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Representing a leading nursing organization is both a privilege and a challenge
AORN JOURNAL
OCTOBER 1985, VOL 42, NO 4
President h Message Representing a leading nursing organization is both a privilege and a challenge
S
ince I assumed the presidency at Congress in Dallas, I have represented AORN at many meetings. By giving you details about some of these trips, I hope to show you how far-reaching AORNs influence is and the scope of its concerns. One of my first trips as AORN president was to the April meeting of the National Student Nurses’ Association in Indianapolis. There, I attended the awards banquet and talked with scholarship recipients. The recipient of the AORN scholarship was not at the meeting, but it was exciting to see and feel the enthusiasm these students have for nursing. They sincerely appreciated the scholarship funds they received. At its spring meeting, the Board of Directors approved giving the student nurses’ scholarship fund $1,OOO annually. The student nurses represent a group that AORN strives to keep in close contact with, and another such group is the American College of Surgeons (ACS). In early May, I attended a clinical symposium on the operating room environment, which was sponsored by ACS in collaboration with AORN. I moderated the AORN panel on operating room management. The symposium was successful, and the lines of communication between the surgeons and nurses in attendance were open. This is a worthwhile endeavor, as evidenced by our excellent relationship with ACS. A similar symposium is being planned for 1987. The next month, I traveled to AORN Headquarters in Denver for the spring Board of Directors meeting. As the “Board Report” in the August Journal reflects, important policy decisions were made and AORNs concerns were discussed.
In June, I also attended a meeting of the Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations. This group meets to exchange ideas and concerns of particular interest to specialty nursing groups. At this meeting, which was held in Chicago, the revised operating guidelines for the Federation were approved. The Federation also decided to back a resolution presented by the American College of Nurse Midwives asking for support of the group’s efforts to obtain professional liability insurance. The dialogue between the nursing organizations is good, and I enjoyed representing AORN at this meeting. My next stop was the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) House of Delegates meeting in July in Kansas City, Mo. There I had an excellent opportunity to observe the delegates discussing issues for all of nursing and making pertinent decisions. In August, the AORN Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning met for the first time. From my viewpoint as a Committee member, I think the Committee got off to a good start by beginning the first phase of developing a strategic plan to enable the Association to meet the needs of the membership in the future. I, along with representatives of other specialty nursing organizations and ANA, attended a US Department of Defense meeting in Washington, DC. We discussed nursing issues pertaining to specialty nursing practice within the military services. The day after the Department of Defense meeting, I traveled to The Hague for the World Conference of Operating Room Nurses-IV. With
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OCTOBER 1985, VOL 42, NO 4
President h Message Representing a leading nursing organization is both a privilege and a challenge
S
ince I assumed the presidency at Congress in Dallas, I have represented AORN at many meetings. By giving you details about some of these trips, I hope to show you how far-reaching AORNs influence is and the scope of its concerns. One of my first trips as AORN president was to the April meeting of the National Student Nurses’ Association in Indianapolis. There, I attended the awards banquet and talked with scholarship recipients. The recipient of the AORN scholarship was not at the meeting, but it was exciting to see and feel the enthusiasm these students have for nursing. They sincerely appreciated the scholarship funds they received. At its spring meeting, the Board of Directors approved giving the student nurses’ scholarship fund $1,OOO annually. The student nurses represent a group that AORN strives to keep in close contact with, and another such group is the American College of Surgeons (ACS). In early May, I attended a clinical symposium on the operating room environment, which was sponsored by ACS in collaboration with AORN. I moderated the AORN panel on operating room management. The symposium was successful, and the lines of communication between the surgeons and nurses in attendance were open. This is a worthwhile endeavor, as evidenced by our excellent relationship with ACS. A similar symposium is being planned for 1987. The next month, I traveled to AORN Headquarters in Denver for the spring Board of Directors meeting. As the “Board Report” in the August Journal reflects, important policy decisions were made and AORNs concerns were discussed.
In June, I also attended a meeting of the Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations. This group meets to exchange ideas and concerns of particular interest to specialty nursing groups. At this meeting, which was held in Chicago, the revised operating guidelines for the Federation were approved. The Federation also decided to back a resolution presented by the American College of Nurse Midwives asking for support of the group’s efforts to obtain professional liability insurance. The dialogue between the nursing organizations is good, and I enjoyed representing AORN at this meeting. My next stop was the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) House of Delegates meeting in July in Kansas City, Mo. There I had an excellent opportunity to observe the delegates discussing issues for all of nursing and making pertinent decisions. In August, the AORN Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning met for the first time. From my viewpoint as a Committee member, I think the Committee got off to a good start by beginning the first phase of developing a strategic plan to enable the Association to meet the needs of the membership in the future. I, along with representatives of other specialty nursing organizations and ANA, attended a US Department of Defense meeting in Washington, DC. We discussed nursing issues pertaining to specialty nursing practice within the military services. The day after the Department of Defense meeting, I traveled to The Hague for the World Conference of Operating Room Nurses-IV. With
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