Rosemarie Schroeder, BSN, RN, CNOR, is board president of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses for 2013-2014.

As board president, Schroeder leads an association that provides resources to more than 160,000 perioperative nurses. Information delivered includes nursing education, standards and clinical practice resources to ensure that patients who undergo operative and other invasive procedures have the best outcomes. Schroeder’s duties will be passed on during the AORN show and conference, taking place at McCormick Place in Chicago from March 30 to April 2.

She spent some time talking to DOTmed HealthCare Business News about her background, the direction she hopes the association will go in and what to expect at the conference.

HCBN: You have a long, successful career in health care. How did you get started in the field?

RS: In high school I joined Future Nurses and I started looking into the nursing profession there. I tell people that my professional career has kind of chosen me more than I have chosen it. At nursing school, I went to the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, and my roommate’s mother happened to be an OR director, so that was my first introduction to this specialty of nursing. When I graduated, I started working in an inpatient unit first, but then I met my future husband in the hospital cafeteria. He was a surgical instrument sales representative and was calling on the OR supervisor. Later, through his contacts in the operating room, I was able to get hired into that department and I never left. I have worked in various facilities in several different roles in the operating room. I have been an educator, staff nurse, registered nurse first assistant, manager and director. I have had a long and happy career in the operating room. AORN has been a large part of my professional life from the time I entered the operating room as a young staff nurse.

HCBN: What goals have you completed during your term?

RS: We always have the goal of expanding the membership and our influence as a nursing specialty. We have opportunities for student nurses and hospital systems to be active members in AORN. We have developed modules of Periop 101, our online training program for novice nurses, to meet the needs of nurses working in other areas of the hospital where invasive procedures are performed. Our standards and recommended practices are our gold standard and in recent times, we have gone to evidence rating for them in order to gain credibility with regulatory agencies and other health care professionals that we collaborate with.

This year, during our annual meeting, we will be taking six revised position statements to the House of Delegates for final approval and sign off. We’re very excited about this.

Personally, there are a number of areas that I’m particularly interested in, the first is advanced practice registered nurse practicing in the perioperative setting, which is consistent with the IOM report on nursing and nurses practicing to the full extent of their license. The second one is the perioperative registered nurse circulator dedicated to every patient undergoing surgical or other invasive procedures. The third deals with environmental responsibility for waste reduction and trying to conduct green efforts in the operating room. Another is the management of distraction and noise during perioperative patient care by portable communication devices and alarms. Many of our members voiced their concern about how these electronic devices were big distractions and were impacting patient care, so we wanted to come out with a position statement that they can refer to on this issue. We’ve also developed partnerships with international nursing organizations and I have done some traveling, lecturing and written an article that was distributed on the international level which has helped us spread our knowledge.

HCBN: What issues still need to be addressed that you hope the next president will tackle?

RS: I think that technology is definitely an issue. I think that improving online experience for our members by consolidating our education tools, webinars, our tool kits and other products that we have for implementing the recommended practices are important. We need to create more opportunity for nurses to strengthen their position at the executive level. We focused on this area as we developed the Center for Nursing Leadership and are conducting networking sessions in 10 cities across the United States twice a year. We created a product line to meet the needs of the patients and clinicians in the ambulatory surgery setting and now we need to assist the nurses to use the products and services. Another area of concern is that the perioperative nursing experience needs to be included for nursing students as an elective. We are working on strengthening the collaboration with nursing schools to help nurses understand perioperative practice and to select this specialty as their career.

I know the next president will also continue with the evidence rating RPs being developed and integrated into all the areas where invasive procedures are performed including ambulatory surgery, interventional radiology and physician offices.

HCBN: I know that the name of the conference was changed to the AORN Surgical Conference & Expo, what was the reason for this change?

RS: The recommendation to consider a name change came from an outside consulting firm that specializes in health care marketing and event management. Several names were presented and were evaluated in surveys that were sent out to past participants in the meeting, AORN board members, industry representatives, AORN Members and other key influencers in preoperative nursing. It was agreed on that the AORN Surgical Conference and Expo was the best and most accurate representation of what is now the largest surgical product trade show and meeting in the world of perioperative professionals with more than 5,000 nurses in attendance and over 500 exhibitors. We wanted to highlight these areas and the congress part of it will still be our annual business meeting where the House of Delegates meets to conduct the business of the association.

HCBN: What do you think is the most exciting aspect of the conference this year?

RS: The OR executive summit is new this year and will strengthen the perioperative executive’s knowledge of contemporary issues impacting perioperative services. The content has been developed specifically for perioperative leaders who have indicated that their biggest challenges are focused on education in finance, evidence-based practice, outcome-driven decision making, and patient-centered care. Education sessions and posters are always great and they help us share best practices and listen to the stories of our members for advocacy and to regenerate and rejuvenate our profession. One of our keynote speakers, Dr. Pronovost, is highly renowned for his patient safety and quality initiatives. Industry will be showcasing innovations at the Expo. Nurses will have the opportunity to see new equipment and technology being demonstrated and they will have the opportunity to try out equipment and instruments. They will also be able to talk to the sales representatives and work with the original equipment manufacturers all in one place.

HCBN: How will aspects of health care reform be a big part of the show this year?

RS: I think that all of the places I’ve hit upon are involved with this issue. We have the IOM report on nursing where we talked about nurses practicing to the full extent of their license and we’ve talked about the opportunity at the executive summit to be able to hear best practices and how people are coping with the challenges and financial issues that are proposed with the new health care initiatives. I think that our keynote speakers will have some insight into various aspects of health care reform. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about how health care reform has impacted some of the business practices from the industry representatives.

HCBN: What are your future plans after you step down?

RS: First of all, continuing my day job. I am the director of perioperative services at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, I love my job and it’s always challenging and there are new things every day, so I’m excited about that. As the immediate past president of the AORN, I will have the privilege of serving as an adviser to the National Leadership Development Committee. This committee is elected by the membership to screen members in preparation for formulating the next year’s ballot. After the ballot is identified, we assist the candidates to prepare for the election process by mentoring them and assisting them in working through the processes that are required for the candidates leading up to Expo and their presentations at the Meet the Candidates Session. I’m also looking forward to having additional time to devote to my church, my family, and my pets.