by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | March 13, 2012
From the March 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses—formerly known as the Association of Operating Room Nurses—held its first yearly national conference in New York in 1954. Based in Denver, Colo., the non-profit organization’s membership currently boasts approximately 40,000 registered nurses.
AORN will be hosting its upcoming Annual Congress—the continent’s largest surgical products tradeshow—from March 24-29 in New Orleans, La. The event, which spans six days with the first two days considered Pre-Congress, will allow attendees the opportunity to connect with thousands of perioperative professionals while visiting over 100 education sessions and sharpening their career-building abilities.
More than 5,200 professionals from over 2,200 different facilities attended last year’s show, which housed 515 exhibiting companies in Philadelphia, Pa. This year, the association expects an even bigger turnout in the Big Easy during its 59th annual gathering.
“Based on early bird registration, we anticipate 6000 professionals representing an equal increase in facilities,” Gayle Davis, AORN’s corporate communications manager wrote to DOTmed News in an email. “New Orleans is always popular for Congress and it’s a good location for those people who want to drive into the city to attend the conference for just a day or two.”
Each year, the theme is selected by the association’s president—a title currently held by Anne Marie Herlehy, who will be replaced by Deborah Spratt at the end of the event. Herlehy’s theme for this year is, “We Care. Influence Safe Perioperative Practice.”
“For the perioperative nurse, [AORN’s Congress is] an opportunity to learn the most up-to-the-minute, evidence-based information on safe surgical practices from well-known speakers,” said Davis. “The week gives them time and opportunities to talk to their peers about challenges, share experiences, and explore or challenge old and new ideas. Nurses come in from across the country and some from around the world. They come from large and small facilities, a wide variety of geographic settings and every different specialty area. They use this time to build their knowledge and skills from sessions and networking.”
Scheduled speakers and awards
The opening keynote speaker of the Congress will be Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, who will deliver a speech titled, “How to Change the World with Your Bare Hands.” Other speakers will include Cheryl Dellasega (“Spite in White: Do Nurses Really Eat Their Young (And Other Folks They Don’t Like)?”); Bob and Lee Woodruff (“Surviving Together: A Personal Journey”); Michael R. Bleich (“Every Nurses Commitment: What the IOM Future of Nursing Report Needs from You”); and Walter Bond (“No One Can Stop You But You!”).
