MARCH 1997, VOL 65, NO 3 P R E S I D E N T ‘ S M E S S A G E

Rekindle the passion by taking advantage of oppoflunities to change

ne of the most exciting aspects of beiig your Presi- 0 dent this year has been the

opportunity to visit chapters and talk with other perioperative nurs- es. I have seen AORN chapters and individual members in various stages of transition as they navi- gate the white waters of the health care revolution.

Some chapters and members are in the first stage of change- denial-and are trying to conduct business as usual and minimize current realities (eg, chapters are attracting fewer members, health care consumers are demanding quality care that is delivered at affordable prices, reengineering is occurring in work settings). Many chapters and individual members, however, are engaging in nonstop two-way communication to offset ambiguity, counteract confusion, shift attitudes, and keep people on course during these turbulent times.

I have seen some chapters and individual members in the second stage of change-resistance. I also have observed chapters and mem- bers moving past resistance by engaging in behaviors and activi- ties that allow them to let go of the past, move into the present, and begin thinking about the future.

the change process, and I have witnessed many AORN chapters and members who are asking questions such as “How can this change affect me in a positive way?’ “Do I need new skills for a new role or responsibility?” “Is my resume up to date?” They are

Exploration is the next stage in

exploring alternatives and clarify- ing goals as their visions of the future begin to take shape.

Many AORN chapters and members are demonstrating com- mitment to new courses of action. In this final stage of the change process, they are tapping into the energy inherent in the transfonna- tion of health care and taking advantage of opportunities to ride the waves, rekindle their passion for perioperative nursing, and lead the health care revolution. They are role models for all of us.

Perioperative partnerships. Perioperative nursing and AORN are alive and well in the 30-bed Sweeny (Tex) Community Hospi- tal. The two staff members of the surgery department-Marie Breakiron, RN, CNOR, ONC, and Martha Brown, OR t e c h n i c i s represent the essential partnerships that exist between perioperative nurses and surgical technologists (STs) across this country. Our patients depend on the kind of partnerships that Breakiron and Brown have cultivated. During OR Nurse Week, they demonstrated surgical knot tying and instrument passing for high school students and hospital employees, exhibited posters that identified the roles of perioperative nurses and STs, dis- tributed copies of the brochure You Need and Deserve a Perioperative Nurse, displayed Breakiron’s pop- ular AORN Journal article, “A salute to the nurses of World War II,”’ and encouraged the students to consider perioperative nursing careers and to share the infonna-

tion with their parents.

Recruitment of nurses. Sev- eral chapters have adopted nontraditional

recruiting new perioperative nurses. AORN of Southwest Louisiana developed a multiyear plan to raise $lO,O00 to endow a nursing scholarship at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, La. The chapter’s principal fundraising method has been an annual “Cutting Edge Duathlon,” which consists of a four-mile run and a 10-mile bicycle ride and generates publicity for the chapter and for penoperative nursing.

Members of AORN of South- eastern Wisconsin’s Project Alpha committee were concerned that nursing students frequently spend one day observing surgery and leave without gaining a true pic- ture of perioperative nursing. The committee members created an OR visitors’ handbook to assist students in gaining an understand- ing of and passion for periopera- tive nursing. Chapter members have distributed copies of the handbook to clinical nurse educa- tors at hospitals, clinics, and schools of nursing in southeastern Wisconsin and have made them- selves available to present semi- nars about the roles and responsi- bilities of perioperative nurses. Nursing students who receive the handbook are better prepared for

approaches to LINDA K. GROAH

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their OR experiences, and they use this time to ask questions about perioperative nursing in addition to observing surgery.

Public visibility. Several AORN chapters have increased perioperative nurses’ public visi- bility by demonstrating the care they provide to patients and com- munities. Members of AORN of Central Florida selected the topic of healthy living and hosted a pos- itive parenting seminar for chapter members and the public. They sent press releases to local news- papers and invited ST students from a technical college. The response to these marketing tech- niques was overwhelming: the seminar reached maximum capac- ity, and attendees requested copies of the videotape presentation and inquired about the seminar planned for 1997.

Members of AORN of South Palm Beach participated in the United Way “Adopt-A-Family” project for the 1996 Christmas holidays. This project focused on families who had short-term needs and were trying to “get back on their feet.” Members contributed funds to purchase gifts and Christ- mas dinners for the chapter’s adopted family. According to Chapter President Debra A. Proulx, RN, CNOR, CRNFA, involvement in this project helped chapter members reflect on how fortunate they are to be nurses, and it unified them as giving nurs- es who care for and about other people. “It’s nice to know there are such kind, generous people in this world,” the adopted family stated. “Your generous gifts changed what would have been a very sad time to a wonderful Christmas.”

their “scopes of practice” beyond Two AORN chapters extended

the double doors of the OR by participating in the sixth annual “Make A Difference Day,” which is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation. Members of AORN of San Francisco & Marin sought a charity that would raise their vision and help them see beyond what they do every day in the OR. They decided to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to terminally ill children. The chapter plans to continue supporting this foundation as a demonstration of the caring connection between perioperative nurses and patients.

New York formed a committee, which they call “The Volunteer Connection.” Each month, com- mittee members identify one agency or charity in Rochester, NY, and they describe the agency and its specific needs in the chap- ter newsletter. At the chapter’s monthly meetings, members con- tribute money or articles requested by the agency, and committee members purchase additional sup- plies and deliver them to the agency. To date, the chapter has helped a homeless shelter, a resi- dent home for pregnant and post- partum women, an adult care community, and a hospice agency.

Two chapters used OR Nurse Week to share information about perioperative nursing with their communities. Members of AORN of Fort Wayne blitzed the media with information about periopera- tive nursing during OR Nurse Week and distributed personal- ized, ribbon-festooned AORN membership applications to peri- operative nurses who had not joined the Association. Members of AORN of Southern Arizona conducted a simultaneous public information campaign and

Members of AORN of Upstate

research project. They created a mock OR in a local shopping cen- ter and asked visitors to complete a questionnaire designed by the chapter’s research committee members. Each visitor who com- pleted the questionnaire received a long-term reminder of the event (ie, a “You need and deserve a perioperative nurse” magnet). To fund this activity, the research committee applied for and received an award from the AORN Chapter Small Grant Pro- gram. Committee members plan to share the results of this project through an OR Nurse Week poster display at the 1997 Congress and a poster presentation at the 1997 Tucson Nurse Week conference. They also hope to present the results in a research poster display at the 1998 AORN Congress.

For the past several years, members of AORN of Greater Cincinnati & Hamilton have creat- ed an OR Nurse Week display at the local natural history museum. The media coverage generated by previous displays resulted in the chapter’s being invited to exhibit at the 1 lth annual “All About Kids” convention. More than 4,000 peo- ple walked through the field OR of the chapter’s mobile army surgical hospital unit, which received the “best of show” award. Many chil- dren and parents expressed interest in perioperative nursing careers after viewing the exhibit, and a local school teacher videotaped the exhibit activities to use with school staff members.

AORN of Greater Canton sponsored a float in the Profes- sional Football Hall of Fame festi- val grand parade. The theme of the float was “Heroes Behind the Mask,” and it portrayed a football player being injured, undergoing an arthroscopy procedure, and

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returning to the sport with the support of penoperative nurses. Creating the float renewed mem- bers’ commitment to the chapter and its activities and increased their visibility in the community.

Member recruitment. Several chapters have taken proactive steps to reverse the trends of diminished resources, decreased membership, and fewer people available to do the work. To reenergize its members, AORN of The Palm Beaches Flori- da have participated in community events and reorganized chapter meetings. By moving chapter meet- ings to one central, accessible loca- tion and offering free continuing education sessions on Saturday mornings, membership and atten- dance at chapter meetings have increased significantly. The chapter leaders attribute this success to members being able to choose how and when they can be involved in chapter activities.

AORN of Bluegrass Central Kentucky kicked off its September 1996 membership drive by offering a complimentary buffet dinner before the chapter meeting and free chapter dues for one year to nurses who joined AORN that evening. The chapter’s membership com- mittee also sends reminder cards to nurses whose memberships are due to expire and continually recruits new members.

goal of recruiting 25 new mem- bers for the 1996-1997 chapter year. At its September 1996 meet- ing, the chapter held a drawing and gave away nine one-year free AORN memberships to nurses who never had belonged to the Association. The chapter recruited an additional 18 new members in 1996 through other creative activi- ties and now is working to entice younger nurses to join AORN.

AORN of East Tennessee set a

Chapter reengineering. AORN of Greater Houston reengineered its chapter to improve the use of its resources. It reduced the num- ber of chapter committees from 13 to eight, revamped its delegate selection process, and changed the

We can rekindle our passion by

expanding our roles and making

commitments to new courses of action.

way it elects officers. When the chapter’s president-elect resigned, chapter members approved the appointment of two past presi- dents to serve as copresidents.

AORN of Greater Houston invited AORN of Brazos Bend, AORN of North Harris-Mont- gomery County, and AORN of The Bay Area of Texas to discuss possible collaborative efforts, and this discussion led to the forma- tion of the Houston Quadraplex. Each chapter maintains its individ- ual identity, but they hold collabo- rative workshops with each chap- ter sharing the workload and resources. The Houston Quad- raplex plans to collaborate on resolving clinical issues, sponsor- ing programs, conducting research, developing OR training programs, creating a website, pub- lishing a newsletter, and standard- izing perioperative competencies. Members of AORN of Greater Houston have embraced these reengineering changes and collab-

orative efforts, and members of the other three chapters are equal- ly enthusiastic about the potential of the Quadraplex .

Political activity. Members of AORN of Central Arkansas have established effective communica- tions with their state nurses associa- tion to work on general and legisla- tive issues that concern all nurses in Arkansas. Members of the chapter’s legislative committee agreed to join the Arkansas Nurses Association, and, as a result of their collective action, a bill that would have regis- tered STs was defeated. Two chap- ter members have been invited to speak at the state nurses association meeting, one chapter member gave a speech about penoperative nurs- ing at the state nursing student asso- ciation meeting, and a district presi- dent of the state nurses association now attends the AORN of Central Arkansas chapter meetings.

CONCLUSION AORN chapter members and

perioperative nurses in many facili- ties are rekindling their passion for perioperative nursing by expanding their roles to encompass case man- agement and patient and family member education and by using patient-focused care concepts to restructure the care provided in sur- gical suites. They are demonstrating commitment to new courses of action and are taking advantage of opportunities to ride the waves of change. These are the heroes of perioperative nursing. They are our role models. The torches of their rekindled passion bum brightly.

LINDA K. GROAH RN, MS, CNOR, CNAA

PRESIDENT

N O T E

nurses of World War D,” AORNJour- nal62 (November 1995) 7 10-721.

1. M Breakiron, “A salute to the

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