct to existing HVAC resulting in improved ventilation and reducing environmental contamination and infectious outcomes.
Learning objectives:
• Describe the risks associated with pathogen contaminated air.
• Describe the safety and efficacy considerations of UVGI.
• Identify how implementing UVGI enhances existing HVAC air disinfection.
Speaker:
Karen Hoffmann, RN, MS, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, Infection Preventionist Consultant, Nuvo Medillum
Karen has specialized in infection prevention and control for 4 decades, serving for 24 years as the Associate Director of the North Carolina Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology (SPICE), and is an adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine. Karen also served as the Infection Preventionist Consultant for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2011 to 2020. She is a Fellow in both the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). She was the 2019 APIC President. Karen earned her BS in Nursing from Indiana University and her Master’s in Healthcare Epidemiology from the University of Virginia.
Room: Booth 601
Despite diligent efforts to ensure all items used during a surgical procedure are accounted for prior to skin closure, retained surgical items (RSIs) remain a top technology hazard, and surgical sponges are the most common RSIs. This continuing education activity will review the challenges associated with manual counting procedures, describe technologies available to supplement manual counts, and offer strategies for incorporating adjunct technologies into practice to improve patient safety.
Learning objectives:
- Identify challenges associated with manual counting of surgical sponges.
- Describe adjunct technologies available to supplement counting procedures with the goal of preventing RSIs.
- Discuss strategies for combining adjunct technologies with manual counting procedures to minimize the risk of RSIs and improve patient safety in healthcare facilities.
Speaker:
Lena Fogle, BSN, RN, CNOR, Senior Director Global Clinical Solutions & Procedural Portfolio Marketing, STERIS
Lena is a seasoned healthcare leader, holding various positions including, director of perioperative services, VP of patient care and LEAN Consultant for various health care delivery systems. Since joining STERIS 10 years ago Lena has held positions within the marketing organization, her most recent position is senior director, procedural portfolio marketing and global clinical solutions.
The OR Manager Conference Poster Gallery is an opportunity to see completed research, in-progress research, performance improvement projects, or clinical practice innovations. We strive to promote communication and collaborative research among nurses, provide a setting for exchange of information and lessons learned, and explore advancements in perioperative clinical practice. The poster gallery will be available for viewing throughout all exhibit hall hours. Attend during these times to meet the authors and earn your CEs!
Enjoy lunch with your peers and network with solution providers at the lunch in the Exhibit Hall.
Room: Theater 1
Join Savanna Morgan, BSN, RN, T-CSCT, to review ergonomic challenges in the operating room, understand the prevalence and risk for various types of injuries, and learn potential strategies and solutions for prevention. Based on her experience in hospital and ASC settings, she will share successful tips for staff training, team collaboration, and fostering an ongoing staff safety focus.
Learning objectives:
- Understand prevalence and impact of MSDs in the perioperative setting.
- Discuss relevant standards and best practice recommendations for ergonomic safety in the operating room.
- Share strategies for staff engagement in education and adoption of potential practices and solutions to reduce injury.
Speaker:
Savanna Morgan, BSN, RN, T-CSCT- Clinical Education Manager, Ansell
Savanna is a Clinical Education Manager in the West Territory for Ansell Healthcare. She has 15 years of clinical experience focused primarily in the perioperative setting at both hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, where she has worked in senior leadership for the past 7 years. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Governors University in 2018.
Room: Theater 2
Gloves are a common medical device used as barrier protection in the medical field that are part of universal precautions aimed at protecting healthcare workers from pathogen and blood-borne disease. Sterile surgical gloves used during operating room procedures protect patients from post-surgical infections. Natural rubber latex, the material gloves were first made from, has been shown to produce hypersensitivity reactions in a portion of the population. Latex gloves are being replaced with synthetic alternatives made of polyisoprene or neoprene to create latex-safe environments.
Learning objectives:
• Understand the importance of surgical gloves within today’s healthcare environment while navigating through the different types of glove compositions available.
• Discuss risks associated with latex exposure for both healthcare professionals and patients.
• Outline guidelines and best practices when evaluating and selecting gloves while understanding risk versus benefit cost analysis on pursuing a latex-free environment.
Speaker:
Tina Keller, MHA, BSN, RN, CNOR, RNFA, CCSVP, Senior Clinical Consultant, Cardinal Health
Ms. Tina Keller, who resides in Northern Virginia, is a Registered Nurse with 25 years of clinical and leadership experience specializing in specialty areas such as surgery and pediatric/adult OR’s and is CNOR (Certified Perioperative Nurse) and CCSVP (Certified Central Service Vendor Partner) certified. Ms. Keller has extensive data and process analysis experience and possesses strong assessment, design, and project implementation skills.
Ms. Keller recently completed her master’s degree in healthcare administration and enjoys educating healthcare professionals while also spending time volunteering for various medical missions.
An AORN member since 1993, Tina joined Cardinal Health in 2015 as a Senior Consultant specializing in Presource and perioperative products.
Room: Booth 801
Perioperative nurse leaders and surgeons share a mutual goal of delivering safe, efficient patient care. However, access to OR time to deliver that care tends to revolve around difficult conversations. Staffing shortages, unpredictable case volume, add on cases, lack of anesthesia coverage, deep rooted cultures, and more make critical operating decisions extremely challenging for perioperative leaders, particularly when they don’t have reliable or credible data to make timely decisions.
Typical “best practices” and benchmark data often fail to identify and address underlying issues related to scheduling and utilization challenges. Despite best efforts, organizations often lack a standardized approach to key operational decision-making with visible and transparent “single source of truth” data. In today’s healthcare environment, nurse managers require accurate tools to simplify workflows, create ease of access to available resources, and smooth out the surgery schedule workload during primetime hours.
Maximizing surgeon and staff productivity and efficient use of operating room time (and minimizing conflict) that arises around surgeon accessibility and efficient use of operating room time is an achievable goal when all stakeholders have the capability to easily access transparent and actionable data. Adopting technology with predictive and prescriptive data analytics drives meaningful conversations, builds a collaborative culture and strengthens multidisciplinary relationships, while improving access to optimal patient care.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the key tools to use when having difficult conversations with surgeons.
- Describe the value of adopting a culture of data transparency and metric standardization.
- Evaluate the benefits of implementing tools built on prescriptive and predictive data analytics into the perioperative workflow.
Speakers:
Nancy Mann, BSN, Customer Engagement Manager, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
As a Customer Engagement Manager, Nancy has worked with multiple leading healthcare organizations by using iQueue to optimize the operating rooms space. Previously, Nancy has experience working for Atrium Health in the perioperative space and also Quality Division where her key focus was healthcare quality improvement and analytics. Nancy holds a BSN from East Carolina University.
Jenny Desir, MBA, BSN, RN, Customer Engagement Specialist, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
Jenny is a Customer Engagement Specialist for iQueue for Operating Rooms. Prior to joining LeanTaas, she was a Perioperative Services Business Consultant at Holy Cross Health, where she was responsible for implementing various strategies, conducting integrated data analysis, and developing complex reports to optimize healthcare in all areas of perioperative services. Prior to working at Holy Cross, in addition to being an Operating Room registered nurse working in various specialties, she was the frontline leader for the operating room department as an expert in the magnet journey at Inova Health System, where she implemented different portfolio systems, provided staff training presentations, and oversaw various projects. Jenny holds a B.S. in Nursing from George Mason University and an MBA from American University at the Kogod School of Business.
Room: Booth 501
This continuing education program aims to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to optimize operating room (OR) scheduling and create a predictable environment for surgical procedures. Participants will delve into the intricacies of OR management, exploring strategies to streamline scheduling processes, minimize disruptions, and improve patient access. Through case studies, interactive discussions, and practical exercises, attendees will gain insights into the latest tools, technologies, and best practices for achieving efficient OR schedules, ultimately enhancing surgical team coordination and patient satisfaction.
Learning objectives:
- Develop and maintain a predictable OR schedule to optimize resource utilization.
- Create a predictable environment for surgical procedures through efficient scheduling.
- Streamline scheduling processes to enhance team collaboration and improve patient and staff satisfaction.
Speaker:
Steve Burmeister, RN, Lead Clinical Solution Architect - Perioperative, Qventus, Inc.
Steve Burmeister is the Lead Perioperative Clinical Solution Architect at Qventus, where he provides perioperative clinical expertise in product design, development, and implementation.
Previously, Steve was a Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist where he led large scale quality improvement initiatives in the perioperative domain. Prior to this, he was an OR Circulating RN, PM Charge RN, and Acute/Perioperative Informatics Nurse.
Steve holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Health Innovation & Leadership and Certificate in Healthcare Design & Innovation from the University of Minnesota. He is also ANCC Board Certified in Informatics Nursing and an AONL Certified Nurse Manager & Leader.
Room: Booth 601
This session will examine strategies for right-sizing equipment inventory based on utilization and value the right-sizing process will bring to forecasting capital and operating budgets. Steps to achieve appropriate asset mix for procedure volume and reduction of loaner dependency and risk will be discussed and practical approaches for implementing the right-sizing process will be presented.
Learning objectives:
•Explain how asset utilization can assist in right sizing inventory.
•Identify common challenges caused by lack of insight into asset utilization.
•Identify key metrics used to evaluate asset utilization.
Speaker:
Amy K. Williams, DNP, RN, CPAN, CSPDT, CSPM, Sr. Manager, Clinical Education Compliance, STERIS Instrument Management Services
Dr. Amy Williams is the Senior Manager for Clinical Education Compliance with STERIS Instrument Management Services. She is a Registered Nurse with 27 years of clinical experience as a staff nurse, Nurse Educator, and Nurse Manager in Adult Med-Surg and Intensive Care, and Perioperative Services including PACU, OR, and Central Sterile Processing. Amy earned a Master of Science in Nursing Education in 2009 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Organizational Systems and Leadership in 2017. She also has 10 years of experience as a Nurse Educator in the academic setting and has served as a faculty member and Program Chair for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in Louisiana and Tennessee. She is a published author, frequently serves as a peer-reviewer for nursing journals and textbook publishers and served on a task for the Tennessee Department of Health to advise on development of certification criteria for Central Sterile Processing Technicians in the state of Tennessee.
Room: Theater 2
This education session will focus on the ANSI Z136.3 standard for the safe use of lasers in healthcare. Understand how it is related to accreditation, regulatory agencies and professional organization practice guidelines. Compliance with the standard is necessary to control laser hazards and safety relative to patient treatment application risks.
Learning objectives:
• Discuss laser safety program requirements
• Describe laser operator/user training and competency requirements.
• Discuss the decision-making metrics on laser ownership versus third-party laser/operator services.
Speaker:
Richard A. Gama, Director of Laser Safety for Agiliti, Commissioner for Board of Laser Safety, Agiliti
Certified Medical Laser Safety Officer and Certified Surgical Technologist working for Agiliti as Director of Laser Safety. He is a leading expert in the field of healthcare laser use and safety, has participated in well-over 10,000 laser procedures and hundreds of laser training courses and physician workshops. He serves as a Commissioner for the Board of Laser Safety (BLS) and is on the BLS Certification Exam Review Committee. He is the co-chair for the 2023 International Laser Safety Conference medical practical applications seminar and is co-instructor for the Laser Institute of America’s Medical Laser Safety Officer Training Course since 2014.
Room: Booth 905
Communication and real-time data management within the operating room can be particularly challenging, but issues can be easily overcome by having adaptability and flexibility built into the integration platform. This session will cover the main characteristics of digital integration and how to utilize OR integration and data management to increase efficiency and support your existing clinical workflows.
By designing rooms based on vendor neutral, easy to use platforms, you can implement time-saving workflow improvements, with data management centered around following the patient’s journey and improving the patient experience. We will review strategies to use OR integration to the fullest extent to support existing workflows that can improve staff satisfaction, reduce the need for re-training, and increase productivity in the operating room.
Learning objectives:
- Define the main role of digital integration in the operating room including the four main characteristics for creating a digital ecosystem.
- Discuss the challenges presented within the OR that can hinder effective team communication and learn how to overcome them to increase efficiency with data-driven approaches.
- Review strategies for using OR integration to improve your existing team workflows.
Speaker:
Miranda Cundiff, Marketing Manager Digital O.R., Brainlab
Miranda’s background includes Biomedical Engineering, Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, and extensive clinical and IT experience working for Cerner Corporation and now Brainlab.
Room: Booth 1122
Air disinfection is achieved by ventilation. Ventilation is one of the most important means to control cross transmission by removing or diluting bacteria, viruses and mold-laden aerosols from occupied spaces. This session will describe an upper room ultra-violet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) air disinfection system. This UVGI system is a proven adjunct to existing HVAC resulting in improved ventilation and reducing environmental contamination and infectious outcomes.
Learning objectives:
• Describe the risks associated with pathogen contaminated air.
• Describe the safety and efficacy considerations of UVGI.
• Identify how implementing UVGI enhances existing HVAC air disinfection.
Speaker:
Karen Hoffmann, RN, MS, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, Infection Preventionist Consultant, Nuvo Medillum
Karen has specialized in infection prevention and control for 4 decades, serving for 24 years as the Associate Director of the North Carolina Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology (SPICE), and is an adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine. Karen also served as the Infection Preventionist Consultant for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2011 to 2020. She is a Fellow in both the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). She was the 2019 APIC President. Karen earned her BS in Nursing from Indiana University and her Master’s in Healthcare Epidemiology from the University of Virginia.
Room: Theater 1
COVID had a significant impact on the national anesthesia labor market resulting in ongoing staffing shortages, service interruptions, quality deficiencies, and overall operational challenges directly impacting Operating Room performance. This session will explore the anesthesia challenges currently and commonly facing O.R. leaders, while also examining the strategies and options to address the challenges for improved and sustained O.R. performance.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the current anesthesia labor market and service challenges directly impacting the Operating Room.
- Explore key strategies and alternative options for addressing the anesthesia labor, service, and performance challenges.
- Identify the key areas for achieving a sustainable, high-performing anesthesia partnership in the Operating Room.
Speaker:
Hugh Morgan, MHA, CMPE, CPHQ
Vice President, Operations
Somnia, Inc.
Room: Booth 601
Despite diligent efforts to ensure all items used during a surgical procedure are accounted for prior to skin closure, retained surgical items (RSIs) remain a top technology hazard, and surgical sponges are the most common RSIs. This continuing education activity will review the challenges associated with manual counting procedures, describe technologies available to supplement manual counts, and offer strategies for incorporating adjunct technologies into practice to improve patient safety.
Learning objectives:
- Identify challenges associated with manual counting of surgical sponges.
- Describe adjunct technologies available to supplement counting procedures with the goal of preventing RSIs.
- Discuss strategies for combining adjunct technologies with manual counting procedures to minimize the risk of RSIs and improve patient safety in healthcare facilities.
Speaker:
Lena Fogle, BSN, RN, CNOR, Senior Director Global Clinical Solutions & Procedural Portfolio Marketing, STERIS
Lena is a seasoned healthcare leader, holding various positions including, director of perioperative services, VP of patient care and LEAN Consultant for various health care delivery systems. Since joining STERIS 10 years ago Lena has held positions within the marketing organization, her most recent position is senior director, procedural portfolio marketing and global clinical solutions.
Room: Theater 2
Gloves are a common medical device used as barrier protection in the medical field that are part of universal precautions aimed at protecting healthcare workers from pathogen and blood-borne disease. Sterile surgical gloves used during operating room procedures protect patients from post-surgical infections. Natural rubber latex, the material gloves were first made from, has been shown to produce hypersensitivity reactions in a portion of the population. Latex gloves are being replaced with synthetic alternatives made of polyisoprene or neoprene to create latex-safe environments.
Learning objectives:
• Understand the importance of surgical gloves within today’s healthcare environment while navigating through the different types of glove compositions available.
• Discuss risks associated with latex exposure for both healthcare professionals and patients.
• Outline guidelines and best practices when evaluating and selecting gloves while understanding risk versus benefit cost analysis on pursuing a latex-free environment.
Speaker:
Tina Keller, MHA, BSN, RN, CNOR, RNFA, CCSVP, Senior Clinical Consultant, Cardinal Health
Ms. Tina Keller, who resides in Northern Virginia, is a Registered Nurse with 25 years of clinical and leadership experience specializing in specialty areas such as surgery and pediatric/adult OR’s and is CNOR (Certified Perioperative Nurse) and CCSVP (Certified Central Service Vendor Partner) certified. Ms. Keller has extensive data and process analysis experience and possesses strong assessment, design, and project implementation skills.
Ms. Keller recently completed her master’s degree in healthcare administration and enjoys educating healthcare professionals while also spending time volunteering for various medical missions.
An AORN member since 1993, Tina joined Cardinal Health in 2015 as a Senior Consultant specializing in Presource and perioperative products.
Room: Booth 801
Perioperative nurse leaders and surgeons share a mutual goal of delivering safe, efficient patient care. However, access to OR time to deliver that care tends to revolve around difficult conversations. Staffing shortages, unpredictable case volume, add on cases, lack of anesthesia coverage, deep rooted cultures, and more make critical operating decisions extremely challenging for perioperative leaders, particularly when they don’t have reliable or credible data to make timely decisions.
Typical “best practices” and benchmark data often fail to identify and address underlying issues related to scheduling and utilization challenges. Despite best efforts, organizations often lack a standardized approach to key operational decision-making with visible and transparent “single source of truth” data. In today’s healthcare environment, nurse managers require accurate tools to simplify workflows, create ease of access to available resources, and smooth out the surgery schedule workload during primetime hours.
Maximizing surgeon and staff productivity and efficient use of operating room time (and minimizing conflict) that arises around surgeon accessibility and efficient use of operating room time is an achievable goal when all stakeholders have the capability to easily access transparent and actionable data. Adopting technology with predictive and prescriptive data analytics drives meaningful conversations, builds a collaborative culture and strengthens multidisciplinary relationships, while improving access to optimal patient care.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the key tools to use when having difficult conversations with surgeons.
- Describe the value of adopting a culture of data transparency and metric standardization.
- Evaluate the benefits of implementing tools built on prescriptive and predictive data analytics into the perioperative workflow.
Speakers:
Nancy Mann, BSN, Customer Engagement Manager, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
As a Customer Engagement Manager, Nancy has worked with multiple leading healthcare organizations by using iQueue to optimize the operating rooms space. Previously, Nancy has experience working for Atrium Health in the perioperative space and also Quality Division where her key focus was healthcare quality improvement and analytics. Nancy holds a BSN from East Carolina University.
Jenny Desir, MBA, BSN, RN, Customer Engagement Specialist, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
Jenny is a Customer Engagement Specialist for iQueue for Operating Rooms. Prior to joining LeanTaas, she was a Perioperative Services Business Consultant at Holy Cross Health, where she was responsible for implementing various strategies, conducting integrated data analysis, and developing complex reports to optimize healthcare in all areas of perioperative services. Prior to working at Holy Cross, in addition to being an Operating Room registered nurse working in various specialties, she was the frontline leader for the operating room department as an expert in the magnet journey at Inova Health System, where she implemented different portfolio systems, provided staff training presentations, and oversaw various projects. Jenny holds a B.S. in Nursing from George Mason University and an MBA from American University at the Kogod School of Business.
Room: Booth 601
This session will examine strategies for right-sizing equipment inventory based on utilization and value the right-sizing process will bring to forecasting capital and operating budgets. Steps to achieve appropriate asset mix for procedure volume and reduction of loaner dependency and risk will be discussed and practical approaches for implementing the right-sizing process will be presented.
Learning objectives:
•Explain how asset utilization can assist in right sizing inventory.
•Identify common challenges caused by lack of insight into asset utilization.
•Identify key metrics used to evaluate asset utilization.
Speaker:
Amy K. Williams, DNP, RN, CPAN, CSPDT, CSPM, Sr. Manager, Clinical Education Compliance, STERIS Instrument Management Services
Dr. Amy Williams is the Senior Manager for Clinical Education Compliance with STERIS Instrument Management Services. She is a Registered Nurse with 27 years of clinical experience as a staff nurse, Nurse Educator, and Nurse Manager in Adult Med-Surg and Intensive Care, and Perioperative Services including PACU, OR, and Central Sterile Processing. Amy earned a Master of Science in Nursing Education in 2009 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Organizational Systems and Leadership in 2017. She also has 10 years of experience as a Nurse Educator in the academic setting and has served as a faculty member and Program Chair for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in Louisiana and Tennessee. She is a published author, frequently serves as a peer-reviewer for nursing journals and textbook publishers and served on a task for the Tennessee Department of Health to advise on development of certification criteria for Central Sterile Processing Technicians in the state of Tennessee.
Room: Theater 1
Perioperative team members face unique challenges when positioning surgical patients. Team members must consider potential risks and complications such as pressure injury, nerve impingement, compartment syndrome and even death. High-risk anatomical areas, such as bony prominences and delicate nerve systems, are vulnerable to potential positioning injuries. Potential for injuries drastically increase if patients have risk factors such as age or obesity. Independently, surgical positions such as prone or Trendelenburg positions, pose their own unique risks for patients. When the perioperative RN, in collaboration with all team members, uses their knowledge to assess these risks in combination with communication, planning, assessment and choosing the safest positioning systems to provide an ideal position for the patient, positive outcomes for the
patient, perioperative team members and the health care facility can be achieved.
Learning objectives:
- Identify risks related to intraoperative patient positioning.
- Discuss best practice related to specific positions used for intraoperative patients.
- Describe key components of a culture of best practices related to intraoperative patient positioning.
Speaker:
Maria Kramer, MHA, RN, CNOR, Sr. Director of Clinical Development, Xodus Medical
Maria received her BSN and MHA from Waynesburg University. She has over 16 years of experience as an OR nurse in a vast array of surgical services and has held progressive leadership roles from Supervisor to Director level.
Maria has leveraged her experience and passion for enhancing the patient experience in her current role as the Sr. Director of Clinical Development for Xodus Medical. She is committed to improving patient safety through proper patient positioning and believes this can be accomplished by supporting our frontline with the tools and education that support the highest standard of care.
Room: Theater 2
This education session will focus on the ANSI Z136.3 standard for the safe use of lasers in healthcare. Understand how it is related to accreditation, regulatory agencies and professional organization practice guidelines. Compliance with the standard is necessary to control laser hazards and safety relative to patient treatment application risks.
Learning objectives:
• Discuss laser safety program requirements
• Describe laser operator/user training and competency requirements.
• Discuss the decision-making metrics on laser ownership versus third-party laser/operator services.
Speaker:
Richard A. Gama, Director of Laser Safety for Agiliti, Commissioner for Board of Laser Safety, Agiliti
Certified Medical Laser Safety Officer and Certified Surgical Technologist working for Agiliti as Director of Laser Safety. He is a leading expert in the field of healthcare laser use and safety, has participated in well-over 10,000 laser procedures and hundreds of laser training courses and physician workshops. He serves as a Commissioner for the Board of Laser Safety (BLS) and is on the BLS Certification Exam Review Committee. He is the co-chair for the 2023 International Laser Safety Conference medical practical applications seminar and is co-instructor for the Laser Institute of America’s Medical Laser Safety Officer Training Course since 2014.
Room: Booth 905
Communication and real-time data management within the operating room can be particularly challenging, but issues can be easily overcome by having adaptability and flexibility built into the integration platform. This session will cover the main characteristics of digital integration and how to utilize OR integration and data management to increase efficiency and support your existing clinical workflows.
By designing rooms based on vendor neutral, easy to use platforms, you can implement time-saving workflow improvements, with data management centered around following the patient’s journey and improving the patient experience. We will review strategies to use OR integration to the fullest extent to support existing workflows that can improve staff satisfaction, reduce the need for re-training, and increase productivity in the operating room.
Learning objectives:
- Define the main role of digital integration in the operating room including the four main characteristics for creating a digital ecosystem.
- Discuss the challenges presented within the OR that can hinder effective team communication and learn how to overcome them to increase efficiency with data-driven approaches.
- Review strategies for using OR integration to improve your existing team workflows.
Speaker:
Miranda Cundiff, Marketing Manager Digital O.R., Brainlab
Miranda’s background includes Biomedical Engineering, Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, and extensive clinical and IT experience working for Cerner Corporation and now Brainlab.
Room: Booth 801
Perioperative nurse leaders and surgeons share a mutual goal of delivering safe, efficient patient care. However, access to OR time to deliver that care tends to revolve around difficult conversations. Staffing shortages, unpredictable case volume, add on cases, lack of anesthesia coverage, deep rooted cultures, and more make critical operating decisions extremely challenging for perioperative leaders, particularly when they don’t have reliable or credible data to make timely decisions.
Typical “best practices” and benchmark data often fail to identify and address underlying issues related to scheduling and utilization challenges. Despite best efforts, organizations often lack a standardized approach to key operational decision-making with visible and transparent “single source of truth” data. In today’s healthcare environment, nurse managers require accurate tools to simplify workflows, create ease of access to available resources, and smooth out the surgery schedule workload during primetime hours.
Maximizing surgeon and staff productivity and efficient use of operating room time (and minimizing conflict) that arises around surgeon accessibility and efficient use of operating room time is an achievable goal when all stakeholders have the capability to easily access transparent and actionable data. Adopting technology with predictive and prescriptive data analytics drives meaningful conversations, builds a collaborative culture and strengthens multidisciplinary relationships, while improving access to optimal patient care.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the key tools to use when having difficult conversations with surgeons.
- Describe the value of adopting a culture of data transparency and metric standardization.
- Evaluate the benefits of implementing tools built on prescriptive and predictive data analytics into the perioperative workflow.
Speakers:
Nancy Mann, BSN, Customer Engagement Manager, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
As a Customer Engagement Manager, Nancy has worked with multiple leading healthcare organizations by using iQueue to optimize the operating rooms space. Previously, Nancy has experience working for Atrium Health in the perioperative space and also Quality Division where her key focus was healthcare quality improvement and analytics. Nancy holds a BSN from East Carolina University.
Jenny Desir, MBA, BSN, RN, Customer Engagement Specialist, iQueue for Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS
Jenny is a Customer Engagement Specialist for iQueue for Operating Rooms. Prior to joining LeanTaas, she was a Perioperative Services Business Consultant at Holy Cross Health, where she was responsible for implementing various strategies, conducting integrated data analysis, and developing complex reports to optimize healthcare in all areas of perioperative services. Prior to working at Holy Cross, in addition to being an Operating Room registered nurse working in various specialties, she was the frontline leader for the operating room department as an expert in the magnet journey at Inova Health System, where she implemented different portfolio systems, provided staff training presentations, and oversaw various projects. Jenny holds a B.S. in Nursing from George Mason University and an MBA from American University at the Kogod School of Business.
Room: Booth 601
Despite diligent efforts to ensure all items used during a surgical procedure are accounted for prior to skin closure, retained surgical items (RSIs) remain a top technology hazard, and surgical sponges are the most common RSIs. This continuing education activity will review the challenges associated with manual counting procedures, describe technologies available to supplement manual counts, and offer strategies for incorporating adjunct technologies into practice to improve patient safety.
Learning objectives:
- Identify challenges associated with manual counting of surgical sponges.
- Describe adjunct technologies available to supplement counting procedures with the goal of preventing RSIs.
- Discuss strategies for combining adjunct technologies with manual counting procedures to minimize the risk of RSIs and improve patient safety in healthcare facilities.
Speaker:
Lena Fogle, BSN, RN, CNOR, Senior Director Global Clinical Solutions & Procedural Portfolio Marketing, STERIS
Lena is a seasoned healthcare leader, holding various positions including, director of perioperative services, VP of patient care and LEAN Consultant for various health care delivery systems. Since joining STERIS 10 years ago Lena has held positions within the marketing organization, her most recent position is senior director, procedural portfolio marketing and global clinical solutions.
Room: Theater 1
Perioperative team members face unique challenges when positioning surgical patients. Team members must consider potential risks and complications such as pressure injury, nerve impingement, compartment syndrome and even death. High-risk anatomical areas, such as bony prominences and delicate nerve systems, are vulnerable to potential positioning injuries. Potential for injuries drastically increase if patients have risk factors such as age or obesity. Independently, surgical positions such as prone or Trendelenburg positions, pose their own unique risks for patients. When the perioperative RN, in collaboration with all team members, uses their knowledge to assess these risks in combination with communication, planning, assessment and choosing the safest positioning systems to provide an ideal position for the patient, positive outcomes for the
patient, perioperative team members and the health care facility can be achieved.
Learning objectives:
- Identify risks related to intraoperative patient positioning.
- Discuss best practice related to specific positions used for intraoperative patients.
- Describe key components of a culture of best practices related to intraoperative patient positioning.
Speaker:
Maria Kramer, MHA, RN, CNOR, Sr. Director of Clinical Development, Xodus Medical
Maria received her BSN and MHA from Waynesburg University. She has over 16 years of experience as an OR nurse in a vast array of surgical services and has held progressive leadership roles from Supervisor to Director level.
Maria has leveraged her experience and passion for enhancing the patient experience in her current role as the Sr. Director of Clinical Development for Xodus Medical. She is committed to improving patient safety through proper patient positioning and believes this can be accomplished by supporting our frontline with the tools and education that support the highest standard of care.
Room: Halls AB, Level 3
Let’s keep the energy up through the last hour of the exhibit hall! Enjoy sweet treats, Southern inspired appetizers, and locally sourced beverages as you make your way through the hall asking your final questions of exhibitors, gather contact information, and spend time with your colleagues!
Stations:
- Local Brew Pub: Yazoo & Blackstone local craft beers, assorted sodas, and mini pimento grilled cheese.
- Broadway Mule Bar: Moscow mules (Virgin, Picker’s locally distilled vodka or Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey), and market fresh cobbler in assorted flavors.
- Local Neighborhood Bar: Front porch lemonade, virgin lemonade, red and white wines, and Nick’s BBQ chicken pinwheel and cornbread crouton.
Room: Luke Bryan’s Venue
Meet us on Broadway for OR Manager’s Night Out! One of the most popular events during the conference, OR Manager’s Night Out is an opportunity to relax and spend time with your colleagues. This year, we are heading to country music star Luke Bryan’s venue, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, where we will enjoy dinner and drinks, and hit the dance floor while listening to a live band perform in true Nashville fashion!
*Ticket included with purchase of Best Value Pass. Separate Registration required for all other passes.
Wednesday, September 20
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Join Dr. Harvey Castro, a seasoned Emergency Physician and AI expert, in this dynamic presentation as we delve into the transformative power of AI in healthcare. With a humble and grateful tone, Dr. Castro will inspire and motivate attendees to reimagine the possibilities that AI can bring to the healthcare field.
Dr. Castro, will discuss how AI, particularly ChatGPT, can dramatically reduce the administrative burden in healthcare settings. ChatGPT has the potential to automate many administrative tasks that traditionally require human intervention, thus freeing up valuable time for healthcare providers to focus on patient care.
Learning objectives:
- Explore the many uses of AI and how it can streamline patient data entry, appointment scheduling, and record-keeping processes.
- Discover how AI can empower patients to have an active role in managing their health.
- Demonstrate ways to use AI in order to increase efficiencies and improve staff satisfaction.
Room: 208
Addressing workplace violence is critical to the success of your outpatient surgery center. Today’s workplace is challenged like never before with violence making a disruptive impact. ASCs can be especially more vulnerable to random attacks and active shooter situations. Compared to a larger hospital setting, ASCs can be easier to breach, targeting staff and patients. Attend this session to get training tools to make your ASC safe, protect your team and improve staff retention.
Learning objectives:
• Learn what components you need to build an educational safety program to prevent acts of violence.
• Understand what types of personnel and equipment are needed to prevent the potential for a violent attack.
• Develop a safety plan for your team.
Jeff Robinson, MSN, RN, NE-BC, OR Nurse Manager, Mayo Clinic
Demand for hybrid ORs across the nation is on the rise. The opportunity to save time and money, coupled with the prospect of developing a more efficient profit model, make the development of a hybrid OR attractive for any facility.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how to train staff on new equipment and integrate robots working alongside humans.
• Understand how contracting services and preventative maintenance providers can reduce your hybrid OR downtime.
• Discover the tools available to ensure quality and safety while optimizing your hybrid OR suite.
Take-home tool:
ROI spreadsheet to make the case for investing in new technology
Room: 201
Rural hospitals play a critical role in healthcare advocacy and care to their community just as large tertiary hospitals do. However, few healthcare providers for either side understand how closely rural and urban hospitals work together to provide their community with the care they need through strategic planning and affiliations. Rural hospitals are small but mighty as they work with their tertiary counterparts to meet the needs of their communities. This session will focus on educating the OR nurse on the role of rural and tertiary surgical staff and compare their clinical importance to each of the communities they support together and individually.
Learning objectives:
• Learn how rural and tertiary hospitals can work together to provide better patient care.
• Understand the importance of both types of health systems.
• Develop an education plan for OR nurses to support each other and serve their community.
Take-home tool:
Collaboration support tool for working with tertiary and rural health systems
Room: 205
Nurses must realize the impact of effective advocacy to promote safe and quality healthcare today. Legislative advocacy activities by nursing leaders include understanding the legislative process, building relationships with legislative decision-makers, mastering the art of communication (negotiating, testifying, endorsing), participating in legislative activities, and analyzing the effectiveness of advocacy.
This session will convey the secrets of becoming an advocate in the legislative arena and best practices needed to become an effective advocate. As a core discipline, advocacy is mandatory for all nursing leaders as they enter into the world of policy and politics.
Learning objectives:
• Explore why legislative advocacy is a critical attribute for nursing leaders.
• Develop the advocacy role in perioperative nursing leaders.
• Examine the outcome of effective legislative advocacy.
Take-home tool:
Guidelines on how to become an advocate for patients and the profession to help advance healthcare issues and positions
In your leadership role, you might feel you are “on stage” at all times. Where do you find your energy from? Are you showing up for your team? How can you set healthy boundaries to ensure you can be present for your team? Attend this session to learn how to develop relationships with your team to build trust.
Learning objectives:
• Discuss the peer-to-leader transition and how to navigate this change.
• Learn how you can have a thoughtful presence.
• Build a team that can fly solo without you.
Take-home tool:
KPI checklist to setting boundaries
Adolescent and pediatric patients have unique needs in the PACU. The PACU RNs without pediatric background can find it challenging to care for children and teens alongside adults. How do we meet the needs of this unique patient population and their families in the PACU?
Learning objectives:
• Learn about the unique needs of the pediatric and adolescent patient population and how it’s different than caring for adults in the PACU.
• Establish a process to be more welcoming and provide a safe space for recovery.
• Embrace family presence in the PACU and implement a process for a smooth transition to discharge and recovery at home.
Take-home tool:
Checklist of critical success factors to effectively care for pediatric and adolescent patients
Fawn Esser-Lipp, MBA, BSN, CASC, CNOR, Executive Director, The Surgery Center LLC
Cindy Hess, MSN, RN, FNP-C, CNAMB, Director of Nursing, Northeast Missouri Ambulatory Surgery Center
Tracy Hoeft-Hoffman, MSN, MBA, RN, CASC, Administrator, Heartland Surgery Center
Ambulatory Surgery Centers have been in operation for more than 40 years as an alternative care organization for surgery at a lower cost while providing exceptional outcomes. Thanks to technological advancements, ASCs have seen tremendous growth. As more ASCs open up across the nation, ASC leaders need to know the latest developments impacting human resources, regulations, new service lines, reimbursement, and more! Bring your questions to this interactive session and learn from ASC experts on the most pressing issues impacting your surgery center.
Learning objectives:
• Learn best practices to become an effective ASC Leader.
• Develop a plan to overcome daily challenges in the ASC.
• Learn strategies to improve patient satisfaction.
Carmel Pound, MSN, MBA, RN, CNOR, CSSM, CNAMB, Manager, Perioperative Services, St. Luke's Heath, CHI Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center
Communication across the healthcare continuum has been enhanced through the use of technology. Many platforms exist to provide data that is convenient and accessible to many users simultaneously. Convenience may come at a cost when computer systems are becoming more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. When that continuum is disrupted, how do you cope operationally with lost data? What strategies can you implement to keep your operations afloat during the crisis? Hear a real-word scenario on lessons learned and how to develop a strategy in the event your EMR goes down for an extended period of time.
Learning objectives:
• Develop a business continuity plan in the event your EMR goes down.
• Outline the immediate steps to take to keep operations running.
• Learn how to cope operationally when you have lost data.
Take-home tool:
A step-by-step guide to ensure your disaster recovery plan is comprehensive to address the initial downtime and prepare you for a longer outage event
Room: 201
The opioid crisis continues to be a public health concern. Traditionally, an opioid-centric approach treats postoperative pain. Incorporating a multi-modal analgesic Virtual-Reality (VR) program can allow for nursing adoption of novel evidence-based practices (EBP) and promote the use of non-opioid and non-pharmacological interventions. The practice of incorporating multi-modal analgesia as a standard workflow can improve patient outcomes.
Learning objectives:
• Examine ways to decrease opioid exposure in the post-surgical patient.
• Learn how to implement a multi-modal analgesic quality improvement program.
• Discover why Virtual-Reality (VR) is a preferred method for pain control to improve patient outcomes.
Room: 205
Edna Gilliam, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, CNOR, Assistant Vice President of Perioperative Services and SPD, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Sharon Udy-Janczuk, EdD, MSN, RN, CNOR, NE-BC, Perioperative Services, Director of Nursing, Special Projects, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Creative staffing schedules are an absolute necessity in response to the current perioperative staffing crisis. The initial priority begins with an assessment of staffing resources with consideration for consolidating roles and cross-training departments. Next would be establishing a community training for perioperative nurses, surgical technologists and SPD technicians with nationally approved courses. Finally, promotion of systemness through establishment of a staffing resource pool to encourage flexible scheduling of surgical patients and perioperative staff to improve workflow would be a tertiary plan. Attend this session to get a step-by-step guide to respond to the staffing crisis at any stage.
Learning objectives:
• Discover creative strategies to optimize human resources.
• Develop an innovative workflow strategy to increase efficiency.
• Create systemness to support safe staff transitions.
Take-home tool:
Creative staffing model that can be adapted to any sized facility
Beth Bozzelli, MBA, RN, CNOR, CSSM, Vice President of Service Line, Surgical Services, LifePoint Health
Casey Orth-Nebitt, MSN, RN, CNOR, Director of Surgery, Buena Vista Regional Medical Center
Vikram Tiwari, PhD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics and Senior Director, Surgical Analytics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Bring all your burning questions to the ask-me-anything panel of experts from the OR Manager Conference Program Committee. With a combined 45+ years of experience as OR leaders, they are here to inspire you and help you navigate the challenges as new leaders of the OR. This interactive panel is an open format and highly interactive.
Learning objectives:
• Learn best practices to become an effective new leader.
• Develop a plan to overcome daily challenges as a new leader.
• Learn strategies to improve your leadership skills.
Mary Ann Donovan, MSN, MSED, RN, CPAN, Nurse Manager, Cleveland Clinic Euclid Hospital
Lynn Nolan, MSN, RN, CPAN, CAPA, NEA-BC, Director of Perioperative Services, Glenbrook Hospital, NorthShore University HealthSystem
Vicki Yfantis, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, CPAN, CAPA, Director PACU, Pre-Op, PST, Suburban Hospital
Join this closing panel discussion with speakers and committee members as they tie it all together from the conversations over the week. Bring your most burning questions. What did you learn, what do you want to know more about? Walk away with tools to bring back to your PACU and become better equipped to lead your team. Take advantage of this opportunity to have your questions answered by this distinguished panel of PACU experts.
Learning objectives:
• Learn best practices to become an effective PACU Manager.
• Develop a plan to overcome daily challenges in the PACU.
• Learn strategies to improve patient experience.
Room: 4th Level, Ballroom BC
Humor has been proven to benefit nurses, first responders, leaders, families, relationships and individuals by reducing stress and releasing trauma. Learn how you can turn a stressful crisis into a manageable event and come out stronger on the other side by using humor.
Wrap up your education vacation’ by attending the closing keynote which promises to be the icing on the cake of a very insightful week! Join Nancy Norton, RN, for an impactful hour focusing on the power of humor in being an effective leader!
Using laughter as medicine, Nancy will delight the audience with comedic stories on life’s biggest pain points, most rewarding accomplishments and send you off feeling refreshed and recharged.
Learning objectives:
• Recognize the difference between adaptive and maladaptive humor styles.
• Discover how the use of adaptive humor bonds us with our teams, builds trust and leads to increased staff retention.
• Learn how humor enhances creative problem solving, lowers stress and creates a sense of well-being.