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AORN Journal,  Feb, 2005  

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Monday, April 4, to Thursday, April 7, 2005

The AORN House of Delegates will meet twice during the 2005 Congress in New Orleans--Monday, April 4, and Thursday, April 7. Both House sessions will follow strict parliamentary procedure. There are three Forums scheduled--one on Monday, April 4, and two on Wednesday, April 6. Registered nurses can earn 5.1 contact hours by attending all Forums and both sessions of the House of Delegates and correctly completing the scan form provided at Congress.

If you have items to be included in the House of Delegates or Forum agenda, mail the information to William J. Duffy, RN, BSN, MJ, CNOR, AORN President, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-5711, or stop by the Headquarters/Board Office at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Items to be voted on at the House first must be taken to a Forum for discussion. The following items are scheduled to come before the House of Delegates for a vote:

* Proposed Position Statement on Entry into Practice (Table 1),

* Member Access Proposal,

* Proposed Position Statement on Orientation of the Registered Professional Nurse to the Perioperative Setting,

* Proposed Position Statement for Safe On Call Practices,

* Proposed Position Statement on Care of the Perioperative Patient With an Implantable Electronic Device,

* Proposed Position Statement on Fire Prevention,

* Proposed Position Statement on the Role of the Scrub Person,

* Proposed Position Statement on Correct Site Surgery, and

* Proposed Position Statement on Operating Room Staffing Skill Mix for Direct Caregivers.

PROPOSED POSITION STATEMENTS

It is the prerogative of perioperative nurses to define the scope of practice for perioperative nursing in general. If perioperative nurses neglect this duty, other entities will make the decisions for them. That is why is it so important for perioperative nursing, as represented by AORN, to clearly define positions on a number of practice issues that affect perioperative nurses daily.

At Congress in New Orleans, a number of proposed position statements will come before the House of Delegates for a vote. These proposed position statements are printed here so that AORN members have an opportunity before Congress to discuss the content of these statements with perioperative nurse colleagues and bring any questions or concerns to their chapter delegates for discussion at the House of Delegates.

This article contains the rationale and talking points for the proposed position statements that will come before the House. In an attempt to reach as many grassroots members as possible, AORN has made this information available in a number of formats. In addition to this article, video presentations on the proposed position statements can be found at http://www.blueskybroadcast.com/Client /AORN/. At press time, only presentations on the proposed statements on orientation and safe on-call practices were available; however, it was expected that presentations on the remaining proposed statements would be available by the beginning of February. AORN also sent a CD-ROM on the proposed position statements to every chapter president and is publishing a special pre-Congress issue of Connections. In addition, Board members have reserved 15 Board visits to come to chapter or state council meetings to discuss the proposed position statements with members.

ORIENTATION. AORN's "Proposed position statement on orientation of the registered professional nurse to the perioperative setting" (Table 2) was developed by the National Committee on Education. The statement covers both the scope of orientation and the recommended length of orientation. The position statement outlines the areas of information to which AORN believes new nurses in the OR should be oriented. These include

* delivery of safe care;

* emergency management;

* aseptic technique;

* equipment, instruments, and supplies;

* professional development; and

* administrative functions.

In addition, the proposed position statement clearly defines AORN's belief that perioperative nurses must be oriented to both the scrub and circulating roles because both roles are important to perioperative patient care. Understanding the scrub role is vital to maintaining excellence in the circulating role.

The proposed statement also recommends that perioperative orientation cover all the specialties in which a nurse will be expected to perform; a minimum of one week for each specialty is recommended. Perioperative nurses also should be orientated to off shifts, weekends, and on-call situations. This can be accomplished with a preceptor system that uses experienced nurses as resources for orientees.

The length of orientation in the perioperative setting can be difficult for many health care facilities, which often need perioperative nurses to be effective immediately. AORN, however, believes that basic orientation into the OR for a novice nurse (ie, any nurse who has not worked in an OR environment before or who has been away from the OR for an extended period) should take at least six months but not more than nine months, including specialty rotations. Orientation for an experienced nurse (ie, a nurse with recent OR experience) should take at least three months, including specialty rotations.