When AORN faced the difficult decision to cancel its Global Surgical Conference & Expo not once, but twice in two consecutive years, the association had two primary concerns. The first was how it might deliver its session content and accompanying credit hours to the thousands of perioperative nurses who depend on the conference for their continuing education. And the second was how to connect the nurses to medical device representatives in a way that would help them learn about product advancements for the operating room and improvements for safe patient care.
“In the OR, nurses need to be flexible, resilient and able to quickly pivot when an unexpected surgical challenge occurs,” said AORN CEO/Executive Director Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN. “We approached repurposing expo with that same mindset. In weeks, we took the entire five-day conference from a face-to-face event to an online presentation.”
Groah said the event had a high online turnout and more credit hours were earned than in previous live events. The online conferences in 2020 and 2021 were also presented in a manner that provided industry sponsors with live meeting rooms where the nurses could connect with medical device representatives one on one.
“But it’s the bonding from networking that the nurses have really missed,” said AORN President Holly Ervine, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CNOR. “The pandemic risked the safety of our nurses and cancellation was necessary. But, even more concerning, we lost our ability to connect and share experiences with our colleagues from around the world.”
The pandemic, says Ervine, has challenged nurses’ spirits.
“We’re tired in a way we have never experienced, so this next expo has special events and sessions that will recharge our passion and help us reconnect with each other as well as our profession,” she said.
Daytime is for Learning
AORN’s Expo is the largest perioperative nursing conference in the world and, according to organizers, this year’s event in New Orleans, March 19-23, is expected to draw a large and especially enthusiastic crowd after the pandemic-imposed hiatus.
This nursing conference is unique in that it is developed by perioperative nurses for perioperative nurses. The educational content in large part is based on the Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, the resource perioperative nurses refer to as the “gold standard” for safe care of the surgical patient and worker protection.
The lead authors of the guidelines are AORN nursing staff. They will be presenting sessions on new recommendations for safe perioperative practice including covering some dramatic changes in the latest revision to the Guideline for Unintentionally Retained Surgical Items. The association continually revises guidelines to reflect new research findings, with recommendations that impact day-to-day practice. Expo provides the opportunity for attendees to hear directly from the experts what is different within the guidelines, and why changes were made.
Over five days, in 12 specialty break-out tracks including infection prevention and control, sterile processing, informatics, and ambulatory surgery, attendees can earn as many as 200 credit hours. Topics will range from “Implementing Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocols for Total Joint Procedures in the ASC” to “Nurse Mentoring: Key to Meaningful Professional Integration and Sustainable Future,” and “Code Black: When Stress Hijacks Your Brain in the OR.”
AORN’s Leadership Summit, March 19-22, is sometimes referred to as a conference within the conference. Its sessions are developed for perioperative nurse executives and emerging leaders who seek to build or strengthen their leadership skills including understanding strategies for sound financial management, team mentorship and business plan development among other leader-focused education.
The Leadership Summit and Expo include presentations from several motivational speakers who, Ervine says, will help energize the nurses and herself. “We get caught up in what’s wrong with our shift, or our day, or myriad other distractions, and we lose focus on what’s actually going well,” she said. “A push toward positivity can make an incredible difference in our perspective.”
Expo is also a draw for nursing students who, with a student ID, receive a complimentary registration and AORN Student Membership in the association.
Advancements in the Operating Suite
Perioperative nurses are key influencers when surgical teams determine which products and equipment will be purchased for the surgical services department. AORN is one of the few conferences that schedules exhibit hours around the education sessions to give exhibitors and nurses time to meet. As such, AORN’s Expo Hall, which is open March 20-22, is one of the largest surgical products trade shows in the U.S., attracting hundreds of leading medical companies and their representatives.
The trade show floor dedicates 400,000 square feet to a presentation of the newest devices, equipment and resources that put technology, efficiency and safety options in front of the attendees. With support from Pfiedler Education, a division of AORN, many of the exhibitors will develop and present education workshops and hands-on simulation trainings with credit hours.
Nighttime is for Socializing
“New Orleans is a perfect backdrop to welcome back the perioperative nurses,” said Groah. “And we are taking full advantage of the city’s culture, entertainment and incredible restaurants in our event planning.”
Surgical nurses like a good party and each night in New Orleans will present a unique event, she says. “Our annual AORN Foundation party on Monday night is always popular. There are no wallflowers, it’s high energy and everyone dances.”
This year’s AORN Foundation party is themed “Night of Stars” and, if the past is an indication, many of the nurses, along with their friends and family who also attend, will wear theme related outfits. “I expect to see lots of glam and glitter, stars on clothing, jewelry and even hats. We’ll see a lot of creativity.”
This year AORN will also host Premier and Finale parties Saturday and Tuesday evenings.
“We want to make sure attendees have a chance to meet old and new friends on day one so they can maximize their networking for the rest of the conference,” Groah adds. “And the Finale is a great cap to this celebration of finally being together again as perioperative professionals.”
For more information, visit aorn.org/surgicalexpo.
Don’t miss these exhibitors!
BD
Booth: 6313
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care.
www.bd.com
C Change Surgical
Booth: 7829
SurgiSLUSH™ Works for You. As your staff gets things done, SurgiSLUSH™ programmable freezers automatically produce & maintain optimal sterile slush inside sealed and protected containers. Confirmed Sterility. Increased Utility. Smarter Use. Compare!
www.cchangesurgical.com
Healthmark Industries
Booth: 7929
Healthmark offers infection control solutions and tools to manage the proper reprocessing of surgical instruments in compliance with AORN and AAMI guidelines. Healthmark has products to support every step of the reprocessing cycle of a surgical instrument, including safe transport of soiled instrumentation, cleaning and cleaning verification, visual inspection, packaging, labeling and sterilization. Visit our booth for in-booth CEU education and to see our line of custom printed PPE accessories!
www.hmark.com
I.C. medical
Booth: 6623
I.C. Medical, Inc. is a market-leading medical device company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona that develops and manufactures devices and researches new techniques for surgical smoke collection and evacuation in surgical operating rooms.
www.icmedical.com
OR Today
Booth: 7352
For over 20 years OR Today has provided periop professionals with news and information about their profession. Stop by our booth to sign-up for your free subscription and learn how to earn FREE CE credits with our monthly webinar series! Stop by the booth for your FREE gift (while supplies last)!
www.ortoday.com
The Ruhof Corporation
Booth: 6441
Ruhof has a full line of surgical instrument, scope care and cleaning products to help you meet and exceed your decontamination challenges. Products include our multi-tiered enzymatic detergents, foam sprays, sponges, endoscopy kits, ATP Cleaning Verification and more.
www.ruhof.com
