Creating and maintaining perioperative partnerships - President's Message

AORN Journal,  August, 2003  by Betty J. Shultz

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The theme for the 2004 AORN Congress is Unity: Perioperative Partnerships. To me, this is the essence of AORN's success. Not only does the Association need to expand partnerships within and among our membership, we also need to continue to develop and expand partnerships with our industry colleagues and other associations. The costs and risks inherent in building world leadership in a core competency arena make it necessary to expand and join forces with others who offer critical complementary resources (eg, the American College of Surgeons).

Business networks are not a new concept, but their proliferation and visibility have increased dramatically in recent years. One reason for forming business network alliances is the need to influence development of new standards. An example of this occurred at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' (JCAHO's) summit on wrongsite surgery. More than 60 individuals representing 35 organizations, as well as the JCAHO board of commissioners and Joint Commission staff members, attended a one-day summit to discuss wrong-site surgery. AORN participated in the summit and continues to be an integral part of ongoing discussions on wrong-site surgery. Members received a report about the meeting in the June issue of AORN Connections.

DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS

The way AORN approaches our partnerships is vital. An article written by Charles McCormick, MD, and titled, "If you touch, don't take," says that if you touch someone to support and encourage them, they will know it and appreciate it; however, if you are touching them to get something back or manipulate them, they also will know that and resent it. (1) AORN must form partnerships for the right reasons and in the right way, while remembering that others want to touch AORN too.

We have many opportunities to develop partnerships that meet AORN's mission of supporting RNs in achieving optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. Although AORN cannot be all things to all people, we carefully can investigate opportunities that will meet our needs and give something to our partners in return.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

After my trip to the European Operating Room Nurses Association (EORNA) conference in April, I received a note from their president. She expressed an interest in having AORN and EORNA work together for better patient care and safety. This demonstrates that we can partner with nursing associations from around the world to gain from each other's expertise.

There also is an opportunity to work with our Latin American nursing colleagues. We currently are investigating the feasibility of having a symposium and expanding our relationships in that arena. The International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN) is another association with whom AORN is working.

UNITING WITH OTHERS

In her book, Nursing into the 21st Century, Leah Curtin talks about power, saying, "If you are perceived as powerful, you are powerful." (2(p176)) She adds,

   Today, there still are many
   unexploded mines in the
   field of leadership, but if we
   let them paralyze us,
   power--the ability to do
   something--will elude us.
   Leadership is action, not
   position. But when position
   and action coalesce, great
   changes are made. Even the
   weak can find power in
   unity. Unity, however,
   demands loyalty. Loyalty is
   one thing a leader cannot
   do without. And it's the
   one--and only--thing
   women (and most nurses
   are women) lack in their
   struggle to gain power.
   Loyalty, of course, must go
   two ways. If nurses want
   power, they need to stand
   behind, beside and for
   nurses. Loyalty gives
   power reach and durability.
   It magnifies its effects and
   gives it consistency and
   continuity. (2(p179))

If all perioperative nurses unite and work together, just imagine the impact we can have on quality patient care and patient safety.

We will continue to work with our industry partners on patient safety, recruitment and retention, educational opportunities and grants, and research. Having had the opportunity to meet with many of our industry leaders, I continue to be amazed (although I really shouldn't be) that the first question they ask is how can we help AORN and its members. At the 2003 Congress, we had the largest turnout of exhibitors in the history of the AORN Congress. As I write this message, more than 75% of exhibit space already is sold for the 2004 Congress.

We have AORN representation on the American Institute of Architects' Healthcare Guidelines Revision Committee, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, JCAHO's Ambulatory Care Professional and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and JCAHO's Hospital PTAC Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. We also maintain partnerships with the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American National Standards Institute, the American Nurses Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Alliance, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, and the United Network for Organ Sharing.