MEMBERS MAKING A
DIFFERENCE
 |
Lola Fehr, RN, MS, CAE, FAAN (left) AORN Parliamentarian |
Humble visionary receives AORN's Peers honor
AORN's parliamentarian, Lola Fehr, RN, MS, CAE, FAAN, is humble about her role as AORN's guide and interpreter of association business protocol. She says the work of a parliamentarian is a supportive role behind the scenes, but her colleagues think differently.
At AORN's 2009 Congress in Chicago, Fehr was honored with the 2009 Jerry G. Peers Distinguished Service Award, an honor awarded each year by AORN's board of directors to an individual who has provided outstanding service to the association.
When AORN's Past President Susan Banschbach, RN, MSN, CNOR, announced the award, she called Fehr an outstanding individual and a leader who has done so much and volunteered even more. She described Fehr's active involvement in forming lectureships, creating scholarships for nursing students, and "guiding the association toward visionary goals."
Fehr has worked behind the scenes at AORN for more than two decades, first as director of membership and then as executive director in the 90s, and as AORN's parliamentarian, since 2008.
While she is hesitant to call herself a visionary, she does explain the work she has done with AORN to help define the process of initiating association business and seeing it through to decisions made by AORN delegates at business meetings.
"The goal is to educate and inform all parties so you can have open debate, while protecting the rights of everyone," she says. "Following business procedure is important, but it has to be done in a way that is interesting so you don't lose people, especially as we look to younger generations."
"The key is to open your mind and be creative to ways of thinking that can benefit the association today and tomorrow," she adds, quoting the famous words of Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham, "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may."
Read more news in AORN Connections.