orm_march-2024 - 1

MARCH
2024
Volume 40
Number 3
Education and information for OR decision makers
SALARY/CAREER SURVEY
IN THIS ISSUE
INDUSTRY BEATS
CNOR specialty designations
distinguish uncommon
skillsets ......................................6
Unveiling ECRI's 2024 top 10
health technology hazards ............8
Reader's choice: OR am top read
stories ......................................11
BY CYNTHIA SAVER
A look back: 10 years of staffing data
show scope of challenges for OR leaders
SPECIALTY STORIES
Why OR leaders should revisit
sterile processing basics ............21
Breaking down the surgical gown:
Disposable versus reusable,
latest innovations ......................25
HUMAN RESOURCES
BY BRITA BELLI
Nurse leaders on how to improve nurse
wellness, reduce burnout
IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENTS
OR Manager
Award Nominations
Open March 1
SCAN TO NOMINATE!
igh levels of burnout among
nurses is not a new phenomenon-but
the COVID-19 pandemic
thrust it into public view, and
now, acknowledgement that it is happening
is widespread and mainstream.
As researchers analyze data from the
past several years and take stock of
how much burnout impacts nurses'
day-to-day lives, desire to stay in the
profession, and patient health, there
is another focus being brought to the
forefront: nurse wellness.
Across the country, healthcare systems
are looking at how they can better
support nurses through everything from
midday breaks, to meditation and yoga
H
sessions, to mentorship and resilience
training. Efforts are underway to listen
to nurses' experiences and provide
them with more resources to ensure
they are able to devote themselves
to the work they love. Some nurse researchers
argue that while the growing
number of wellness programs aimed at
supporting individual nurses are wellintentioned,
and may provide good coping
tools, what is really needed is major
systemic change-specifically investments
in safer nurse staffing.
" Anyone in healthcare can tell you
that burnout was an issue long before
Continued on page 6
Continued on page 17
ast month, OR Manager looked
back on 5 years of data related
to business managers from our
annual Salary/Career Survey (pp 1, 16-
19). Now we turn to a decade of staffing
and salary data from OR leaders.
This article focuses on insights related
to staffing, and next month's issue will
include the article focusing on salary.
Unsurprisingly, staffing challenges
have been a consistent theme in past
surveys, especially since the COVID-19
pandemic. Some changes are particularly
dramatic. For example, the turnL
over
rate for RNs increased most years
in the past decade, climbing from 6% in
2014 to 16% in 2023-more than four
times higher than the 3.8% national average
reported by Forbes last May.
In general, staffing woes were stable
or worsened from 2014 to 2022. Although
2023 data show improvement
in some parameters, the overall picture
remains troubling. For instance,
the proportion of leaders reporting an
increase in open positions for surgical
technologists (STs) over the past year
Continued on page 13
https://www.ormanager.com/ https://www.ormanager.com/awards/?utm_medium=announcement&utm_source=print&utm_campaign=2024-awards
orm_march-2024

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