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41 Executive Briefing guidelines also suggest periodically assessing warming policy for effectiveness and safety. By installing the TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets, administrators can streamline warming protocols to easily meet safety guidelines and standards. Technical support at MAC Medical is available to help should a safety concern arise. The warming cabinets not only regulate blanket temperature but also record this information directly into a database. Additionally, to make regulating and recording easier, the cabinets come equipped with a view of live trends and an operator audit trail with FDA compliant digital signatures. This enables nurses and administrators to see previous cabinet temperatures and who has access to the cabinet's controls. Complete access to a warming cabinet's temperate and status has not always been readily available to ASCs and nurses. "There was a growing trend of third-party companies that were coming in and putting thermal probes in all the warming cabinets in a facility in order to audit the temperatures," said Ben Bujnak, inside sales representative at MAC Medical. "Third party companies are costly," Mr. Bujnak continued. "MAC Medical put all the same information at the facility's fingertips. Through a Wi-Fi or ethernet connection, this unit allows you to sit down in a centralized location and pull all that information from one spot to meet all your compliant data logging, which is currently becoming a norm. With the TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets, nurses can monitor 25 warming cabinets at one time from a remote location." The TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets simplifies temperature recording, making it easier for ASCs to develop standards and guidelines for operating the system and eliminating tasks from nurse workflows. Keep nurses at patients' bedsides Often the burdensome workloads nurses face can contribute to burnout and stress, which may influence some to leave the profession. This is particularly problematic as many communities in the U.S. continue to face significant nurse shortages. A 2017 AMN Healthcare survey found 72 percent of CNOs acknowledged moderate, significant or severe nursing shortage at their healthcare organizations, and most anticipate the shortages to worsen over the next five years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts more than 1 million registered nurses will be needed by 2022 due to occupational growth and replacement hiring. Many of the nurses retiring are baby boomers. Another 2017 AMN Healthcare survey showed 73 percent of baby boomer registered nurses plan to retire within three years. Thinly spread nursing staffs adversely affect patient outcomes. A study published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies in 2017 showed every extra patient on a nurse's caseload increased mortality rates by 7 percent. Improving staffing ratios does not fully address the issue. Nurses are also overburdened with data entry and other administrative tasks, which limits the amount of time these frontline providers spend directly interacting with patients. These time-consuming tasks not only divert nurses' patient time to a computer or filing cabinet, but fills up their workdays with mundane tasks, which may contribute to burnout. Vendors and ASC administrators are both developing innovative methods and products that will reduce nurse burnout without jeopardizing patient safety or quality standards. MAC Medical's touch screen warming cabinet is designed to keep a nurse connected to the warmer without removing the nurse from the patient's bedside. "With other warming cabinets if, for example, the door was inadvertently left ajar, a nurse would never know of that, unless you were in audible range or had the connectivity," said Nick Marinis, director of business development at MAC Medical. "The TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets give a nurse, even if at a different surgery center, a notification that a temperature is now out of range. In addition, alarm notifications can be sent up to 30 users via text or email." Nurses get complete connectivity to the equipment without losing connections with patients. With a remote desktop or a smartphone, nurses, physicians and administrators can remotely monitor and control the status of the TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets, eliminating the need for nurses to constantly make rounds to the warming cabinet. The cabinets are also equipped with remote technology support and diagnostics to help troubleshoot any problems that arise. Conclusion Between managing a wide range of patients from admission to discharge while also ensuring efficiency throughout an ASC, every day is demanding for nurses. However, a nurse's day is not entirely spent with the patients; they are also responsible for operational functions and equipment management. The operational and clinical difficulties associated with patient care means nurses must constantly think ahead, pre-solving issues before they arise. It is this quick-thinking that helps a surgery center thrive. MAC Medical's TS-Series Blanket & Fluid Warming Cabinets are designed to simplify nurses' workflows and save time to allow these essential providers to keep their focus where it matters most, patient care. n MAC Medical, Inc. concentrates in manufacturing top quality medical equipment including Warming Cabinets, Sinks, Tables, Casework, Case Carts, IV Stands, Mayo Stands, Linen Hampers, and many other stainless steel products. Over the past 20 years, MAC Medical has grown to more than 120 full-time employees operating in a 100,000 square foot manu- facturing facility and 8,200 square foot corporate office. Both facilities are located in Southern Illinois making this an ideal place for centralized distribution to the entire United States. Not limited to the United States, MAC Medical has product in over 20 countries worldwide. Founded as a solutions-based company, MAC Medical still maintains that as its core compe- tency. With no project too large or too small, MAC Medical is committed to providing solutions for customer needs with its service and American made products.