AORN journal
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Collaboration between perioperative nurses and music therapists can be beneficial in providing a safe, cost-effective means of managing patients' anxiety and pain and reducing the need for pharmacologic intervention in the perioperative setting. The use of a board-certified music therapist may help to improve patient outcomes, ease nurse workload, and serve as an adjunct therapeutic modality that is enjoyable for both patients and staff members. We conducted a two-year, randomized controlled trial to determine how to best implement a music therapy program, navigate its challenges, and collaborate with nurse colleagues to bring its benefits to surgical patients. This article offers suggestions for alliances between perioperative nursing and music therapy staff members and describes the potential of music therapists to help provide optimal patient care.
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When fires occur in the OR, they are devastating and potentially fatal to both patients and health care workers. Fires can be prevented by understanding the fire triangle and methods of reducing fire risk, conducting fire risk assessments, and knowing how to respond if a fire occurs. This Back to Basics article addresses the basics of fire prevention and the steps that can be taken to prevent fires from occurring.
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This systematic review aimed to critically appraise and synthesize updated evidence regarding the effect of surgical-scrub techniques on skin integrity and the incidence of surgical site infections. Databases searched include the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Central. ⋯ Evidence showed that hand rubbing techniques are as effective as traditional scrubbing and seem to be better tolerated. Hand rubbing appears to cause less skin damage than traditional scrub protocols, and scrub personnel tolerated brushless techniques better than scrubbing using a brush.
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Knowledge of the effectiveness of multimodal analgesic treatments to manage children's postoperative pain during hospital stays is limited. Our retrospective chart review of a convenience sample of 200 pediatric surgical patients' pain experiences during the first 24 hours after laparoscopic appendectomy demonstrates the benefits of a multimodal analgesic approach. ⋯ Patients who received perioperative IV ketorolac (M = 0.94, SD = 0.71) also received significantly fewer morphine equivalents of postoperative opioids during the first 24 hours after surgery than those who did not (M = 1.21, SD = 0.78, t = 2.41, P = .02). We will use data from these patients to introduce the potential for a personalized medicine approach to postoperative pain.