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Bridging Collaboration to Innovation
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Bridging Collaboration to Innovation ROSEMARIE T. SCHROEDER BSN, RN, CNOR, AORN PRESIDENT
L
ast year, AORN President Deborah G. Spratt, MPA, BSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, CRCST, CHL, chose “Collaboration” as her theme. For my presidential year, the theme of “Innovation” appears to have chosen me rather than the other way around. Innovation is a key element in the AORN strategic plan; it implies being creative, thinking outside the box, and evolving for the future. As President-elect, I was privileged to have the opportunity to meet, network, and collaborate with leaders of various nursing organizations who share interests and concerns similar to those of AORN leaders. We all seem to be faced with an increasing need for technology, education, and government influence, while at the same time contending with decreased funding and an aging membership. Last year was a year of change for various nursing groups, as they discusseddand some actually moved todholding shorter conferences, electing smaller boards of directors, and conducting a mix of virtual education programs and face-to-face events. Achieving the right balance to meet the needs of different generations of members while remaining fiscally responsible seems to be on everyone’s agenda. INNOVATION IN PERIOPERATIVE NURSING AORN strives to be current with the evolving professional practice issues that affect perioperative
nurses while still honoring our heritage. Innovation will be key to the future relevance of AORN, as health care reform continues to affect our profession. New ideas, advances in research, and innovative products that address patient and staff member safety issues and aid our everyday clinical practice will help ensure our ongoing mission. Wider adoption of the AORN SyntegrityÒ Framework will help ensure that elements in our standards are incorporated into perioperative documentation, which is crucial to validate the perioperative nurse’s role in patient care. Establishing and maintaining a database for perioperative benchmarking is on our horizon. AORN aspires to establish and maintain that database, using data elements captured in Syntegrity, to support the RN’s role in improved patient outcomes through quality and safety metrics. Adapting to and embracing change is a necessary part of being innovative. Hybrid ORs, robotic suites, and fully integrated ORs that allow the nurse to operate equipment (eg, room lights, the OR bed, video equipment, insufflators) from a computer touch screen requires perioperative nurses to expand their technical competencies. Staying current with technology that is updated yearly is an integral part of any perioperative director’s strategic planning efforts and contributes to organizational innovation. Electronic books are selling faster than conventional, hard-copy books, as demonstrated by
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2013.02.002
Ó AORN, Inc, 2013
April 2013
Vol 97 No 4
AORN Journal j 389
April 2013 Vol 97 No 4
the increasing popularity of the online platform for the Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices. With this trend and the fact that educators are becoming fewer and more centralized, online standardized education for orientation and ongoing competency is becoming the norm. Through evidence-based standards, AORN continues to expand its influence outside the walls of the hospital OR, in areas like central supply services, ambulatory surgery, gastroenterology, interventional radiology, labor and delivery, and office-based surgery. We have the opportunity to attract new members and appeal to the younger “techy” generations, while leveraging the expertise of our more seasoned and retiring members to foster the critical “art” of perioperative nursing. COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION Innovation on all levels will be a fundamental element of our evolution. We cannot afford to mourn the past or focus on treading water in the present. Instead, we must ride the wave of innovation into our future. Your Board of Directors and Headquarters staff members are charged with ensuring that AORN remains secure in its ability to serve its members, with the ongoing support of the volunteers who are involved in advancing the mission of the organization. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank everyone who has accepted leadership positions or positions on committees and task forces, either at the national level or for specialty assemblies, state councils, and chapters. Over the years, I have witnessed
390 j AORN Journal
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE and benefited from the talent that permeates this organization and am assured, by the commitment I continue to witness, that AORN can prevail as the premier and indispensable resource for perioperative nursing. Personally, I am excited about our future and the adventures we will face during my year as President. I know that it will sail by, but I value your engagement in making it a year of growth and forward progress. Be innovative.make a difference by keeping yourself and others in the loop of AORN’s ongoing innovation: support nursing education by contributing to the AORN Foundation, ask your facility for Syntegrity and Periop 101TM as resources, participate in the public comment period for new recommended practices, complete a member survey, submit a willingness-to-serve form, bring your suggestions forward, and get a colleague or coworker to join AORN. Editor’s note: AORN Syntegrity is a registered trademark and Periop 101 is a trademark of AORN, Inc, Denver, CO.
Rosemarie T. Schroeder, BSN, RN, CNOR, is the AORN President and director of perioperative services at Ministry Saint Joseph Hospital, Marshfield, WI. President Schroeder has no declared affiliation that could be perceived as posing a potential conflict of interest in the publication of this article.
L
ast year, AORN President Deborah G. Spratt, MPA, BSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, CRCST, CHL, chose “Collaboration” as her theme. For my presidential year, the theme of “Innovation” appears to have chosen me rather than the other way around. Innovation is a key element in the AORN strategic plan; it implies being creative, thinking outside the box, and evolving for the future. As President-elect, I was privileged to have the opportunity to meet, network, and collaborate with leaders of various nursing organizations who share interests and concerns similar to those of AORN leaders. We all seem to be faced with an increasing need for technology, education, and government influence, while at the same time contending with decreased funding and an aging membership. Last year was a year of change for various nursing groups, as they discusseddand some actually moved todholding shorter conferences, electing smaller boards of directors, and conducting a mix of virtual education programs and face-to-face events. Achieving the right balance to meet the needs of different generations of members while remaining fiscally responsible seems to be on everyone’s agenda. INNOVATION IN PERIOPERATIVE NURSING AORN strives to be current with the evolving professional practice issues that affect perioperative
nurses while still honoring our heritage. Innovation will be key to the future relevance of AORN, as health care reform continues to affect our profession. New ideas, advances in research, and innovative products that address patient and staff member safety issues and aid our everyday clinical practice will help ensure our ongoing mission. Wider adoption of the AORN SyntegrityÒ Framework will help ensure that elements in our standards are incorporated into perioperative documentation, which is crucial to validate the perioperative nurse’s role in patient care. Establishing and maintaining a database for perioperative benchmarking is on our horizon. AORN aspires to establish and maintain that database, using data elements captured in Syntegrity, to support the RN’s role in improved patient outcomes through quality and safety metrics. Adapting to and embracing change is a necessary part of being innovative. Hybrid ORs, robotic suites, and fully integrated ORs that allow the nurse to operate equipment (eg, room lights, the OR bed, video equipment, insufflators) from a computer touch screen requires perioperative nurses to expand their technical competencies. Staying current with technology that is updated yearly is an integral part of any perioperative director’s strategic planning efforts and contributes to organizational innovation. Electronic books are selling faster than conventional, hard-copy books, as demonstrated by
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2013.02.002
Ó AORN, Inc, 2013
April 2013
Vol 97 No 4
AORN Journal j 389
April 2013 Vol 97 No 4
the increasing popularity of the online platform for the Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices. With this trend and the fact that educators are becoming fewer and more centralized, online standardized education for orientation and ongoing competency is becoming the norm. Through evidence-based standards, AORN continues to expand its influence outside the walls of the hospital OR, in areas like central supply services, ambulatory surgery, gastroenterology, interventional radiology, labor and delivery, and office-based surgery. We have the opportunity to attract new members and appeal to the younger “techy” generations, while leveraging the expertise of our more seasoned and retiring members to foster the critical “art” of perioperative nursing. COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION Innovation on all levels will be a fundamental element of our evolution. We cannot afford to mourn the past or focus on treading water in the present. Instead, we must ride the wave of innovation into our future. Your Board of Directors and Headquarters staff members are charged with ensuring that AORN remains secure in its ability to serve its members, with the ongoing support of the volunteers who are involved in advancing the mission of the organization. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank everyone who has accepted leadership positions or positions on committees and task forces, either at the national level or for specialty assemblies, state councils, and chapters. Over the years, I have witnessed
390 j AORN Journal
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE and benefited from the talent that permeates this organization and am assured, by the commitment I continue to witness, that AORN can prevail as the premier and indispensable resource for perioperative nursing. Personally, I am excited about our future and the adventures we will face during my year as President. I know that it will sail by, but I value your engagement in making it a year of growth and forward progress. Be innovative.make a difference by keeping yourself and others in the loop of AORN’s ongoing innovation: support nursing education by contributing to the AORN Foundation, ask your facility for Syntegrity and Periop 101TM as resources, participate in the public comment period for new recommended practices, complete a member survey, submit a willingness-to-serve form, bring your suggestions forward, and get a colleague or coworker to join AORN. Editor’s note: AORN Syntegrity is a registered trademark and Periop 101 is a trademark of AORN, Inc, Denver, CO.
Rosemarie T. Schroeder, BSN, RN, CNOR, is the AORN President and director of perioperative services at Ministry Saint Joseph Hospital, Marshfield, WI. President Schroeder has no declared affiliation that could be perceived as posing a potential conflict of interest in the publication of this article.