Executive director's note - Editorial

AORN Journal,  Nov, 2003  by Tom Cooper

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

In the September issue of AORN Connections we reported on the work of the Board of Directors at its July meeting. At that meeting, the Board devoted the majority of its agenda to an exploration of the desired future of the perioperative nursing profession and what AORN needs to do to support the advancement of the profession toward that desired future.

One outcome of the discussion was the development of four strategic goals.

* AORN will be an indispensable resource for the perioperative nursing profession.

* AORN will be the recognized leader of the perioperative nursing profession.

* AORN will have strong, mutually supportive connections with its grassroots members.

* AORN will partner with other perioperative associations and industry to achieve our goals.

First and foremost is our goal of being an indispensable resource to the perioperative nursing profession. What does it mean to be an indispensable resource? Webster's dictionary defines indispensable as "absolutely necessary, essential," and resource as "a source of supply or support." In other words, our goal for AORN is to be an absolutely necessary source of support for you. You have told us that you want to stay current with the latest developments in perioperative practice and be an advocate for your patients. You also have said that you have many competing demands on your time and the support your facilities provide for outside education continues to decline. For AORN to be an indispensable resource, you have said we must do a better job of

* helping you deal with the reality of the world in which you work;

* making information available to you when you need it;

* responding quickly to your requests;

* providing information in short, easily read formats;

* making education available that does not require travel; and

* providing resources at low cost.

We have heard you. In the coming months, you will see more resources from AORN that meet these needs. We already provide some of these resources. In some instances we will need to modify what we currently provide to do a better job of meeting your needs. In other instances, we will need to develop new resources or new ways of delivering information to you. You can count on AORN to do that.

We want to hear more from you about what you need from AORN. What do we do well? What don't we do that we should be doing? What do we need to improve on? What are we currently doing that we shouldn't be doing at all? Please call and leave us a message at (888) 969-3377.

I will address the other three strategic goals in future issues of AORN Connections.

Tom Cooper, CAE

AORN Executive Director

COPYRIGHT 2003 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group