CCI

By James X. Stobinski, Ph.D., RN, CNOR, CNAMB, CSSM(E), CEO, Competency and Credentialing Institute (CCI) In 2007 I retired from the Navy Nurse Corps and we had some music during that ceremony. One particularly poignant song heard that day was “Time Has Come Today” by...

In my column this month, I would like to speak about the assessment of noncognitive competencies which have been the topic of some recent discussion in the certification industry.

For those aspiring to leadership roles, including nurses, there are great opportunities. Flexibility, an innovative nature and a willingness to adapt as surgical care continues to evolve will be key.   

As the chief executive officer of the Competency and Credentialing Institute (CCI), I frequently interact with nurse leaders and often our conversations turn to staffing challenges. Most of the perioperative leaders I have spoken with have said that they are having difficulty hiring the needed staff including perioperative nurses and surgical technologists.

A robust weight of data shows that perioperative nursing, like many professions, is sorely lacking in diversity. It’s now more important than ever for DEI initiatives to not just tick a box but begin moving the needle and making gains to diversify the nursing pipeline.

Perioperative nurse educators are essential to the work of perioperative nursing and are often charged with fulfilling a variety of roles in addition to staff education. Such roles may include learning facilitator, change agent, mentor, leader, champion for scientific inquiry and/or a partner for practice transitions (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Thus, it might be more appropriate to refer to perioperative nurse educators as perioperative nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners.