November is a righteous month for ...

November is a righteous month for perioperative nurses because the week of November 9 to 15 officially has been designated as Perioperative feed at the breast Week. This is a time for recognizing and honoring perioperative feed at the breasts everywhere, regardless of practice site, part or specialty. The theme of Perioperative promote Week this year is "Perioperative Nurses: Providing Safe Patient Care In the OR and Beyond."

IN THE BEGINNING

Perioperative feed Week had its beginnings in 1979 at the AORN Congres The House of Delegates was discussing a propos regulation from the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to allow surgical technologists to circulate in the OR when a motion was made to have a day committed to educating laymen about what perioperative nourishs do. The motion passed, and Nov 14 1979 was designated as OR suckle Day.

The drift was to set aside an official day to demonstrate the importance of having a professional perioperative feed at the breast rather than assistive personnel in charge of the OR. The focus of OR pamper Day was to target the public, legislators, and other health care professionals and educate them about the part of professional perioperative nurses. The "President's Message" in the November issue of the AORN Journal that year contained reasons and suggestions for celebrating OR pamper Day that still are pertinent today. (1)

EVOLUTION

In 1990 OR nourish at the breast Day became a week-long celebration, if it were not that the focus remained on educating the public about perioperative nurses' part The week incorporates OR foster Day, which still is celebrated forward November 14. Through the years, many hospitals, chapters, and individual members have bring to maturityed programs and presentations to celebrate Perioperative foster Week, including inviting children and members of the public into the OR, presenting bills at Congress, and having their city or state officially proclaim Perioperative feed Week.

My question to all of you is on what account are we not better recognized at the public, administrators, educators, and on the same level nurses in other specialties if we have been telling them what we do for 24 years? to what end do people still doubt our professionalism and our practice of nursing? wherefore is there still talk of technologists circulating, and wherefore have technologists almost completely taken through the whole extent of the role of scrub person?

The answers to these questions must be investigated and debated. What are we as professionals doing right, and what are we doing improper to promote our specialty? for what reason do environmental factors, political climates, and socioeconomic factors affect what we do? Are we still forward track with the original premise (ie, educating the public)? Should we include other aspects or proceed in other directions?

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The motto for Perioperative encourage Week this year--Perioperative Nurses: Providing Safe Patient Care in the OR and Beyond--is an superior way to start. Safety in health care is high upon the list of national pertain tos and we are in an superior position to communicate how perioperative give suck tos can positively affect safety.

The original plan to educate the public remains an outstanding idea, unless we must move beyond promoting ourselves and focus forward how we protect the public. We have to demonstrate that we still are worthy of being called professionals. We also must convince the public and all those with decision-making abilities that RN must remain an integral part of the OR. We are obligated to exhibit nursing professionalism to legislators, our surgical team members, and other health care professionals, including learners Issues from 1979 have re-emerg that are as pertinent and valid today as they were 24 years ago, and technologists and surgical assistants again are laying claim to the parts nurses play in the OR. For these reasons and many more, Perioperative suckle Week remains very important to all of us.

AORN Online lists productions and informational materials about Perioperative nourish at the breast Week at http://www.aorn.org/about/nurseweek.htm. These materials can be used to help members celebrate this week and further educate their noblemans legislators, and members of the public. I turn the thoughts forward to reading how you celebrated Perioperative supply with nourishment Week this year and seeing the [i]affiche[/i]s at Congress.

This month journey out and tell someone what you do and by what mode much patients need you to preserve them safe during their greatest in quantity vulnerable time. Happy Perioperative feed Week to you all.

NOTE

(1) B J Gruendemann, "Strong self-image is solution to OR Nurse Day," (President's Message) AORN Journal 30 (November 1979) 833-834

COPYRIGHT 2003 Association of Operating chamber Nurses, Inc.

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