AORN J O U R N A L OCTOBER 1990, VOL. 52, NO 4

Atlanta Welcomes 38th Annual Congress

he 38th annual AORN Congress, to be held T April 7 to 12, 1991, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, will bring together nurses and exhibitors from around the country. The official theme is “AORN: Visions for the Future.”

The Georgia World Congress Center has more than one million sq ft of space. Hall C of the Congress Center, which will be the site of the Opening, Closing, and General Sessions, will hold more than 6,000 people. Exhibitors will display their products and explain their services in Exhibit Halls, A, D, E, and F.

Registration

ttendees should make plans early to register A for pre-Congress and Congress seminars. (See “Congress Deadlines”)

Pre-Congress seminar registration. Pre- Congress seminar registrations must be post- marked no later than Feb 19, 1991. Seminar cost is $98 for members and $129 for nonmembers for one-day seminars and $149 for members and $194 for nonmembers for the two-day seminar. Lunch is included. Nine seminars are one day, and the “Preparing for Certification” seminar is two days. Five pre-Congress seminars will be offered on Friday, April 5, and four seminars will be offered on Saturday, April 6. Topics for pre- Congress seminars are endoscopy, ambulatory surgery, management, codependency in nursing, marketing surgical services, leadership empower- ment, caring for the care taker, professionalizing the OR staff, and facilitating research in the 1990s.

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The Chapter Presidents’ Executive Session. The format, title, time, and date of what was formerly a pre-Congress seminar entitled “The AORN Chapter Presidents’ Forum” have been changed. The new offering will be held on Monday, April 8, from noon to 3 PM. Invitations will be sent to all chapter presidents encouraging them to attend this new session. The price of this session is included in the Congress registration fee.

The idea for the new format resulted from a number of reasons. First, it was decided that much of what was accomplished at the pre-Congress seminar can be done at the eight “Regional Chapter Leadership Workshops” that will be conducted during the next 12 months. By scheduling “The Chapter Presidents’ Executive Session” during Congress week, all presidents can be in attendance, and they will not incur the expenses of additional lodging and pre-Congress registration fees.

Please do not request the “AORN Chapter Presidents’ Forum” on the pre-Congress seminar form that is included in the Congress brochure. This session will take place Monday, April 8, from noon to 3 PM.

Congress registration. In August, AORN members and nonmembers received information via the mail on registration and official Congress hotels. Those who want to preregister must return their completed forms to Headquarters post- marked no later than Feb 19, 1991. The cost for members is $125 for the week or $25 per day. The cost for nonmembers is $185 for the week or $37 per day.

Cancellation requests must be postmarked by March 25, 1991. Anyone who cancels will be charged a $1 5 administrative fee. Nonmember registered nurses, physicians, and administrators of health care facilities are invited to attend Congress. Those interested should write to AORN Meeting Services Department, 10170 E Missis- sippi Ave, Denver, CO 80231, for a registration brochure.

Monitors. All members who preregister will receive applications to volunteer as education session monitors. Monitors distribute handouts, usher attendees to seats, deliver messages, and report mechanical problems such as room temperature and lighting. This year, continuing

education scan sheets have been combined into a-single scan sheet that will be collected at the end of the week. Members who wish to serve as monitors must return their applications by Dec 22, 1990, to the Congress and World Conference Assistant, AORN Education and Nursing Practice Department, 10170 E Mississippi Ave, Denver, CO 8023 1.

Congress Incentive Program

ach year since 1987, $40,500 of the money E collected from exhibitor booth fees has been targeted for the Congress Incentive Program. In 1991, $48,700 will be awarded. The program is administered by the Exhibitors’ Advisory Com- mittee (EAC). The funds will be distributed to AORN chapters to financially assist members who wish to attend Congress.

To be eligible for the 1991 Congress Incentive Program, chapters must have at least one member registered by Jan 14, 1991. Forty chapters will be awarded $1,200 each, and two members-at- large will be awarded $350 each to help them attend the Atlanta Congress.

The drawing will take place Jan 21, 1991, at Headquarters, and the winning chapters’ presidents and the members-at-large will be notified by the EAC and informed about how to claim their awards. The names of the winning chapters and members-at-large will be published in the post- Congress issue of the AORN Journal and will be displayed at Congress. Members are reminded to keep their memberships current to be eligible for these awards.

Congress Activities

ongress traditionally combines education C sessions, exhibitor displays, Association business, and networking opportunities for attendees.

Education sessions. Congress provides a variety of education sessions to meet the needs of attendees. From the many excellent proposals submitted, some of the programs that have been selected include:

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Congress Deadlines

October 15 Local chapter membership roster changes due at Headquarters

November 8 Delegate forms mailed to chapter presidents from Headquarters

December 22 Volunteer monitor applications due

January 14 Pre-registration for Congress incentive program

February 19 Registration for Congress; hotel reservations; postmark deadline for delegate and alternate delegate forms (via certified mail)

They will be arranged for easy viewing. Flyers have been sent to all AORN OR

supervisors and directors explaining how to become involved in the poster displays. If you have not seen the flyer and are interested in presenting a poster, please call the Education and Nursing Practice Department at Headquarters at

Nurses/Exhibitors’ Evening. In addition to administering the funds for the Congress Incentive Program, the EAC plans the activities for the Nurses/Exhibitors’ Evening, which is traditionally held on Tuesday at Congress. Further details will be available at a later date.

Exhibit hours. Congress attendees will be able to talk with exhibitors and view their products and services in Exhibit Halls A, D, E, and F of the Georgia World Congress Center from 11 AM to 3 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, April 9, 10, and 11, 1991.

(303) 755-6300 x 257.

February 25 Delegate Instructions All changes in delegate forms due in writing

March 25 Last day to cancel registration for Congress and pre-Congress

he Membership Department asks each chapter T to check its September 1990 membership printout and send any corrections to Headquarters before Oct 15, 1990. The number of delegates and alternate delegates a chapter can send to Congress will be determined by the Oct 31, 1990,

perioperative hypothermia, protective attire, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations survey, hazardous waste material, product line management, the chemically dependent nurse, grooming the preceptor, and sessions held on four separate days on lasers in general surgery, gynecology, dermatology and plastic surgery, and orthopedics.

Poster displays. Perioperative nursing research/innovative practice poster displays will be presented Tuesday, April 9 through Thursday, April 11, 1991, from 8 AM to 5 PM. Poster displays give presenters the opportunity to discuss their research and innovative practice projects with interested colleagues. Each project will be placed on its own tack board measuring 8 ft by 4 ft.

printout. Corrections to the list received after that date will not be used to determine delegate quotas.

Chapters are allowed one delegate and one alternate delegate without regard to chapter size. Alternate delegates take the place of delegates who cannot serve. It is not necessary to have a full quota of alternates.

The number equivalent to one delegate per chapter will be subtracted from the designated House of Delegates size of 1,500. The remaining delegates will be apportioned to chapters according to chapter size.

Delegate deadlines. Delegate forms will be mailed by certified mail to chapter presidents on Nov 8, 1990. Presidents who do not receive forms by November 15 need to contact the Executive Department at Headquarters immediately. The forms must be returned to Headquarters by certijied mail and postmarked by Feb 19, 1991.

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Changes in delegate status must be received i n writing by Feb 25, 1991.

The policy of requiring specified information by deadline dates is strictly enforced. No credentialisg will be done at Congress. Chapters that do not submit their forms by the Feb 19, 1991 postmark deadline will not be able to seat delegates at the House of Delegates sessions at Congress.

Atlanta

ongress attendees will find that Atlanta has C many attractions. Some attractions include

the Atlanta Underground, a collection of spectacular restaurants, nightclubs, shops, specialty stores, and streetcar merchants; art museums; the Cyclorama, an immense painting- in-the-round of the 1864 Civil War battle of Atlanta; the Fox Theatre; Stone Mountain; and the CNN Center, headquarters of the Cable News Network and Headline News. At the CNN Center, attendees may view exhibits and visit boutiques that sell memorabilia of MGM Studios. The classic movie, Gone With the Wind, is screened there twice daily.

Magnet Hospitals Still Progressive Magnet hospitals are particularly successful at recruiting and retaining nurses. They are good places to work, and they are known for quality nursing care. Forty-one such hospitals across the country were identified in a 1982 study. Re- searchers followed up on that study in 1986 and 1989. The latest information was reported in the June 1990 issue of Nursing90.

vey and phone interviews with the 16 magnet hospitals studied in 1986. The researchers con- cluded that these hospitals are dealing with the nursing shortage very well. In general, these hos- pitals continue high nurse retention and excellence in practice because of several factors.

Magnet hospitals are still moving toward all- RN staffs. The actual percentage of RNs in staff nurse positions at these hospitals has risen from 75.8% in 1986 to about 81%. Nursing assistants are being used in environmental, nonnursing activities.

Working with the clinical nurse speclalist as a resource, the staff nurse is responsible and ac- countable for patient care. A manager or assistant director is no longer used for clinical expertise and decision making. Related to this, the role of the nurse manager/department head has been expanded and redefined. As staff nurses become more responsible, the number of patientcare units

The latest research consisted of a statistical sur-

for which a nurse manager is responsible has increased.

The conversion to salaried status has been con- tinuing, with nine of the 16 hospitals currently on such status or moving toward it.

Most of the magnet hospitals have a system of autonomous, self-governed operation at the unit level, and participative, representative involve- ment in department-wide issues.

In the original study, almost all magnet hospi- tals used primary nursing as a delivery system. In 1986, 8-hour total patient care was the dominant delivery system. In 1989, experimentation and diversity are common, with case management being the most dominant differentiated system of practice.

extend themselves and feel more satisfied. These extenders include opportunities to work with clin- ically competent nurses, no-floating policies, limit- ing the use of agency nurses, limiting employment of new graduates, using RNs predominantly, and holding to selective hiring values.

New activities include developing new nursing care delivery systems, expanding nurse roles, creating programs to empower staff, strengthening collaborative nurse/physician practice, flattening the organizational structure, and increasing com- puterization programs.

“Work force extenders” permit nurses to

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