IN FOCUS
Speaking with a global perioperative nursing voice
By Carina Stanton, MA
Senior News Editor/Writer
Joining perioperative professionals from around the world, AORN leaders recently attended the European Operating Room Nurses Association's (EORNA's) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, to gain education, to understand the challenges European perioperative nurses are working with and to participate in dialogue and business meetings aimed at addressing key issues all perioperative nurses face.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Surgery Checklist-a collaborative initiative created with input from a range of healthcare professionals, including perioperative nurses and AORN leaders-was widely discussed at the meeting. AORN's 2007-2008 President Mary Jo Steiert, RN, BSN, CNOR, was one of the perioperative nurses who presented a general session talk at the EORNA meeting on the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist to demonstrate the power of the global perioperative nursing voice.
"The WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist is a critical tool that can be used in any perioperative setting around the world to improve patient safety," Steiert stressed. "In the United States, we also have the Universal Protocol Time Out to help ensure safety prior to a surgical procedure. However, in most areas around the world, this checklist from the WHO is the only tool available to empower nurses to promote the team approach and promote safety before an invasive procedure takes place. That is why it is so important for every perioperative nurse to understand and support the use of this safety tool from the WHO."
During the presentation at the EORNA meeting, Steiert was joined by others who also participated in the collaboration to create the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist, including Jane Reid, RN, president-elect of the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses, and Kirshna Moorthy, MD, of the Imperial College St. Mary's Hospital of London.
Business
Steiert also serves as secretary of the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN), an organization that represents perioperative professionals around the world and provides a perioperative representative as an affiliate member on the International Council of Nursing (ICN). IFPN holds one face-to-face meeting annually and met this year the day before the EORNA meeting began. AORN President Patrick Voight, RN, BSN, MSA, CNOR, also attended the meeting as AORN's representative. The group discussed membership updates from member countries and from WHO and ICN and planned initiatives for the year ahead, including possible work with Mercy Ships to encourage international perioperative nurses to participate in the mission work the organization sponsors.
"It is important for AORN to have a presence on the international scene," Steiert said. "One of our primary goals is to heighten awareness of the perioperative specialty within ICN, especially with our involvement in the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist, which is bringing the importance of the perioperative nurse into the spotlight."
Education
During the EORNA meeting, education sessions covered a range of topics, many of which focused on issues similar to those perioperative nurses in the U.S. currently face, including perioperative empowerment, patient safety and team performance.
Other AORN past presidents also attended the meeting, including Brenda Ulmer, RN, MN, CNOR , Donna Watson, RN, MSN, CNOR, ARNP, FNP and Ellen Murphy, RN, MS, JD, FAAN.
Additional Resources
Read more about international perioperative nursing in the AORN Journal's bimonthly column, Global Perspectives.
Read more news in AORN Connections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Surgery Checklist-a collaborative initiative created with input from a range of healthcare professionals, including perioperative nurses and AORN leaders-was widely discussed at the meeting. AORN's 2007-2008 President Mary Jo Steiert, RN, BSN, CNOR, was one of the perioperative nurses who presented a general session talk at the EORNA meeting on the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist to demonstrate the power of the global perioperative nursing voice.
"The WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist is a critical tool that can be used in any perioperative setting around the world to improve patient safety," Steiert stressed. "In the United States, we also have the Universal Protocol Time Out to help ensure safety prior to a surgical procedure. However, in most areas around the world, this checklist from the WHO is the only tool available to empower nurses to promote the team approach and promote safety before an invasive procedure takes place. That is why it is so important for every perioperative nurse to understand and support the use of this safety tool from the WHO."
During the presentation at the EORNA meeting, Steiert was joined by others who also participated in the collaboration to create the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist, including Jane Reid, RN, president-elect of the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses, and Kirshna Moorthy, MD, of the Imperial College St. Mary's Hospital of London.
Business
Steiert also serves as secretary of the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN), an organization that represents perioperative professionals around the world and provides a perioperative representative as an affiliate member on the International Council of Nursing (ICN). IFPN holds one face-to-face meeting annually and met this year the day before the EORNA meeting began. AORN President Patrick Voight, RN, BSN, MSA, CNOR, also attended the meeting as AORN's representative. The group discussed membership updates from member countries and from WHO and ICN and planned initiatives for the year ahead, including possible work with Mercy Ships to encourage international perioperative nurses to participate in the mission work the organization sponsors.
"It is important for AORN to have a presence on the international scene," Steiert said. "One of our primary goals is to heighten awareness of the perioperative specialty within ICN, especially with our involvement in the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives checklist, which is bringing the importance of the perioperative nurse into the spotlight."
Education
During the EORNA meeting, education sessions covered a range of topics, many of which focused on issues similar to those perioperative nurses in the U.S. currently face, including perioperative empowerment, patient safety and team performance.
Other AORN past presidents also attended the meeting, including Brenda Ulmer, RN, MN, CNOR , Donna Watson, RN, MSN, CNOR, ARNP, FNP and Ellen Murphy, RN, MS, JD, FAAN.
Additional Resources
Read more about international perioperative nursing in the AORN Journal's bimonthly column, Global Perspectives.
Read more news in AORN Connections.