FROM THE
BOARD
Board discusses SPR, Periop 101 and plans for Congress 2009
A report from the July 27-29, 2008 Board of Directors meeting
By Deborah Spratt, RN BSN MPA CNOR NEA-BC
Secretary, AORN Board of Directors
The AORN Board of Directors (BOD) met July 27-29, 2008, following another successful annual AORN Leadership Conference, in Denver, Colo. All Board members and AORN Executive Staff members were present. The agenda was accepted with changes as deemed necessary by the President. The President then welcomed several guests that had been in attendance at Leadership.
The quarterly meetings of the BOD always have an ambitious agenda because not only is AORN a non-profit business, but also it is a member-driven organization focusing on surgical patient and worker safety.
As part of doing business, a portion of the meeting is spent reviewing the finances of the association, including an update from our auditors. AORN is also subject to the same rules and regulations as other businesses in our category and as such has to have many of the same policies and procedures. Under that area we reviewed and approved a "Whistleblower" Policy, discussed the exit interview tool used when staff leave, and reviewed and approved our policy on record destruction and retention. The BOD also heard and approved several recommendations intended to strengthen and improve our IT system.
The BOD receives updates and gives approval to our various projects. It was reported that phase one of the Standardized Perioperative Record (SPR) is on target for completion this fall. At the request of members and vendors, AORN started this project in Spring 2008. The outcome is to develop a tool that could be adapted by all software vendors for perioperative documentation purposes. The SPR uses the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) language, so that important points of care can be documented and aggregated to demonstrate and quantify the care perioperative professionals are giving.
The BOD heard and approved a plan for a focus on Specialty Assemblies and Communities of Practice. AORN is continuing to develop products and services for perioperative nurses outside of the hospital operating room, specifically the ASC and office-based surgery settings, and those nurses working in Interventional Radiology, Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Endoscopy, so we reviewed the plans for these initiatives going forward.
In addition we heard a report on our developing partnerships with several schools of nursing and the AORN/Owens and Minor Leadership Course. The BOD received a report on the successful transition of Periop 101 from a written format to an on-line format. The BOD heard that staff have been working on some plans for improving the ambassador program. The Board reviewed some of these ideas and approved the plan staff is developing.
The AORN Board also received an update related to the AORN Foundation. Based on survey results, the Foundation Board discovered that they need to provide information to the membership that talks about the Foundation and what the Foundation provides back to the AORN membership, including scholarships, educational grants, patient safety, etc . . .
The Board received an update from AORN Works (formerly AORN Management Solutions). There will be upcoming information about their new name and their new Web site, along with information about what AORN Works has to offer available soon.
The BOD approved the preliminary budget for the 2009 AORN Congress in Chicago. We also discussed and approved recommendations for future Congress sites. In addition, the report highlighted the face-to-face meetings scheduled for Fall 2008, specifically OR Manager which is co-sponsored by AORN's Leadership Specialty Assembly and the Fall Specialty Conferences grouped together in St Louis.
The BOD heard a report from the Bylaws Committee and will be sending a letter approving their work plan. The AORN Nominating Committee recommended and the BOD approved several motions promoting leadership development for candidates on the national ballot.
It was announced that November 9-15, 2008 is Perioperative Nurse Week. Board members were reminded that the AORN members selected the theme this year for Perioperative Nurse Week. The theme will be: Perioperative Nurses: Influencing the Future of Safe Patient Care. Brochures with the Perioperative Nurse Week products will be placed in the mail.
Time at the end of the BOD meeting was spent discussing the responsibilities of non-profit boards. The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be December 4th-6th, 2008 in Denver, Colo. Agenda items should be sent to Susan K. Banschbach, RN, MSN, CNOR, at AORN Headquarters, 2170 S Parker Rd, Suite 300, Denver, CO, 80231-5711.
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