Outpatient Surgery Magazine

COVID-19 Crisis - April 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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implemented a wellness program for surgeons. "Attitudes among surgi- cal leadership are starting to change," says Dr. Nichol. "They want to know how to keep surgeons productive for the next 40 years, rather than having them burn out and break down after 20 years." Dr. Nichol believes medical equipment companies must focus more on addressing ergonomics in their product designs. Take surgical sta- plers. "They're built for people with [size] seven-and-a-half hands," he says. "Our female surgeons have to grab the stapler and fire it with two hands." Mechanically inclined OR staffers such as nursing assistants and surgical techs could generate significant product ideas, according to Dr. Nichol. "They watch surgery day in and day out, and a number will come up with seemingly crazy ideas that actually could be great solutions," he says. "But those people have no way to interact mean- ingfully with manufacturers." Dr. Nichol envisions summits that match vendors with product development opportunities based on ideas generated in ORs. He says, "If you could develop something where ideas can be harvested, where people who come up with the ideas get credit for them and are partic- ipants in the process and get a piece of the financial pie, a company could come up with a solution that's applicable across all facilities." OSM 4 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 2 0 ately implemented. The role of the administrators is crucial in this. While the time-honored belief was that pain was the price you paid to be a great surgeon, a growing number of surgeons now question that no-holds-barred work ethic. As the pool of younger surgeons grows, they'll likely bring their cases to ORs outfitted to address their ergonomic concerns. — Joe Paone

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