Taylor Swift in the Cath Lab? Music in the Cath Lab Debate

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Does music play during procedures in your lab? Who chooses the music?

A recent study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal found that "when plastic surgeons listen to music they prefer, their surgical technique and efficiency when closing incisions is improved," says a University of Texas Medical Branch press release.

While many studies have been conducted supporting the idea that music reduces stress and promotes efficiency for operating room staff, this study adds to a more limited evidence base that suggests music can improve technical performance and speed of a procedure.

Why does it matter? Reducing the time of a procedure can lead to significant cost savings, of course, and in cardiac emergencies where "time is muscle," promoting procedure efficiency is key to providing quality care.

But should the cardiologist control music in the cath lab?

Continue reading Taylor Swift in the Cath Lab? Music in the Cath Lab Debate

A Clinical Ladder in the Procedural Setting

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Are you climbing the clinical ladder?

Often in clinical settings, there are limited opportunities for upward mobility. In fact, the clinical "ladder" in your organization might be a single position---Team Leader---or you might not be climbing at all.

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Let’s Make a List: Time-Saving STEMI Practices

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

We need YOU to weigh-in. What are some time-saving STEMI practices you've discovered in your practice?

We've updated our comment system on ACVP Blog to hopefully make it easier and more interactive to comment. So add your idea---it doesn't have to be a best practice, maybe just a little thing you overlooked---and vote on the best, most-interesting ideas from other ACVP members!

Our profile of the Sentara RMH cardiac team (see part one and part two) has started us off with some great ideas for time-saving STEMI practices, so we'll add those below. Meet us in the comments!

Cath Lab Team Building @ RMH

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

In part one of our profile of Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital's cardiac team, we discussed how team members stepped up to to continue activating STEMI from the field and reduce the rate of false calls by educating local EMS. In this post, we'll look at Sentara RMH as an example of excellent cath lab team building from a management perspective.

How do you go about cath lab team building? You could start by getting the team out of the lab, as cardiac operations manager Linwood Williams argues.

Continue reading Cath Lab Team Building @ RMH