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AORN's response to the nursing shortage in perioperative settings - Headquarters Report

AORN Journal, August, 2002 by Suzanne C. Beyea

AORN believes that there is a growing shortage of qualified health care personnel, specifically professional nurses. (1) The current shortage is the result of a confluence of three major factors:

* declining nursing school enrollment,

* an aging workforce, and

* competition for skilled personnel.

It is expected that during the next two decades, the nursing shortage will increase as many RNs enter their fifties and sixties and eventually retire. This overall shortage has contributed significantly to shortages of personnel in the OR.

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According to a recent analysis of 16 major studies examining the nursing shortage, the shortage is real, past solutions are inadequate, and workforce and public health crises loom in the future. This analysis also indicates that the nursing shortage is present throughout the United States, except in Montana. The intensity is related to the diversity of the population and penetration of managed care independent of educational opportunities. (2)

Factors causing the current and worsening shortage in the OR include

* an aging workforce with many current and imminent retirements,

* a lack of surgical educational content and clinical experiences for nursing students,

* demands for professional nurses in ambulatory care surgical settings, and

* difficulty attracting and keeping perioperative nurses. (3)

Although these factors exist in numerous clinical areas, their effects seem more dramatic in the OR. Many anecdotal and quantitative reports provide evidence of this shortage in perioperative settings.

AORN believes that nurses bring a unique body of knowledge to perioperative settings. Furthermore, the Association recognizes that professional RNs contribute significantly to cost-effective, efficient, quality, and safe care in the perioperative setting. AORN believes that it plays a critical role in addressing the national nursing shortage and, specifically, the shortage of perioperative RNs. The approach to addressing the nursing shortage must be multidimensional and requires highly collaborative efforts of key stakeholders. AORN has committed organizational resources to identify and create solutions to address this growing concern.

AORN'S RESPONSE

In the past five years, every department at AORN Headquarters has been involved in efforts and activities to address the nursing shortage. Efforts have been undertaken in various areas, including education, public relations, government affairs and advocacy, membership, and nursing practice and research.

Education. In 1999, AORN, developed and implemented a fully integrated curriculum for nurses who do not have any OR experience. This course, titled "Perioperative Nursing Course 101," is presented in a scripted, modular format and consists of 26 educational topics, PowerPoint slides, posttests, and text reading assignments. The course, which uses the "train the trainer" concept, has been implemented in more than 225 clinical settings. More than 800 participants have taken the course in hospitals, free-standing ambulatory surgery settings, pediatric specialty hospitals, and academic settings. Contact hours are awarded to participants, and the course is suitable for awarding academic credit.

AORN also publishes a core curriculum and produces numerous educational programs on videotape that address the knowledge and clinical skills required by perioperative nurses. These serve as introductory or review resources and can be valuable tools for organizations that choose to design their own educational programs.

Additionally, AORN provides a web-based directory of perioperative nursing courses for students and nurses interested in a career in perioperative nursing. This directory links to the AORN Foundation web site for scholarship information and to other nursing sites. AORN also has sponsored numerous workshops and education sessions on recruiting and retaining staff members. Association members actively work with schools of nursing to support perioperative experiences for students and to increase the emphasis on surgical content. AORN's National Committee on Education is in the process of developing a tool kit for members to use when promoting the inclusion of perioperative content in nursing school curricula.

To help AORN members develop mentoring skills, the Association has provided numerous education sessions and Journal articles so staff nurses can support students and new staff members. At AORN's 2002 Congress, the Association offered free registration to student nurses, and approximately 120 students attended. Students were offered a full-day course on understanding the OR. This course was taught by experts in the field and provided hands-on instruction on such topics as gowning and gloving, skin prep, and electrosurgery.

Also at the 2002 Congress, a number of sessions focused on the nursing shortage and recruitment and retention. These sessions included "Peer Mentoring for Retention"; "Recruitment and Retention: Specialty Teams and Manager Emotional Intelligence"; and "Today's OR: What Works." A number of clinical innovation posters were displayed as well. Titles included "A Clinical Immersion Program in Perioperative Nursing"; "A Key to Success: Building a Perioperative Nurse Consortium"; "Closing the Circle: Caring about Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Future Perioperative Nurses"; and "Collaborating to Address a Perioperative Nursing Shortage." In July, AORN's chapter leadership meeting focused on perioperative nursing opportunities, the image of nursing, attracting young nurses, recruitment, retention, morale, multigenerational issues, and mentoring.

Health Care Industry

AORN's response to the nursing shortage in perioperative settings - Headquarters Report

AORN Journal, August, 2002 by Suzanne C. Beyea

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