President's message ~~

September song ==melody on activity

"And the days dwindle down to a precious few - September . . ."

I s i t really possible that the busy sum- mer i s over and only a few short months remain for me as President of the Associa- tion of Operating Room Nurses? The time has gone by rapidly, but much has been done by our AORN members. Truly our membership i s involved and committed.

Do you have any idea how many names of potential candidates for AORN office your Nominating Committee has processed? Over 150. It was a tough job evaluating and choosing so few from so many well qualified people. I know you will be de- lighted with the excellent ballot to be presented at the 1971 Congress. The Nom- inating Committee deserves our thanks for a job well done.

The Editorial Committee, besides their routine work load, accomplished a tre- mendous feat. In one weekend these people compiled a complete policy and procedure manual, which will well serve them and all those who follow.

Are you aware of what the words "rou-

tine work load" entail for Editorial Com- mittee members? Each one is assigned monthly no less than three professional journals to review. They search these pub- lications with definite objectives in mind - articles of interest for you. They read and evaluate at least 10 manuscripts per month, carefully evaluating and selecting which ones you will read in the AORN Journal.

And they write - they seek original manuscripts from speakers or authors - they plead and, they may even cajole if that will help motivate operating room nurses to write for publication.

That's only a small percentage of their work load. Sr. Dolores Kane, RHSJ, RN, committee chairman, i s a real task master, but she i s loved and admired by her com- mittee members and i s most effective.

The AORN-AORT Committee, as a part of the AORT Advisory Board, has been placed in the position of helping to shape the future of our two organizations. De- cisions which were difficult were dealt with judiciously.

The AORT Examination Committee wrote

September 1970 11

and rewrote questions. They tested and evaluated until they validated a meaning- ful exam. It is now being given quarterly. Many ORT programs have been evaluated by that committee thus helping standardize training.

For your information, the technician stu- dent manual, which AORN commissioned, i s almost ready for the printer-a mag- nificent accomplishment by Virginia Rock- well.

Think of the many hours involved in evaluating 68 sets of bylaws in a six- month period, such as has been done by the Bylaws Committee.

The Membership Committee is so busy, AORN’s Director of Membership i s having a tough time keeping up-even with the computer to help. We now have 11,965 members, and a total of 173 AORN chap- ters.

Every Committee i s contributing. In the July Journal you read the excellent work of our Statement Committee.

In June the Professional Liaison Com- mittee met with the American Medical As- sociation’s Committee on Nursing. Its chair- man, Marty Parlapiano, RN, spoke on the floor of the reference hearing - first in AORN’s history. She supported the AMA position statement on nursing and our com- mittee took the view that nurses must work cooperatively with physicians to realize the full potential of an effective health care team. We and AMA support an ex- panded role for nursing - a role in which

we assume greater medical service re- sponsibility.

The Audio-Visual Committee has written two scripts and filming i s about to begin. In February you will view the work.

You are well aware of the work of the National Committee on Education, through the column “As I See It” which is pub- lished monthly in the Journal.

The Board of Directors and all the board committees have performed admir- ably. It is most rewarding to see 10 OR nursing leaders work so well together. It‘s almost as though they are of one mind with a singleness of purpose. And yet, their ideas are individually unique and creative.

Many of you are preparing to visit Italy in October for AORN’s first Inter- national Symposium. I share with you the thrill of excitement because as you read this, your President will be enjoying her first trip to Europe. On Sept 30 I shall at- tend the Sixth Annual Congress of the National Association of Theatre Nurses in Edinburgh, Scotland.

On the local level I know you have also been busy and are now in the process of planning excellent programs for the fall meeting season.

None of us in AORN has “ . . . time for the waiting game . . .” We are much too involved to be concerned about the dwindling days. There i s much to do for operating room nursing and AORN will

-Betty Thomas, RN do it. El

“Your doctor has told you that you’re going to need an operation. And you’re a little worried . . .” “That’s natural,” according to a booklet produced by Armour-Dial, Inc., and available from them free. The information fold-out confains pertinent answers to questions patients ask - among them the importance of pre and postoperative cleanliness.

Two sections are “The reasons surgery is safe today,” and “Surgery has never been safer.” For copies, write: Armour-Dial, Inc.

100 S Wacker D r Chicago, 111 60606

12 AORN Journal