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A Few Minutes With Rebecca M. Patton
EDITORIAL BOARD OUTLOOK
A Few Minutes With Rebecca M. Patton MSN, RN, CNOR, FAAN
BIOGRAPHY I am a past president of the American Nurses Association and currently hold the inaugural Endowed Perioperative Nursing Chair, Lucy Jo Atkinson Scholar in Perioperative Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. I am a nurse, author, and lecturer, and I have presented extensively. I have testified before Congress and met with major policymakers, including Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, when I lobbied on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. I was appointed to the AORN Editorial Board in 2016.
Question: What was your first writing experience, and what keeps you going?
Answer: The value of writing was appreciated early in my career. After I was a nurse for just three years, I was invited to join a work group to describe a support group we created to help family members and spouses of individuals that had undergone surgical cardiac procedures. That experience created a desire to find ways to share nurses’ unique role. I was challenged as an American Nurses Association president to author more than 65 meaningful editorials. I have written book chapters on perioperative nursing in a medicalsurgical textbook and in Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery. My ultimate goal (bucket list item) was achieved when I coedited a textbook, Nurses Making Policy: From Bedside to Boardroom. It was created in partnership with the
American Nurses Foundation, and 100% of the editors’ royalties are donated to support a new endowed Washingtonbased policy fellowship program.
Question: How does the AORN Journal contribute to perioperative nursing practice? Answer: Sharing our nursing knowledge through publication
is critical. As an educator preparing for classes, I find myself thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe there isn’t something in the literature to address this.” Our specialty practice, perioperative nursing, requires current information, evidence-based practice suggestions, or information regarding devices, medications, or equipment. The articles I always read first are those focused on keeping ourselves and patients safe. It is within our role as nurses to identify, monitor, and reduce risks in the surgical environment.
Question: What advice do you have for aspiring authors? Answer: The Journal is at the top of specialty nursing. The content is current, easy to understand, and a valuable part of AORN membership. As an aspiring author, help us. Keep a notebook and record topics that should be in the Journal. You are in the best position to recognize what should be included. Writing can be intimidating but it does not have to be. Budget one hour a week. Start with the outline, and before you know it you will have your first draft.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2016.05.010 ª AORN, Inc, 2016
www.aornjournal.org
AORN Journal j 99
A Few Minutes With Rebecca M. Patton MSN, RN, CNOR, FAAN
BIOGRAPHY I am a past president of the American Nurses Association and currently hold the inaugural Endowed Perioperative Nursing Chair, Lucy Jo Atkinson Scholar in Perioperative Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. I am a nurse, author, and lecturer, and I have presented extensively. I have testified before Congress and met with major policymakers, including Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, when I lobbied on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. I was appointed to the AORN Editorial Board in 2016.
Question: What was your first writing experience, and what keeps you going?
Answer: The value of writing was appreciated early in my career. After I was a nurse for just three years, I was invited to join a work group to describe a support group we created to help family members and spouses of individuals that had undergone surgical cardiac procedures. That experience created a desire to find ways to share nurses’ unique role. I was challenged as an American Nurses Association president to author more than 65 meaningful editorials. I have written book chapters on perioperative nursing in a medicalsurgical textbook and in Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery. My ultimate goal (bucket list item) was achieved when I coedited a textbook, Nurses Making Policy: From Bedside to Boardroom. It was created in partnership with the
American Nurses Foundation, and 100% of the editors’ royalties are donated to support a new endowed Washingtonbased policy fellowship program.
Question: How does the AORN Journal contribute to perioperative nursing practice? Answer: Sharing our nursing knowledge through publication
is critical. As an educator preparing for classes, I find myself thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe there isn’t something in the literature to address this.” Our specialty practice, perioperative nursing, requires current information, evidence-based practice suggestions, or information regarding devices, medications, or equipment. The articles I always read first are those focused on keeping ourselves and patients safe. It is within our role as nurses to identify, monitor, and reduce risks in the surgical environment.
Question: What advice do you have for aspiring authors? Answer: The Journal is at the top of specialty nursing. The content is current, easy to understand, and a valuable part of AORN membership. As an aspiring author, help us. Keep a notebook and record topics that should be in the Journal. You are in the best position to recognize what should be included. Writing can be intimidating but it does not have to be. Budget one hour a week. Start with the outline, and before you know it you will have your first draft.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2016.05.010 ª AORN, Inc, 2016
www.aornjournal.org
AORN Journal j 99