I attend a lot of medical meetings and AORN remains my favorite. Many other organizations could learn from AORN, and I believe one of the biggest reasons is the innate abilities of the periOperative nurse. We are organized and motivated and we show it with the type of programs and speakers we choose. We are also focused on our goals, which is why we do not have exhibit hours competing for our attention during educational sessions. We are driven to have so many opportunities in such a short span of time. We move from the educational sessions to the networking opportunities at the lunches, Specialty Assembly meetings and social events. We also meet our community obligations with the Blood Drive and the Foundation Walk/Run. It is an exhausting week, and I return energized.
My favorite session this year was the day and a half Intensive Education Session I attended pre-Congress. Stacey Nelson provided so many insightful ways to have "Crucial Conversations" to build relationships, create agreement and bring the best ideas to the surface, even when emotions are heated and the stakes are high. The Quiz Bowl is a fun way to learn about perioperative nursing research as 4 teams compete to see who read the assigned journals and what they retained.
It means a lot to me to be able to represent eChapter as a Delegate. Since I travel for my job in the medical device industry, it is difficult for me to be an active member of my local chapter. AORN is a powerful organization and our leadership is pivotal to safe health care for the surgical patient. The ability to vote on the issues facing our organization, and elect our leaders is a responsibility and a privilege that I do not take lightly. Thank you for allowing me to serve our chapter. Consider joining our delegation in Denver in 2010.