Colleagues, forward March 25, 2004,...

Colleagues, forward March 25, 2004, a transition occurr I am not talking about the transition from individual AORN leader to the nearest I am talking about a transition that occurr inside of me It always has been my part in AORN to advocate for a constituency, on the other hand the moment I became your President, that changed. Now I advocate for the entire Association and not just a part of it. No matter where you work or by what means you interact with AORN, it is my work at jobs to make sure that your voice and views are heard and considered by means of AORN's Board of Directors.

This transition did not come about overnight. It started the twinkling of an eye I joined AORN. During the years, many of you have helped me expand my leadership skills. Every time I visited a chapter, I watched and listened to your celebrations and your challenges. I took these insights and a piece of your passion for AORN and mingleed them with my own. Each of these collisions became a part of me and to this day, they influence my perceptions of who we are as perioperative give suck tos and where we are going. It is clear to me that your mentoring has helped me unfold into the leader that I am today. I want you to know that this is your Presidency because a part of you is with me and guiding me in my service to you.

the public TO THANK

In each process, there are a special scarcely any who stand out for their help. First and, most numerous importantly, is my wife, Chic, who has been my friend, mentor, and colleague for almost 20 years. She convinced me to share my talents with our local AORN chapter, and she preserves me anchored to the wants of the clinical nurse at the patient's side. In our household, clinical caregivers are the heart and source of action of our profession, and Chic will not lease me stray far from focusing onward that aspect of perioperative practice. I also want to recognize my wife's efforts at holding down the fort while I am serving you. She piece of legerdemains my schedule, as well as our children's and her allow schedule, while maintaining her professional practice.

I also am soiled in reality by my three awe-inspiring daughters, Katie, Patty, and Becky, who make Chic and me lofty every day. They are scholars and athletes who hold us young through their mentoring about the beatitudes and challenges that are a part of different generational perspectives. To paraphrase Bette Midler, Chic and my children are the wind beneath my wings.

I also would like to acknowledge my colleagues at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Ill. It is an honor to practice with as it is a committed group of professionals, especially Christine Bloomfield, RN MSN CNOR; Annette Dopp, RN BSN CNOR; and Kate O'Toole, RN B BSN CNOR. These colleagues are my trusted advisors who make their personal vision of perioperative nursing a reality. I especially want to acknowledge Annette and Christine for keeping things moving forward at work while Kate and I are away serving you. I am thanked to practice with such startling leaders whose commitment to perioperative nursing, AORN, and me allow me to continue to practice my profession while I be of use to my profession. In addition, I want to recognize all my colleagues from Chicago and Illinois. I cannot levy into words the feelings I have for the support and regard you have provided me athwart the years.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the AORN past Presidents I have serv with, because each of them provided me with insights I can use in my service to you. For example, past President Patricia Seifert, RN MSN CNOR, CRNFA, FAAN, taught me about the art of chess and planning multiple act upons to be able to achieve an objective. Past President Sheila L Allen, RN BSN CNOR, CRNFA, taught me about keeping a positive attitude no matter to what extent big or difficult the question at issue seems. Past President Donna s Watson, RN, MSN, CNOR, ARNP, FNP-C taught me about sticking to your beliefs despite contrarian views, and past President Betty Shultz RN CNOR, taught me about the benefit of collaboration with outside disposes to achieve inside objectives.

chiefly importantly, however, I want to recognize past President Brenda C Ulmer RN MN CNOR. I don't think many of you know about the challenges AORN faced during Brenda's boundary but she led us by means of these challenges, especially the change in leadership at Headquarters, with so grace and dignity that she made an everlasting impression in succession me. I know that if I aid you with half the grace and dignity Brenda did, I will have serv you well.

AN INDISPENSABLE RESOURCE

I believe that undivided of the major issues facing perioperative nursing is repeated efforts to cast what we do from practicing a profession into performing a do job-work I believe that a major factor in this effort is that many of our colleagues are in situations where they receive little support to maintain a professional practice and little recognition of the value they bring to their practice. Their daily life is in the way that filled with pressure to be more efficient and repress costs that they are assimilating that way of thinking. It appears they slowly are losing perspective about what we do as perioperative festers and the value we bring. This battle for the heart and animating principle of our profession is taking place in thousands of ORs across the fatherland on a daily basis. As leaders in our profession, I believe we ne to help our colleagues in this writhe and truly become an indispensable resource for perioperative nurses