Swarm Intelligence to Face IoT Challenges.

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm denotes billions of physical entities connected to Internet that allow the collecting and sharing of big amounts of data. Everything may become a component of the IoT thanks to advancements in hardware, software, and wireless network availability. Devices get an advanced level of digital intelligence that enables them to transmit real-time data without applying for human support. However, IoT also comes with its own set of unique challenges. Heavy network traffic is generated in the IoT environment for transmitting data. Reducing network traffic by determining the shortest route from the source to the aim decreases overall system response time and energy consumption costs. This translates into the need to define efficient routing algorithms. Many IoT devices are powered by batteries with limited lifetime, so in order to ensure remote, continuous, distributed, and decentralized control and self-organization of these devices, power-aware techniques are highly desirable. Another requirement is to manage huge amounts of dynamically changing data. This paper reviews a set of swarm intelligence (SI) algorithms applied to the main challenges introduced by the IoT. SI algorithms try to determine the best path for insects by modeling the hunting behavior of the agent community. These algorithms are suitable for IoT needs because of their flexibility, resilience, dissemination degree, and extension.

World-class OR turnaround times: secrets uncovered.

One of the aspects of OR service that is most important to surgeons is quick OR turnaround times. Perioperative staff members and one orthopedic surgeon at the Community Hospital, Munster, Ind, have developed an innovative approach to the OR turnaround process that considerably increases efficiency and reduces average turnaround times. By assigning specific tasks to each perioperative team member, scheduling surgical procedures in order based on type of procedure, and drawing on individual team members' traits, the orthopedic surgeon is able to perform more procedures than other orthopedic surgeons in that facility in the same amount of time, which increases revenue for the hospital.

Developing strategies for on-call staffing: a working guideline for safe practices.

Effective on-call clinical staffing is critical to providing perioperative services to patients requiring emergency surgical care. Without careful monitoring of continuous work hours and hours worked per week, staffing practices can adversely affect the ability of personnel to function and provide care. Managers and perioperative personnel must carefully evaluate their on-call schedule to ensure the provision of safe medical care for their patients. Perioperative leaders at two hospitals partnered to create a safety guideline for on-call staffing practices, which includes zone guides for determining workload intensity. This guideline has served to help managers evaluate the general safety of their staffing plan and identify on-call practices that may need improvement or support in their areas of responsibility. Key recommendations from the guideline can help perioperative managers at other facilities establish clinical staffing plans and on-call practices that are safe and effective.

Perioperative employee annual evaluations: a 30-second process.

In response to complaints about the annual evaluation tool used at The Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, the surgical services management team created a tool to rate the perioperative RNs on skills pertinent to the surgical services department. The hospital-wide evaluation tool uses vague criteria, which are regularly challenged by employees who disagree with their manager's evaluation. The new Surgical Services Employee Evaluation takes a manager approximately 30 seconds to complete and can be added to the generic hospital evaluation form to make the employee evaluation more accurate and meaningful. The tool evaluates three major categories: teamwork, patient care, and job preparation. Use of this additional tool has greatly reduced postevaluation employee complaints, and the tool is now being used in other departments, with slight department-specific variations. Employees now express less frustration with annual evaluations, and managers report a high degree of satisfaction with the tool because it helps them in the difficult task of employee evaluation and counseling.