Nurses gather for education sessions and exhibits at the 2001 AORN multispecialty conference in St Louis: Friday, Oct 19, to Saturday, Oct 20, 2001 - Specialty Assemblies

AORN Journal,  Jan, 2002  by Brenda S. Gregory Dawes,  Nikki Parker

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Approximately 400 nurses representing six specialty assemblies attended the 2001 AORN multispecialty conference in St Louis, Oct 19 to 20, 2001. The conference offered networking and education sessions for specialty assembly members and other attendees.

SPECIALTY ASSEMBLY MEETINGS PROVIDE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

Specialty assemblies gather for business meetings at least twice per year to discuss hot topics and issues relevant to their specialty. This conference included the following six specialty assemblies:

* Advanced Technology: Lasers & Minimally Invasive Surgery,

* Cardiothoracic,

* Neurosurgery,

* Orthopedic,

* Pediatric, and

* RN First Assistant.

This year, two networking breakfasts were held on Friday and Saturday. Saturday afternoon, each specialty assembly convened individually so members could meet their governing council and share concerns and ideas. Holding several meetings allowed attendees to participate in more than one specialty discussion and learn about practice issues of the various assemblies.

A collaborative specialty assembly meeting was held to share information from Headquarters and the AORN Board of Directors with attendees and to create synergy for generating new ideas and common goals among specialties. Candace Romig, director of AORN's Department of Government Affairs, presented a videotape of the 2001 Lobby Day. Copies of this videotape will be available to chapters and members upon request for a nominal fee. Bonnie Denholm, RN, MS, CNOR, specialty assembly coordinator, presented information to help members navigate the AORN web site, and she discussed the new features of the restricted areas that were created in 2001 for each specialty assembly.

Advanced Technology: Lasers & Minimally Invasive Surgery. Governing council members were very energetic and met between networking sessions to develop strategies to meet member needs and recruit new members. This assembly will focus on research studies regarding pain management, safety issues and how they are affected by the nursing shortage and creative ways to identify potential members in laser and minimally invasive practice areas.

Cardiothoracic. Whether it is an informal networking discussion or a business meeting, this specialty assembly always generates a healthy discussion of practice issues. This year, several people volunteered to participate on the governing council or committees, having witnessed the energy that results from coming together to compare practices. Two new governing council members will be taking on roles as newsletter editor and chair-elect, and they will be mentored by other experienced council members. A drawing took place at the business meeting to recognize members for attending, and six complimentary Cardiothoracic Specialty Assembly memberships were awarded. Discussion included the transition from adult open heart perioperative nurse to pediatric open heart perioperative nurse. This discussion will lead to collaboration with the Pediatric Specialty Assembly.

Neurosurgery. This is one of the newer assemblies, and governing council members are exploring incentives to encourage people to participate. During this conference, they announced that they would award a Neurosurgery Specialty Assembly membership to people who submit newsletter articles that result in publication and to those who submit willingness-to-serve forms for inclusion on the governing council. Governing council members worked hard last year to help plan the hands-on sessions and speakers for this year's conference, and attendees witnessed the difference they made based on feedback from the business meeting.

Orthopedic. Governing council members were pleased with the positive response to the sessions planned this year. Like other groups, they also worked hard last year to shape this conference with hands-on sessions and dynamic speakers. They are planning a sponsored luncheon at Congress 2002 for members who attend their meeting on Thursday, April 25, from 11:30 AM to 1 PM.

Pediatric. This year, governing council members decided to focus on providing information to nurses in traditional settings who deal with pediatrics on a limited basis only. They spent time planning sessions that would be of interest for the next conference and identifying ways to collaborate with the other assemblies to provide information about pediatric issues and considerations.

RN First Assistant. This is always an interesting group with a variety of topics for discussion, including RN first assistant (RNFA) competency validation, updates to current publications, reimbursement, consumer awareness, and public policy. They are planning their 10-year anniversary celebration that will take place at the RNFA Forum, June 8, 2002, in Washington, DC. More information will be included in upcoming newsletters and the RNFA Forum brochure.

EDUCATION SESSIONS

Content specific to specialty areas, as well as perioperative nursing in general, was presented during the numerous general and concurrent education sessions. Topics included legislative and regulatory action, physical assessment, and clinical techniques.