Attendees discover stimulating education opportunities at specialty conferences

AORN Journal,  Jan, 2000  by Brenda S. Gregory Dawes,  Amy Jakober,  Jeanne Hately,  Deb Warren

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Held in Denver, San Diego, and Charlotte, NC, the AORN specialty education conferences gave hundreds of perioperative nurses an opportunity to enhance their skills, improve their careers, and network with peers. Following is a summary of specialty assembly business meetings held at each conference, along with conference highlights.

BUSINESS SESSIONS

Eleven of the 12 specialty assemblies held business meetings at the fall specialty conferences. (See page 140 for a list of business meetings that will be held at 2000 Congress.) Special attention was called at each meeting to the specialty assembly web pages, which can be found at www.aorn.org/groups/SA.

Rural/Small Hospital. Approximately 40 people attended this luncheon business meeting, during which the assembly chair announced that three positions would be open on the governing council this year and encouraged members to participate by submitting a willingness-to-serve form. The specialty assembly legislative committee chair gave an excellent presentation of how to get involved in the legislative process. The governing council announced plans to focus on a research project to investigate the ethical and confidentiality issues that may occur in nurse/patient relationships in a rural community. Anyone interested in being involved in the project or who knows of a similar study should contact Bonnie Denholm, specialty assembly coordinator, at bdenholm@aorn.org or (800) 755-2676 x 261. The governing council also decided on a new logo for the assembly that will be presented in the next newsletter.

Ambulatory Surgery. The governing council allocated resources for the annual membership director), to be printed in January 2000, six months earlier than budgeted due to membership growth. They also assisted in planning updates to the second edition o:t Ambulatory Surgery Principles and Practices--scheduled to be available at the 2001 Congress--and reviewed the AORN position statement on ambulatory surgery, confirming that it should be archived this year. Members should watch future issues of the newsletter for information about ambulatory surgery center pay rates and groupings and reports of increasing risks for health maintenance organization litigation in Texas. The web page will feature updates about the new logo and the fall 2000 conference.

Management. A report was presented about plans to develop a 360-degree performance evaluation tool and about an informal survey focusing on employment and credentialing of RN first assistants (RNFAs). The governing council announced the name of the assembly will change to the Leadership Specialty Assembly--watch the newsletter and web page for a new logo and rationale for the change. The governing council also focused on strategies for addressing the nursing shortage, future conferences, and recommendations for the first draft of the "Proposed AORN statement on the role of the health care industry representative in the operating room" and updating AORN publications. Many of the assembly's members also participated in a networking breakfast, where discussions focused on the role of health care professionals in the OR, the nursing shortage, clinical pathways and outcomes, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, and the Health Care Financing Administration.

Perioperative Nursing Informatics. Participants congratulated Jan Lee Kwai, RN, MSN, CNOR, chair-elect, for being the first perioperative nurse to become certified in nursing informatics. Governing council members discussed their recommendations for developing an AORN data ethics policy, which would advocate protection of the patient, provider, and institutional data from violation by disclosure; designing a centralized relational database for willingness-to-serve forms; and archiving specialty assembly newsletter articles on the web site. The assembly will be debuting its new logo in the newsletter and on the web page. The council also emphasized the importance of considering its specialty as a clinical specialty because of these nurses' role in analyzing risk areas, such as community-acquired pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and orthopedic and cardiac data.

Advanced Technology: Lasers and Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS). Participants confirmed the governing council's belief that the assembly needs to stay focused on lasers, endoscopy, and minimally invasive surgery technology rather than diversify to include other trends in health care. The governing council will continue to discuss recruiting strategies that can be implemented at Congress. Nancy Fox, RN, BA, CNOR, assumed the role of assembly chair after the resignation of Terri Zimon, RN, MSN, CNOR, in August. As a result, Wanda Freeman, RN, CNOR, was appointed to fill the vacant position on the council. Newsletter editor Carolyn Rogalla, RN, was recognized for providing diverse and informative articles for the newsletter and for serving in the editor role since the inception of the assembly.