Specialty Assemblies
Breaking boundaries
Whether working in active military, Veterans Affairs or Public Health Service nursing, AORN’s Federal Nurses SA is working to foster greater communication and resource sharing among all federal nurses
By Carina Stanton
Senior News Editor/Writer
Today the different specialties within federal nursing are working together more closely than ever, because patients injured in combat and cared for by active military nurses are often transferred to Veterans Affairs facilities. Also, Public Health Service nurses often work with active duty and Veterans Affairs (VA) nurses in humanitarian efforts, such as responses to hurricanes and other disasters. This increased collaboration among active duty, Veterans Affairs and Public Health Service nurses requires coordinated communication by all federal nurses and a shared understanding for individual specialties within federal nursing, according to Tommy Stewart, MS, RN, NP, CNOR, retired Navy Nurse and Director of Clinical Programs for the Office of Medical Surgical Services for the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Offices in Washington.
Stewart co-chairs AORN’s Federal Nurses Specialty Assembly (SA) and is working with other colleagues on the SA’s coordinating council to get a better understanding for the practice issues and different needs of the more than 600 perioperative nurses who belong to the SA. Increased communication among their different specialties is one way all federal nurses can improve patient care, especially as the old days of working in silos is changing, Stewart said.
“We are all doing perioperative nursing, whether we are working stateside, on a ship, or in a field hospital. Despite these varied work environments, we are all focused on how to provide the best possible perioperative care to the patients,” he stressed.
Connecting with the care continuum
Within federal nursing, patients are cared for through a streamlined continuum of care that often requires active duty, veterans affairs and public health nurses to work together and clearly communicate as patients are transferred. This is especially true for patients injured on the battlefield, Stewart explained. “Most patients [injured on the battlefield] have undergone multiple surgeries by the time they get to the VA door, , so having a clear understanding of each other’s surgical specialties is not only valuable, it is critical to caring for the patient.”
“As our military veterans return home, I feel it is critical that the standard of care is consistent across the continuum,” said Patricia Woolson, RN, MSN, a perioperative nurse manager at the Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System . She participates in several perioperative information exchanges so she can share information and learn about current best practices. She plans to join AORN’s Federal Nurses SA so she can connect with her AORN federal nurse colleagues, especially her VA nurse colleagues.
“VA nurses need to share information with each other in order to succeed,” Woolson stressed.
Sharing knowledge
Marian Cioe, RN, agrees that sharing information and resources is very important among federal nurses, especially as she is seeing an increased volume of patients, including new veterans, as well as patients taking advantage of their VA benefits. Cioe is a Naval Reserve perioperative nurse who chose to spend the last leg of her career as a staff perioperative nurse at Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Chicago. Having a forum such as the Federal Nurses SA provides Cioe with a way to field questions, discuss best practices and get a sense for issues other VA nurses currently face.
In addition to sharing knowledge specific to federal nursing practice, Cioe says the Federal Nurses SA can provide a forum to discuss challenges all perioperative nurses face, such as creating a healthy work environment, dealing with higher patient acuity and standardizing care.
Responding to needs
Cioe and Stewart have been working with other members of the Federal Nurses SA coordinating council to establish goals for the year and a plan to meet these goals. The primary goal they are working toward is the development of a needs assessment survey to get a better understanding for the different areas of federal nursing that SA members are working in and what these members need from the SA.
“We are trying to get members the resources they need, while helping them to understand how they can be actively involved and engaged with AORN,” Stewart said.
The SA will also be working to identify several subject matter experts from among SA members and will be working to nominate an SA member to the AORN Awards Committee.
Learn more about AORN’s Federal Nurses SA. To participate in the SA’s Online Community of Practice to ask questions, share resources and contact SA members, visit communities.aorn.org/COP.