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In Answer to the Question “Why?”
Letters to the Editor
JULY 2006, VOL 84, NO 1
IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION “WHY?”
A
nnamarie Parker, RN, CNOR, asks why it is always nurses who have to ask the questions (Letters to the Editor, vol 83, March 2006). The answer is that purchasing department personnel very often do not have the knowledge to deal with issues that appear very logical to a nurse. After working as a nurse in different specialties (ie, obstetrics, intensive care, the OR), I made a big step to material management of my health region one year ago. Am I ever welcome and needed here! Issues that appear simple and logical to me would take a buyer hours to research and
understand. Five minutes of my time can often solve what could amount to days of problems and can prevent the need for many telephone calls and e-mails. These days, when I travel, the buyers make sure I have my cell phone and laptop computer with me. Health care is becoming ever more complex, and purchasing departments are struggling—and often failing—to keep up. Every purchasing department should have a clinically experienced RN to help with the process. In the meantime, RNs, please keep asking “why?” MARIJKE HENKEMANS RN CLINICAL COORDINATOR SURGICAL PRODUCTS
INTERIOR HEALTH AUTHORITY KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Editor’s note: Please submit all correspondence to AORN Journal, Letters to the Editor, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-5711. Letters that are included in the “Letters” column must contain the reader’s name, credentials if applicable (eg, RN, BSN, CNOR), position or title, employer, and employer’s address. CORRECTION
APRIL 2006, VOL 83, No 4, page 927. The biographical statement for author Elizabeth Tuohy should read as follows: Elizabeth Tuohy, RN, is a clinical nurse consultant, Orthopaedics Unit, The Canberra Hospital, Woden, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The Journal regrets the error.
AORN Journal Home Study Information
A
ORN Journal Home Studies published since July 2003 can be submitted for contact hours up to three years after the date they are published. Contact hours earned from Journal Home Studies can be used for CNOR and CRNFA recertification and are recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation as continuing education for RNs. Home Studies published recently in the Journal cover such topics as • arthroscopic hip surgery, • artificial disc replacement, • bloodborne pathogen exposure, • crew resource management, • electrosurgical burns, • hypothermia, • implementing an electronic medical record system using the perioperative nursing data set, • interpreting basic cardiac rhythms, • malignant hyperthermia, • minimally invasive surgery trends, • obstructive sleep apnea,
18 • AORN JOURNAL
• the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection process, • preoperative and postoperative hypothermia, • photoselective evaporation of the prostate, • preventing deep vein thrombosis, • pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, • robotics, and • substance abuse among nurses. Home Study Programs are published monthly in the AORN Journal, and are available via AORN Online at http://www.aorn.org/journal/homestudy /default.htm. Access the web site and print the article, examination, answer sheet, and learner evaluation, all of which are available in a single PDF file. After reading the article and filling out the answer sheet and learner evaluation, submit the answer sheet and learner evaluation with the appropriate fee by mail to AORN Customer Service c/o Home Study Program, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-5711, or send them via fax with credit card information to (303) 750-3212.
JULY 2006, VOL 84, NO 1
IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION “WHY?”
A
nnamarie Parker, RN, CNOR, asks why it is always nurses who have to ask the questions (Letters to the Editor, vol 83, March 2006). The answer is that purchasing department personnel very often do not have the knowledge to deal with issues that appear very logical to a nurse. After working as a nurse in different specialties (ie, obstetrics, intensive care, the OR), I made a big step to material management of my health region one year ago. Am I ever welcome and needed here! Issues that appear simple and logical to me would take a buyer hours to research and
understand. Five minutes of my time can often solve what could amount to days of problems and can prevent the need for many telephone calls and e-mails. These days, when I travel, the buyers make sure I have my cell phone and laptop computer with me. Health care is becoming ever more complex, and purchasing departments are struggling—and often failing—to keep up. Every purchasing department should have a clinically experienced RN to help with the process. In the meantime, RNs, please keep asking “why?” MARIJKE HENKEMANS RN CLINICAL COORDINATOR SURGICAL PRODUCTS
INTERIOR HEALTH AUTHORITY KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Editor’s note: Please submit all correspondence to AORN Journal, Letters to the Editor, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-5711. Letters that are included in the “Letters” column must contain the reader’s name, credentials if applicable (eg, RN, BSN, CNOR), position or title, employer, and employer’s address. CORRECTION
APRIL 2006, VOL 83, No 4, page 927. The biographical statement for author Elizabeth Tuohy should read as follows: Elizabeth Tuohy, RN, is a clinical nurse consultant, Orthopaedics Unit, The Canberra Hospital, Woden, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The Journal regrets the error.
AORN Journal Home Study Information
A
ORN Journal Home Studies published since July 2003 can be submitted for contact hours up to three years after the date they are published. Contact hours earned from Journal Home Studies can be used for CNOR and CRNFA recertification and are recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation as continuing education for RNs. Home Studies published recently in the Journal cover such topics as • arthroscopic hip surgery, • artificial disc replacement, • bloodborne pathogen exposure, • crew resource management, • electrosurgical burns, • hypothermia, • implementing an electronic medical record system using the perioperative nursing data set, • interpreting basic cardiac rhythms, • malignant hyperthermia, • minimally invasive surgery trends, • obstructive sleep apnea,
18 • AORN JOURNAL
• the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection process, • preoperative and postoperative hypothermia, • photoselective evaporation of the prostate, • preventing deep vein thrombosis, • pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, • robotics, and • substance abuse among nurses. Home Study Programs are published monthly in the AORN Journal, and are available via AORN Online at http://www.aorn.org/journal/homestudy /default.htm. Access the web site and print the article, examination, answer sheet, and learner evaluation, all of which are available in a single PDF file. After reading the article and filling out the answer sheet and learner evaluation, submit the answer sheet and learner evaluation with the appropriate fee by mail to AORN Customer Service c/o Home Study Program, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-5711, or send them via fax with credit card information to (303) 750-3212.