Tennessee RN First Assistant Survey Data—What Types of Perioperative Education are Needed? - registered nurse

AORN Journal, Nov, 1999 by Rod Heckman, Jan Barnhill

   Movement toward advanced preparation or specialization in nursing, as in
   any other discipline, is initiated by three forces: new knowledge pertinent
   to the field, technologic advances, and responses to public need or
   demand.(1)

NURSES RESPONSIBILITY

The perioperative area has become a dynamic organism that results in periods of confusion concerning roles and purposes. In health care settings, perioperative RNs are constantly being asked to perform new tasks. Team members with or without experience come and go and staffing patterns change, requiring more or less people than before. Perioperative nurses are expected to adjust to the situations accordingly. Without the education of perioperative nurses in nursing programs, perioperative nurses must learn how to manage the changes. Identifying problems, planning a course of action, evaluating the entire process, and working as a team to control the constant state of flux are essential skills for growth and empowerment.

In the specialized areas of perioperative nursing and RN first assisting, specific team building must be a deliberate and concerted effort on the part of all concerned. Team building is an ongoing process that requires clarification of commitment, purpose, and roles in addition to problem identification, active planning, and a period of reflection or evaluation. Registered nurses have begun to realize that education and development are an essential portion of this team-building process as well as an investment in the organization.

Perioperative nurses have learned that the specific development needs of the student may require a single experience, but more complex competencies may demand several types of experiences. This can be accomplished by

* expanding the awareness of the issue surrounding nursing education and postgraduate programs,

* building a foundation of trust by offering shared success and rewards to all involved,

* becoming a "spark" or catalyst to help make changes in the organization or institution,

* building a framework for effective communication that will continue throughout the program,

* adopting a planning attitude that will work towards organizational goals, and

* focusing on evaluating the performance of the program and establishing a continuity of standards to improve the process.

To meet the challenges of perioperative recruitment and education, perioperative RNs and RNFAs must select a direction and then act as catalysts and mentors throughout the process. Nurses will help ensure committed patient care in the future by taking a leadership role in reestablishing perioperative education in nursing programs. To choose a direction, nurse leaders must develop a vision of the future of perioperative nursing. This vision must then be transformed into a working goal or mission statement. It has to provide an accurate articulation of the realistic, credible, and attractive future for perioperative nurses and their students that includes knowledge, behavior, expectations, role structures, and values. The natural outcome of this will be increased autonomy, professional empowerment, and control over one's practice.