Focusing on the Mission

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• Quality
• Safety
• Collaboration
• Achieving the Mission
• Reference
• Copyright

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The AORN membership has elected me to assume the role of President, with which comes major responsibility, dedication, and commitment. I am ready to serve.

It takes a particularly strong leader and Board of Directors to lead during challenging times, and we are in those challenging times. This year will not be about focusing on my personal goals as the President but on the strategic mission of AORN. By staying strong to our commitment and focusing on the mission, we will weather these times and build the infrastructure that will carry us into the future. This year's theme directly relates to the AORN mission: Reaching the Peak of Perioperative Practice; Safety, Quality, Collaboration. Quality, safety, and collaboration are interrelated, not mutually exclusive.

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Quality 

While continuing to explore products and services important to our members, the main priority this year will be to focus on the development and completion of major initiatives, including

These initiatives are of monumental proportions, but through the shared wisdom of our members, the direction of the Board, and the talent and hard work of the Headquarters staff, we will succeed in building the infrastructure required to make AORN viable and relevant to our professional lives for years to come.

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Safety 

AORN faces a significant challenge this year to move beyond the threats we face every day and to build a vision for the future that our members can believe in and work toward. AORN's past leadership on patient and workforce safety is the foundation of our collaborative efforts with the nursing community on health care reform. Through our continued affiliate relationship with the American Nurses Association and proactive involvement focused on perioperative nursing advocacy in Washington, DC, we will continue to influence public policy and identify nurse-sensitive measures of quality and safe patient care in the OR. We must never underestimate the power or influence we have as nurses, but we must make sure we are at the right tables, influencing and shaping the future of perioperative nursing and the provision of health care itself.

According to the Joint Commission, noncompliance with time outs is increasing,¹ and the prevalence of retained items is not decreasing.² We will step up efforts this year to work with our perioperative colleagues across the table to support a more prescriptive approach and develop an environment of respect so that basic practices are performed the same way every time, everywhere. Our patients are demanding it and deserve no less.

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Collaboration 

Collaboration, a key component of our success, is important not only across the operating table, but also across the world. AORN's actions and influence in the international arena must continue to be solid and relevant to our nursing contemporaries worldwide. Our global commitment to patient care will be judged by our actions, and also by our willingness to collaborate and share knowledge and experiences. As part of AORN's international strategy, we are collaborating with Mercy Ships to provide visibility and volunteers from the AORN community who wish to work with the Mercy Ships Mission of Hope. Mercy Ships, a non-government ocean-going vessel, is currently anchored in Benin, Africa. Our collaboration will provide AORN members priority in volunteer positions. With AORN's commitment to global health care, we can assist Mercy Ships in bringing hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor by mobilizing our membership and resources to serve worldwide.

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Achieving the Mission 

I hope that you will reflect on your vocation as a nurse and consider ways you can individually help us achieve the AORN mission. Each of us can make strides to maintain and improve quality, safety, and collaboration. AORN belongs to you—it is about each of us working individually, and then coming together to produce unbelievable results.

Thank you again for your vote of confidence. Let's get to work!

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Reference 

1. The Joint Commission  . National Patient Safety Goal compliance . http://www.jointcommissionreport.org/performanceresults/patientsafetygoal.aspx Accessed March 18, 2009.
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2. Unintended retention of a foreign object reviewed by year. In: Sentinel event statistics—updated through December 31, 2008. The Joint Commission . http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/Statistics Accessed March 18, 2009.
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