Members Making a Difference Archive
First a surgical tech, now a nurse
 Barbara Kidd |
When Barbara Kidd graduated from the nursing program of Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Fla., this past May, she didn’t have to think about her future career course. She knew she was bound for the OR and perioperative nursing.
Kidd already had put in more than 18 years working as a surgical technologist, the last six of them at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa—one of only four polytrauma centers in the U.S. Veteran’s Administration system. Kidd had a wealth of experience scrubbing, preparing cases, making sure the right equipment for a particular procedure was in the room and handing off instruments during cases. In fact, before she was accepted to nursing school, Kidd served as co-coordinator-neurosurgery with Connie Hammond, RN, BSN, MHSA, CNOR and a Certified Brain Injury Specialist, at James A. Haley. “She was amazingly organized. I can’t say enough about her as a surgical tech,” Hammond told AORN Connections. “She really knows surgical procedures, and now that she’s a nurse, she can take on this role, too. While Hammond acknowledged serving as Kidd’s mentor over the last few years, she said Kidd made the decision on her own to become an RN. After successfully completing her licensing board exams in June, Kidd was hired back at James A Haley in August. She’s continued to work there full-time during her first year in of nursing school but cut back to part time at the hospital during her final year. She’s been an AORN member for two years and received an AORN scholarship to help with nursing school expenses. Eventually, Kidd hopes to add a bachelor’s degree to her RN credential, but right now she’s eager to apply the knowledge she gained as a surgical technologist in her new role as a perioperative nurse. And she’s already taken on some teaching responsibilities in the OR when new scrubs or students come on board. “As a surgical tech and now a nurse, I know what that scrub is enduring in the field. I’ve lived it. I know when a certain item might be getting low, and I anticipate their needs before they speak up. Kidd’s lengthy professional experience enabled her to serve a similar mentoring role during nursing school. “I was able to help a lot of my classmates, especially with surgical terminology,” she recalled. |
Serving soliders through many roles in the OR
 MeLisa Gantt |
Being a nurse is a tough job,” U.S. Army Major MeLisa Gantt, RN, MSN, CNOR, RNFA, acknowledges. “We work long hours under high-stress situations, and we are not always recognized for our efforts. But we make a difference, and it’s those moments during my day when I see the positive results of my efforts that I’m reminded what an important service we offer to our patients,” she says. “Service-times-2” is how she describes her role as an Army OR nurse. Within the OR, Gantt has served in many different roles. After making the jump from civilian work at the Pentagon to the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1991 and later to active Army duty, Gantt worked as a surgical technologist, a perioperative Registered Nurse and then OR manager, the position she currently holds at Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colo. Recently Gantt added RN First Assistant to that list, after becoming one of the first nurses to complete the Army’s new RNFA training program. “Becoming an RNFA allows me a new perspective in the OR. It’s an entirely different focus, moving from the circulating position as an OR Nurse to the first-assisting position,” she said. Evans Army Community Hospital is assigned many wounded soldiers who require post-war surgical interventions before beginning rehabilitation. Gantt has spent the past two years devising creative staff management plans to adjust for an escalating influx of patients from other facilities. She’s also focused on optimizing use of special technologies, including wound vacs that are used in her facility to aid with wound closure. Serving soldiers has been an important mission inspiring Gantt’s daily practice. She plans to take that passion for service with her when she begins doctoral study this fall at the University of Central Florida. Gantt hopes to pursue doctoral research on hypertension among soldiers deployed into combat areas. “High blood pressure is the gateway for serious health conditions, so I want to investigate hypertension in young soldiers before and after they are deployed,” she explains. “I’ve done every aspect of OR nursing, and my ultimate job is to be an instructor and contribute research that can help to serve our young soldiers. As a teacher, that will be my way to continue serving my patients and my country." |
Fighting for nurses at the top of Mt. Everest
 Pat Hickey |
"Nurses can do anything." That is the message longtime AORN member Pat Hickey, RN, BSN, MS, MSN, Dr.P.H., CNOR, has been sharing while fulfilling his quest to climb the seven summits— the highest mountains on the world’s seven continents. On May 24 Hickey reached the top of Mt. Everest and made history as the first registered nurse to climb all seven summits, an accomplishment achieved by less than 150 people around the world. Since beginning his personal climbing challenge in 2001, Hickey has been taking every opportunity to bring attention to the nursing shortage. Hickey established the Summit Scholarship through the University of South Carolina (USC) College of Nursing with the goal to raise at least $29,035—one dollar for every foot of altitude Hickey ascended to reach the top of Mt. Everest. So far Hickey has raised over $8,000 to aid student nurses attending the USC College of Nursing where Hickey is a clinical assistant professor. “Education is our key to quelling the nursing shortage, and all nurses have a responsibility to do our part in ensuring that nursing education is available to everyone,” Hickey said. Before entering academia Hickey worked as an OR educator and risk manager, which gave him the opportunity to see the daily effects of the nursing shortage. “Nurses are being set up to make mistakes through a system that doesn’t always support a nurse or keep them from being overworked. None of us goes into the nursing profession with intent to harm, but patients are being harmed. A big cause for this is a lack of nurses to provide adequate support,” he explained. In addition to raising money for the Summit Scholarship, Hickey also takes every opportunity to promote the value of teaching to his perioperative colleagues because nursing professors are in such high demand. “Perioperative nurses make great teachers because we are continually learning on the job and quickly adapting to new skills required in the workplace. I’ve met a lot of OR educators who would make great professors, and a large reason for the shortage is a lack of good educators to shape our next generation of nurses.” Hickey encourages his colleagues to “set personal goals because there is always going to be light at the end of the tunnel, and making it past all the challenges along the way is so empowering.” He also stresses the need for nurses to treat themselves. “We must take time to do things for ourselves—to recharge and make sure we balance our personal and professional lives, because that balance is what makes us the best nurses we can be.” Learn more about the Summit Scholarship or go to http://www.myeverest.com/ to read more about the challenges that Hickey faced on Mt. Everest. |
Carolina Chapters Help Rebuild Hurricane-Ravaged Louisiana Schools
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Cameron Parish in southwest Louisiana has been called the "forgotten parish" by some critics of the slow pace of federal aid for rebuilding the 90% of homes, schools and medical facilities destroyed by Hurricane Rita Sept. 24, 2005. Not so for AORN members in chapters throughout North Carolina and South Carolina, who are remembering this community by raising more than $4,000 to purchase badly needed classroom supplies for a school restoration project. "The school system of Cameron Parish was annihilated by the storm, and all of the teaching supplies were washed away," says Becky Mueller, RN, MHA, CPAN, CNOR, chair of AORN's South Carolina State Council. "It is our sincere hope that our efforts will go toward helping the schools-the teachers and school children-get back to normal a little faster." When Mueller took the post of South Carolina Council chair last March, one of the first goals she set was to involve AORN chapters and councils in both the Carolinas in a project that would benefit others, as well as draw chapters from the two states together in pursuing a common objective. "Because our chapters are separated by large distances, we only see each other at regional and national meetings. Our AORN friends from North Carolina heard about our project and joined in our efforts for Cameron Parish schools," Mueller recalled. After learning that many Cameron Parish schools were still closed or in temporary housing, with few teaching supplies, Mueller contacted Stephanie Rodrigue from the Cameron Parish School Board, who helped Mueller determine the best way to support restoration in the coastal Louisiana community. It was decided that money raised through the AORN project would be donated to two funds-the South Cameron School Restoration Fund and the Johnson Bayou School Restoration Fund. Collectively, donations from chapters and state councils of the Carolinas, plus individual gifts, totaled $4,194, which was split between the two funds. The money will buy library books, teacher school supplies, computers and playground equipment, Rodrigue said. Along with the money, the AORN members included a letter to the teachers and children explaining what perioperative nurses do, Mueller said. "We care for children every day-that is our job. We want the school children to understand this, and we hope their lives are made a little better by our gift." Mueller noted that many children from Cameron Parish schools have sent letters thanking her and all the AORN members for their support. She plans to share the letters during the next South Carolina Council meeting, as well as future chapter meetings. If you've been looking for materials to help promote the field of perioperative nursing to young people or nursing students, check out the Student Resource Kit. Members can also request a free sample copy of the kit which includes an AORN membership application; a career brochure; and an insert covering perioperative nursing as a career, specialties, jobs, resources, and professional associations by emailing Customer Service or calling 800-755-2676, Ext. 1. Additional materials are available for a nominal charge. |
