"Team Louisiana" grows chapter

AORN Journal,  Nov, 2003  by Judy A. Hawkins

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What does the word team mean to you and your chapter? "Team" makes most of us think of people working together toward a common goal. This past year, AORN of Northlake "teamed up" to promote chapter growth and the mission of AORN in our local Northshore communities.

Last year, Twinspan, our sister chapter on the Northshore, disbanded. Our chapter members drafted letters welcoming the displaced members to our chapter. We included an article about the Twinspan chapter in our chapter newsletter and mailed that issue to Twinspan members. Several members transferred to our chapter as a result.

At our AORN chapter crawfish boil in April, we held a membership drive, waiving our chapter dues for those joining AORN that evening. Several of our members serve as Membership Ambassadors for the chapter, continuing to recruit new members and encouraging participation at all facilities. Our grassroots members are pleased to see the membership grow and flourish.

Since our chapter's inception 25 years ago this year, we have remained a small chapter, with membership in recent years averaging 25 to 30. As a result of recent recruitment efforts, we have increased our membership to 57, qualifying us as a medium chapter. In turn, this has increased our chapter representation at Congress; we are now allotted one more delegate/alternate delegate. It has afforded us the opportunity to have a bigger voice from our membership.

We now have our work cut out for us. Retaining our membership and finding creative ways to keep members' interest will be our primary challenge. In recent years, our team efforts have resulted in national recognition as Small Chapter of the Year (Gold, 2001; Silver, 2002, 2003). Attaining medium chapter ranking has raised the bar, requiring continued teamwork to be recognized for our efforts on behalf of AORN.

I am proud to say our team has proven to be successful. AORN of Northlake stands as an example of working and acting together for a purpose. Teamwork, with persistence, patience, and perseverance, does pay off! We hope to continue our momentum and meet the challenges ahead.

Judy A. Hawkins, RN, CNOR

Lakeview Regional Medical Center

Covington, La

COPYRIGHT 2003 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
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