Be a part of the process of establishing standards

Sharon A. McNamara, RN

Purchasing an AORN membership buys you far more than a plastic card and the AORN Journal. Your membership puts you in the driver's seat of the profession of perioperative nursing. Are there processes or issues in your workplace that concern or frustrate you? Do you need resources, information, or people to help you change practice or implement patient and staff member safety measures? Then you have come to the right place. AORN is for and about you, the perioperative nurse.

Practice Issues

Each year, the AORN President assesses the issues at the forefront of perioperative nursing. Through a review of completed willingness-to-serve forms, the President then identifies members with the expertise to address these issues and appoints them to committees or task forces that are assigned specific charges in respect to the issues. These members are volunteers—staff nurses, RN first assistants, advanced practice nurses, educators, managers, industry nurses, and retired nurses—who give their time to improve outcomes for their colleagues and patients. This year 265 members have worked diligently with the AORN staff to represent you through their work on our committees and task forces. The work of the committees and task forces for the year culminates in the proceedings at the Forums and House of Delegates sessions at the AORN Congress.

This issue of the AORN Journal brings you the practice issues of the profession of perioperative nursing. There are 11 position statements (10 are printed in this issue of the Journal. See page 108) and recommendations for Bylaws changes from the Members at Large (MAL) Task Force and the Specialty Assembly Futures Task Force for your consideration. These are major issues, and you must make important decisions as to how AORN will proceed toward the future.

Be Part of the Process

As a member, you are represented in the Association by colleagues who have been chosen by your chapter to serve in the House of Delegates, but your part in this process is very important as well. The committees and task forces have completed the work being brought to the House of Delegates, and you must read and comment on their work. Let your delegates know if you agree with AORN's positions. Have we overlooked important factors? Is there a better method? Do you have evidence to support or defeat the motions? Will the work support you every day in your practice?

It is your right and your duty as a perioperative nursing professional to take part in the process. I hope members will view the Blue Sky education vignettes available via a link on the AORN web site at http://www.aorn.org and discuss them at chapter meetings before Congress. This is one way to get you on the bus to active participation in the AORN professional practice tour.

GET INVOLVED.

Willingness to Serve

To serve on a committee or task force, fill out a willingness-to-serve form on AORN online at http://www.aorn.org, or call (800) 755-2676 × 1 to request that one be mailed to you. Then answer the call from your President. You are the expert. You know what is and is not happening in clinical settings. Together with nurses from across the country and around the world you can set the standards in perioperative nursing. Get involved and be part of the solution.

AORN BOOKS.

New Resources

The 2006 Standards, Recommended Practices, and Guidelines will be available in time for Congress. It will include revised competency statements for perioperative nurses, perioperative patient care coordinators, and perioperative advanced practice nurses formatted in the language of the Perioperative Nursing Data Set. Guidance statements on

• •reuse of single-use devices,
• •human and avian influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome,
• •environmental responsibility,
• •patient safety culture,
• •safe medication practices in the perioperative setting, and
• •the role of the health care industry representative in the perioperative setting

have been added to the existing content. These guidance documents provide acceptable methods for implementing the AORN position statements and ideal processes for positive patient outcomes. This is a resource every perioperative nurse and facility that performs surgical and invasive procedures should own.

The Excellence in Perioperative Nursing Task Force has taken the 14 forces of magnetism from the American Nurses Association Magnet Program and identified the implications of excellence for perioperative nursing. Their work will be available in book form in the spring. You will be able to use this guide to help your perioperative services perform at Magnet levels of excellence. Be the best you can be for your patients' sake.

Your colleagues have spent a lot of time and energy researching the evidence, writing position and guidance statements, and contributing tools to assist you in providing expert, safe, quality patient care. Join them in the discussion and deliberation in Washington, DC.

Voice Your Opinion

I receive many chapter newsletters every month and I so enjoy reading about all of the activities that are going on in our chapters at the grassroots level. This month, I read the “Editor's Corner” by Diane Mathews in the Evergreen Circulator. She wrote about respect for others' opinions and the value of free speech in our country. I think Diane stated this very clearly.

I recognize that our opinions are dependent on our experiences, education, morals, and a million other variables. Unless two persons have the exact same set of variables, their opinions are going to differ. When I express myself, it's the product of “Life According to Me.” And that's OK—we all live in our own version of life. Others possess opinions that are a valid product of “Life According to Them.” Effective communication means that I understand that their opinion is based on their own set of life experiences. Effective communication means that I don't have to change their opinion to match mine—theirs is as valid as mine. I might give them new information or share life experiences, trying to change their variables and therefore their opinion. This could be called persuasion and some are better at it than others. This sharing of information to change a person's valid opinion might not be necessary if we're talking about the opinion of wearing socks with sandals, but if the venue is a busy OR and the issue is patient care, it's essential. But remember that another's opinion is as valid as yours until you compare the information that led to the opinion. Listen and learn to persuade effectively^1(p8)

When I think of the energy in the House of Delegates each year that allows us to shape our profession I am awed. We are free to express our opinions and be respectful of each other's diversity in thought. The variety and diversity of opinion and thought in our membership coupled with AORN's governance process is what has made AORN a premier Association, respected around the world. Be active. You are free to state your opinion at any microphone on the House of Delegates' floor. Your opinion and your voice matter.

Delegates cheer on a speaker during the second House of Delegates session at the 2005 Congress.

Educate Yourself on the Issues

You have two and a half months to educate yourself about the issues, discuss them with your colleagues, and then come to Washington, DC, to celebrate the diversity of our perioperative patients, practitioners, and practice areas. I promise you, it will be a real red, white, and blue Congress with a special celebration of the perioperative nurses in our armed services. Amidst the festivities, we will complete our work, and through that work, advance, promote, and preserve the profession of perioperative nursing. Join us in making a difference for perioperative nurses around the world, so you can continue to make a difference for your patients every day and experience the joy of nursing in the process.