safety

When fallible healthcare providers practice an imperfect science like medicine, mistakes are inevitable no matter how many protocols, checklists, or measures are in place. Some estimates suggest ~ 100,000 patients die yearly from medical...

As a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, I often meet patients who have wrapped their head around the fact that they are getting surgery, but they have a lot of fear about the anesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass, and...

For critically ill inpatients on multiple pressors, mechanical ventilation, and/or mechanical circulatory support devices, it's customary for the anesthesiologist to be a part of the transport team. Over the years, I've seen countless styles...

Every day as an anesthesiologist, I reconstitute, draw up, and administer antibiotics, hypnotics, narcotics, paralytics, inotropes/pressors, blood products, fluids, vasodilators, and a myriad of other medications. Each year, the FDA receives over 100,000 reports...

Medicine is all about constantly asking questions. Why is it so? Can it be done better? What am I missing? What's the diagnosis? What labs/tests should I order? What kind of treatment(s) can I...

Surgical disciplines meet with patients, decide what operation(s) to perform, discuss the risks/benefits, and manage post-operative admissions with follow-ups. Undoubtedly, it's a time and labor intensive job, and as a perioperative physician myself, I...

Today I attended a wonderful session put on by Lifewings outlining techniques to improve patient safety and communication in the healthcare arena. We role played scenarios in which communication between team members became pivotal...

One of my favorite things about anesthesiology and critical care is the freedom I have to provide quality patient care. PACU and ICU nurses are top notch, pharmacists are always available with every medication...