Promoting practice by recognizing excellence

AORN Journal,  August, 2006  by Paula R. Graling

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As I prepare to write these messages to you each month, I ask myself a simple question: Why is it so hard for us to promote ourselves when we do such marvelous work every day to help our patients and our coworkers? That is why I would like to devote this month's message to the AORN awards process and promoting the practice of perioperative nursing within our membership.

CHAPTER EXCELLENCE AWARDS

AORN's more than 340 chapters serve as an immediate resource for supporting members' perioperative practice, and they are integral to bringing AORN's mission, vision, and standards of perioperative practice to the larger health care community. The good work that is happening within chapters should be showcased for all of us to applaud.

As was highlighted in the July issue of AORN Connections, the new chapter awards program structure that was put in place in 2006 will be continued in 2007. Chapter members can submit a presentation in the format of their choosing (eg, video, computer presentation, scrapbook, poster) to describe a project, service, program, or collection of activities that exemplifies what makes their chapter excellent. The presentation should describe the outcome of the project, program, or event on the chapter, community, or perioperative nursing profession. The award submission can, but is not required to, focus on the AORN President's Congress theme.

Now that chapter members have seen the creative ideas that were submitted last year, I am sure that work has begun on fabulous submissions for the upcoming Congress in Orlando, Fla. Think of the unique things you have done since April 1, 2006, or special events that you are planning right now to energize your chapter and engage your members, and think of creative ways to submit your entries by the Feb 1, 2007, deadline. Gold, silver, and bronze awards are awarded to chapters in each size category (ie, small, medium, intermediate, large), and one overall winner is selected that represents the best submission among all size categories. Guidelines for submission and information about the selection process are available on AORN Online at http://www.aorn.org/chapters/awards.htm.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

The individual awards process was always a mystery to me because I never really understood the criteria for each award category and the process of submission seemed equally convoluted. As a new perioperative nurse, I read the Journal articles about the recipients, and when I attended my first Congress, I celebrated with the winners at the Awards Dinner.

When I first became a chapter president, I received the mailing that instructed me about the deadline for awards submissions, but I was completely unaware of my role in the process. I am explaining this because the Oct 1, 2006, deadline for individual award nominations is quickly approaching, and it is important for all of you to understand the awards process so you can participate in recognizing the contributions of nurses in our profession and help to decrease the anonymity of our members.

AORN's individual awards honor the contributions of individuals to perioperative nursing (Table 1). The award recipients are chosen by the Awards Committee members, who are appointed by the President and approved by the Board of Directors. An award candidate must be an AORN member. The candidate can apply for himself or herself or can be nominated by a colleague. A candidate may apply or be nominated for more than one award unless he or she is applying for the Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing. The award application requires an individual statement from the candidate, a curriculum vitae, and two letters of endorsement--one professional and one personal. The committee is looking for examples of outstanding contributions that go beyond a person's job description. What has the applicant done to make himself or herself stand out? How has the applicant demonstrated a commitment to excellence? How has he or she exhibited a passion for the perioperative profession? How has he or she promoted perioperative nursing practice, education, or research?

Jane Flowers, RN, MSN, CNOR, a member of AORN of the Eastern Shore, has the best track record for nominating award winners. She told me," We all know excellent nurses, but few of us take the time to recognize their accomplishments."

Last summer the Nurse Educator/Clinical Nurse Specialist Specialty Assembly, of which Jane was past-chair, assigned her a goal of nominating someone for an AORN award. Exercising the belief that educators and clinical nurse specialists have expertise and display excellence in all of the categories that the awards cover, Jane decided to nominate at least one individual in every category. She enlisted her coordinating council colleague Jean Stewart, RN, MSN, CNOR, and together they began the process of calling potential nominees and asking them to provide elements for the submission packet. Jane and Jean were like a preoperative chart assembly team, making sure the required elements are on the chart for the morning of surgery so that surgical team members will have everything they need to get started. Jane and Jean submitted 11 award nominations, and four of their 11 nominees were chosen to be award winners. For more information about individual awards, visit http:// www.aorn.org/about/award.pdf.