Attending the San Francisco 46th annual Congress was a wonderful and exhilarating experience for my first time at Congress. At the opening session, it was quite thrilling to be surrounded by thousands of perioperative nurses from 24 countries cheering our AORN president's message and the many AORN leaders. It was then, with amazement, that I came to realize what a dynamic organization this is and how happy I am to be a part of it.
By Marsha Conner, first time Congress attendee
I was a first time attendee to this event. All I can say is WOW! Monday, I wandered in and registered and was given an identifying name tag with a green ribbon attached. It made me think of the refugees that came to this country from eastern Europe in the early 1900s. They were referred to as greenhorns. There was a plethora of information in the packet and strategically placed information booths. Computers were in use. I was stopped by a complete stranger who spotted my "First Time Congress" green tag. She said, "You are really going to enjoy yourself today." I went online, trying to find some nurses from New Jersey and attended two classes that day. Two nurses I knew from the Bay Area Chapter of Legal Nurse Consultants were in one of the classes.
Oh, I found a great pair of clogs. My only regret is that I didnít have more time to spend at Congress. Next year, New Orleans.
By Ferne Spector, first time Congress attendee
One day at AORN Congress is just not enough. It's an OR carnival complete with games and barkers. My one day visit actually began about a month before. Never in my life have I ever received so much mail. Each piece encouraged me to stop by a vendor's booth for a free gift or a chance to win something big. In my typically obsessive manner, I filed the cards in order of booth number, planning to visit and drop off my card at each vendor and surely walk away a winner.
I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend Congress. The exhibits were certainly the highlight. But the threat of the future of the OR nurses looms larger than ever. Be aware and have a voice - you can no longer sit back and expect to survive.
By Karin Selbach, first time Congress attendee
l had the privilege to go AORN Congress as a scholarship recipient. Although l was only there for one day, l noticed some trends that l'd like to share. Most likely these are trends that are already influencing your place of work to a certain extent. Hot issues right now are benchmarking, standardization and rapid turnover time. Sounds familiar? In the future (if Dr. Leland Kaiser has his say) we will no longer practice in the traditional OR, but in much more sophisticated suites that take into account both body and soul. Interested? Keep reading!
Overall, l had a fantastic day with great exchange of professional opinions. The highlight of the day was to find out that our research committee (together with the Kansas City chapter) had won an award of merit for research posters at Congress! I look forward to going to Congress again, hopefully next year.
By Sophie Taylor, first time Congress attendee
I was determined to make the most of my day at Congress. If I had only one day, I wanted to sample as much of the 1999 AORN Congress as possible. The Congress Resource book and schedule made available in advance were very helpful. After browsing through the pre-Congress publication, Bridging the Centuries, I planned the day. A great way to start the day after arriving at the Moscone Center, was listening to Sheila Murray Bethel who gave a dynamic talk on "Making a Difference: Qualities That Make You a Leader." Following that came the opening of the exhibit halls (yes, that's halls with an s). There really was not enough time to enjoy all the exhibits in one day but I managed to get around to all the reps who were showing new items in my special areas of interest. I even picked up a few hours of continuing education units along the way.
Next came my favorite part of the day. I had an opportunity to attend the meeting of the AORN Cardiothoracic Specialty Assembly (CTSA). It was fun to finally be able to put faces with names I had come to know through the CTSA newsletter. It was a relaxed, informal meeting and cardiac nurses from different parts of the country had a chance to sit down together and share suggestions, questions, and issues of concern. I realized that we were all experiencing similar changes and of course the hottest topic was the new beating heart or off-pump bypass including all the various supplies used to do it. I would like to thank our chapter for sponsoring six of us to attend this years' Congress. It was very worthwhile and I certainly enjoyed it.
By Diane Brophy, first time Congress attendee
This year our delegates were Evelyn Steen, President; Martha See, President-Elect, and in charge of the delegates; Ann Kintz, Beth Mar, Pam Reuling, Debbie Tung, and our alternate Kathie Shea. I want to thank them for the excellent job they did, reporting on their assigned sessions, attending the Forums and the House of Delegate sessions and discussing the candidates for office and voting for those officers. We didn't happen to vote for all the winners though. We had a good time and I think we would all agree we would have felt more like we were at AORN Congress if we were staying in a hotel and able to go to the parties. We felt we missed something. We look forward to New Orleans next year. Come on along. Get those points records turned in by the end of June.
By Martha See, delegate
When I found I was to report on Joan Rivers' talk, I was NOT thrilled as her biting, cutting, hurtful humor was not my style. Thank heavens she has mellowed! I was sorry to learn of the tragic events she has endured although they probably were instrumental in her making changes in her approach to life and developing a more humane style of humor. She told the story of her husband who had heart surgery, went into major depression and committed suicide. If that wasn't tragic enough, her life continued on a downward spiral, i.e. her daughter blamed her for his death and he had made bad investments, so most of their money was gone, her comedy career went down the tubes since no one wanted to hire her, etc. Drawing on these life experiences, she spoke about taking responsibility for your own life.
By Pam Reuling, delegate
I cannot tell a lie! I took copious notes on the First Forum and as I sit here to write my report, I realize it says the First House of Delegates! What's that old saying?! If all else fails, read the directions!! Or in my case, the correct assignment! Thank heavens I take notes on everything - just not as detailed as I would for a report! So here goes. The first session of the House was comprised of reports from the President, Ruth Shumaker, Treasurer, Sheri Voss, members of the AORN Foundation Board, and Michelle Burke, Nominating Committee. I will give you some of the highlights from these reports.
By Pam Reuling, delegate
Our very own past chapter president, Jane Vosloh, was really a busy speaker at Congress this year. As part of the Georgetown University Faculty, Jane presented programs on Saturday, Sunday and Monday! Needless to say, by the time I spoke with her on Monday, she was exhausted.
This program was a presentation on how her institution used benchmarking and best practice data to improve the operations and outcomes in the operating rooms of the Emory University Hospital and the Crawford Long Hospital, which make up the Emory University Medical System. The benchmarking process began with a committee of physicians and nurse managers from both institutions who compared data on open-heart surgery across the system. From their analysis, best practice data was determined. Procedures and product lines were standardized resulting in immediate cost savings of $100,000 (by changing to consignment of heart valves rather than maintaining an extensive inventory). A second important outcome of this committeeís work was the incorporation of the intraoperative phase of the open-heart surgery patient into the hospitalís established clinical pathway.
There were no handouts to share but Jane announced that they would be on the AORN web site in about two weeks
By Kathie Shea, alternate delegate
Each year the research poster display grows in number and quality of studies. This year there were 25 displays. Topics ran the gamut from antibiotic prophylaxis to perioperative nurse's attitudes toward computers.
The topics were extremely varied and provided something for everyone - injury reduction, wound healing, instrument cleaning, patient responses to breast biopsy, customer service, hand scrub, patient warming, skin preparation and more esoteric topics such as RN perceptions of work worlds and the relationship of job satisfaction to job efficiency. I was especially pleased to find five poster displays related to patient education! My favorite education poster was one done by a group of nurses from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The ambulatory surgery nurses at this institution have put their preoperative patient teaching on a web site. The site includes information on what time to arrive, what to bring, what to eat or not eat, what happens when it is time for surgery, where family should wait and discharge information such as what to expect when the patient goes home, how to manage discomfort and who to call if a problem arises. There is even a menu that provides hyperlink access to in-depth descriptions of each topic!
I can not leave out our own AORN of Alameda County who had its first research poster displayed this year. The title, Collaboration Toward Universal Perioperative Documentation, is the culmination of a year-long research project we have been involved in with the AORN of Kansas City chapter. Our poster display was one of five posters to win a $500 honorable mention award. The money from this award will be used for next yearís poster. Our poster will be displayed at the May chapter meeting and has already been reserved for display by several facilities from both chapters through November of this year.
By Kathie Shea, alternate delegate
When one talks about diversity in the workplace, the first thing that comes to mind is usually racial, gender or ethnic diversity. What about age diversity? Marilyn Moats Kennedy talked to us about age diversity in the work place and how to communicate cross-generationally.
According to Marilyn there are four age related groups in the work place now and a fifth one coming on by the year 2000. These five groups are the Pre-Boomers 1935-1945, Boomers 1946-1959, Cuspers 1960-1965, Busters 1965-1975, and the oncoming one, Post-TV 1975-1981+. Each one of these groups has its own motivators.
The above list is copyrighted (Marilyn Moats Kennedy, 1998)
There is definitely a communication problem between the groups. For example when a Boomer says to a Boomer, "This needs to be done," both understand that it's an order, but nicely put. Likewise when a Boomer says to a Boomer, "Would you mind?" the anticipated answer is, "No, of course not." However when a Boomer says to a Buster, "This needs to be done," the Buster hears an observation and not an order. Boomers are astonished when they ask a Buster, "Would you mind?" and he/she states quite frankly that he/she would mind and why!
What's happening here is fractured cross-generational communication. What one person heard was not what the other person said. We need to understand some of the differences in communication styles which must be overcome if people are to work well together.
These five groups share some work place values but differ on important ones such as the role of managers, employer/employee loyalty, telecommuting, technical competence and commitment to health care. Their lifestyles, preferences and social values also differ. Pre-Boomers and Boomers are motivated by money while the Cuspers, Busters and Post-TV groups are more interested in time off. Communicating cross-generationally means packaging the message in several ways so that every hearer understands.
A great speaker and a great message - it helped me to understand why we Pre-Boomers do not always get our message across to the younger Busters. It also made me realize that we may have to change the way we do things in our chapters if we want to get the interest of the younger Busters.
By Evelyn Steen, delegate
President - Patricia C. Seifert
President-elect - Brenda C. Ulmer*
Vice President - Sheila L. Allen
Secretary - Betty J. Schultz
Treasurer - William J. Duffy*
Board of Directors
Sheila A. O'Connor*
Anita Jo Shoup*
Donna S. Watson*
Vivian C. Watson *
Vicki J. Fox
Paula R. Graling
Mary Jo Steiert
Nominating Committee
Charlotte L. Guglielmi*
Nathalie F. Walker*
Susan Renee Guerra
Jody Porter
Patricia Thorton
The names with the asterisks are the newly elected officials
By Evelyn Steen, delegate
Prepare for a change in world view. Dr. Kaiser told us that it is time for people in the health care industry to have a change in their world view. He said reality is a social construct - it is what we say it is - therefore, we can change our reality by changing how we think.
Dr. Kaiser gave us some thought provoking ideas on where we might change our thinking to provide optimal health care in the next century. These include making the patient's surgical experience compelling by offering unique services. He suggested that we might recognize the importance of the spiritual dimension of the OR team in the patient's healing process and the value of complementary alternative therapies.
He went onto say he thought the OR of the future would be a high tech/high touch combination. Operating rooms could be redesigned to reflect the sacredness of the activities that occur within them.
He said we need to ask ourselves:
Dr. Kaiser suggested that we need a new mental model to guide us into the future. He said, "Your professional future is in your hands and no others."
It really makes you think about what will be happening in the future.
By Ann Kintz, delegate
Wish you all could have come to Congress and been a part of the AORN exhibits, which were recently ranked by the Trade Show 200 as the seventh largest medical trade show in the United States. Viewing the exhibits is a fabulous opportunity to examine and evaluate the latest developments in equipment, supplies and services that are used in the OR suites, pre and post-surgical areas, endoscopy, radiology, and ambulatory surgery centers.
The exhibits were held in two separate halls on opposite sides of the street - I found it easy to get around once I discovered that booths numbered 100 - 2000 were in the South Hall and the ones numbered 4000 to 5000 were in the North Hall.
We could discuss job opportunities in the three aisles of Perioperative Career Resource Exhibits. Wow, I knew we were getting scarce, but didn't realize how scarce. Perioperative nursing is special!
As always, there is far too much to see and too many people to talk to, and not enough time.
By Ann Kintz, delegate
The purpose of the forum was to have the opportunity to be part of the discussion and interaction on professional issues affecting patient care and the practice of perioperative nursing. This forum lasted one and one-half hours. The issues discussed were:
1. The revised AORN mission statement:
AORN's mission is to promote quality patient care by providing perioperative nurses and their colleagues with education, standards, services, and representation. There was discussion about the proposed mission statement. There was concern about the term "and their colleagues." A few changes to the revised mission statement were suggested. These changes will be discussed and voted upon at the second delegates' forum.
2. AORN name update bylaws amendment: Article I
The amendment read as: AORN - Association of periOperative Registered Nurses instead of the current AORN - Association of Operating Room Nurses. The name change would emphasize that we are registered nurses working in the perioperative field instead of nurses that work in the operating room. The name change would encompass professionalism instead of just location. There was discussion about the proposed bylaws amendment.
3. State council bylaws amendment: Article VIII, Section 4
The amendment read as: State councils may be designated AORN affiliates by the Board of Directors. There was discussion about the amendment. There was concern about state councils that included members who were not registered nurses. A few changes to the amendment were suggested. These changes will be discussed and voted upon at the second delegates' forum.
4. Report on viability of AORN political action committee
There was discussion regarding whether or not AORN should have a political action committee (PAC). Financial and political ramifications were discussed.
5. Sales representative in the OR
There was discussion regarding whether or not AORN should form an expert panel to explore this issue. If you want more information regarding these issues discussed at the First Delegates' Forum, please read the January 1999 Pre-Congress issue of the AORN Journal.
By Debbie Tung, delegate
AORN President Ruth Shumaker convened the second forum on Wednesday afternoon. The following reports were presented:
AORN Strategic Plan:
President-elect Patricia Seifert explained that AORN must be
revitalized by reorienting its focus and activities. Strategic goals have been set with this in mind. AORN will:
Data Elements Coordinating Committee (DECC):
The Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) is an AORN approved set of specific nursing diagnoses that affect surgical patients, interventions that describe actions the perioperative nurse performs to meet those needs, outcomes, that surgical patients can expect, and facility structure elements that are required for these patient outcomes to be achieved. The PNDS has been officially recognized by the American Nurses Association (ANA). This is a first for a specialty organization. The perioperative nursing language can now be recognized by the National Library of Medicine, the American National Standards Institute, and the American Society for Testing and Materials. (After all these years we finally have an official language!)
Project Team on Perioperative Practice Model:
The team recommended that the Perioperative Patient Focused Model developed by the DECC be accepted by the Board and be incorporated into the strategic plan. This includes considering calls for research and fund to validate and refine the model
.
Award for Excellence in Perioperative Patient Education:
This is a new award and will be presented for the first time at the 2000 Congress. Applicants will describe an outstanding project that has contributed to patient education and the impact and outcome of the project.
Membership Options Package:
The Board has approved the concept of having different levels of membership with a variety of benefits. A brochure with detailed information was included in the March issue of the AORN Journal. It was emphasized that the new options do not replace the standard membership option and chapter dues are still mandatory.
Legislative Update:
AORN lobbyist report:
The Legislative committee reported that the formation of a political action committee is still being considered. Further discussion and education will be presented in future Journal articles and at the next Congress.
By Beth Mar, delegate
Regarding the health care industry in the 1990s, Dr. Leah Curtin says "In purpose is power and without it we are lost. Health care providers have lost purpose and perspective in the "90s leading to the trauma of transformation." Already struggling with cost containment issues we (health care personnel) also face pressures from other sources:
Some of the factors contributing to the transformations of the '90s are the increase of health maintenance organizations, fee for service being replaced by managed care reimbursement, hospital downsizing and predictions of an excess of nurses (while in reality we have a shortage of nurses).
These changes led to morale problems among health care workers nationwide. Perhaps because of the angry and anxious work force, serious errors in U.S. hospitals have increased five-fold in the last decade.
Dr. Curtin's suggestions to help overcome the problem of low morale are:
Dr. Curtin with her acerbic sense of humor and unique style of presentation gave us much to think about as we approach the new century.
By Beth Mar, delegate
I attended the session entitled "Treating the Whole Person: Two Women's Surgical Experiences." During this session two women gave their accounts of their surgeries. The first speaker was Eileen J. Ullmann RN, MHS, CNOR. She works at AORN headquarters in Denver. She experienced a mastectomy. The second speaker was Kristen Ball, daughter-in-law of Kay Ball, a past National AORN officer and moderator of this session. Kristen teaches at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
Both of these women expressed how important it is that the nurse explain that she is a nurse, an RN and in the case of the nurse patient, do not assume that she knows what to expect afterward. Touching the patient was reassuring and showed that the nurse was concerned about the patient. Eye contact was important, as was explaining what will be done. No one told Mrs. Ullmann she would have a foley in after surgery. It was important that the families were included in post-operative care, taught to wash their hands, do dressing changes, milk drains in the proper direction, and what the scars would look like. Mrs. Ullmann was unsure when she would be able to raise her arms and return to such activities as cleaning and cooking. Kristen, who had had gynecological surgery liked it when the nurse used warm lotion to massage her hands and back.
The patient needs an advocate. Patients can not always speak for themselves. The nurse must be on the personal level. Remember the patients need respect, and support. They are individuals.
By Martha See, delegate
This was the last session of my first Congress. What a week it had been. I would wake up every morning at 5:30 a.m. and get ready to drive to Donna Benotti's house four or five blocks away (we're talking long blocks!). Ken, Donna's wonderful husband, would drive a few of us to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station (Donna's house doubled as the substation to BART for many of our chapter's attendees). We would ride BART to the Powell street station (no wet or worn BART tickets allowed!) and walk to the convention center. Most days began at 8:00 a.m. and classes lasted until 7:00 p.m.! I normally work just eight hours! Seeing that I was using my vacation time to attend Congress (I view vacation time as peaceful and relaxing) and not wanting to fall asleep during the following days' sessions, I opted to stay each day until 5:00 p.m. But I normally got home around 7:00 p.m. after the long commute home; my normal work commute is a full 20 minutes.
Well, like I said, this was the last session of my first Congress. I was ready. My brain was not only on fire, but recruitments from New York were on their way. The speaker was Les Brown. Apparently, he shares his name with another famous Les Brown. I don't happen to know him but that's me. Here's the session overview:
Well, after reading this overview, I was ready to be inspired! This was the last session. I was supposed to feel inspired, a lump in my throat, wings on my back, tightness in my chest (Thank God, I was in a room filled with nurses!) - my first Congress was ending and it is supposed to end with a huge bang!
In the beginning, all I could concentrate on was that he could speak for at least five minutes at a time without taking a breath. How I wanted a stopwatch so that I could time him. I looked at people's wrists trying to find a stopwatch.
Mr. Brown was true to the overview. He talked about his life. He was born on the floor of an abandoned warehouse as a twin. He was later adopted and loved his mother very much. This was very popular with the audience! As a child, he was labeled retarded.
Les struggled to get his job as a radio deejay. (Oh, that's why he can talk for five minutes without breathing. Duh!) He belonged to speaker organizations. He spoke with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. Les was a legislator and now a keynote speaker! He did a bunch a stuff here and there and in between but you get the gist.
Les told his life story with humor. He started to get very interesting to me when he would start laughing hysterically at his own jokes. Les has a great laugh. It just makes you laugh with him.
These were messages that I'm sure we have all heard before, but it really drills into our subconscious when we hear it again and again. As far as all the inspirational speakers that I heard this week (I saw four), Mr. Brown was okay. He was entertaining and has lived a very interesting life, but was not my favorite. (Sheila Murray Bethel was my favorite.)
Stop that! My life is good. My health is relatively good. I have good friends and family that don't mind if I really need to talk at three in the morning. All this inspiration wasn't meant to make me feel bad about what I have done with my life so far. These speakers wanted me to know not to be afraid of working towards my goals - my goals of being a better perioperative nurse, of being more at peace with myself, of feeling okay with myself with living a life of mediocre. I guess the key is just to make yourself happy.
I would like to thank our chapter for sending me to Congress as a delegate this year. Maybe someday I'll be able to tell my life story to someone who will want to listen.
By Debbie Tung, delegate
