Registered Nurses as Professionals, Advocates, Innovators, and Collaborative Leaders: Executive Summary.

This article concludes a series that described work completed by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Barriers to RN Scope of Practice Professional Issues Panel (Panel). The Panel has summarized the roles of the registered nurse (RN) as professional, advocate, innovator, and collaborative leader. As professionals, RNs are accountable for their own educational development, growth of their own practice, and execution of their own professional role.

Registered Nurses as Interprofessional Collaborative Partners: Creating Value-Based Outcomes.

State-specific nurse practice acts, a defined registered nurse (RN) scope of practice, and nurse-led initiatives prepare nurses to lead in a meaningful and ethical way within the professional practice setting. However, barriers still exist that challenge the full RN scope of practice. One of these barriers is insufficient interprofessional collaboration among healthcare providers from multiple disciplines.

Registered Nurses Leading Innovative Changes.

As innovators, all registered nurses (RNs) act as agents of change to drive processes and policy and leverage technology to prove better, more affordable care for individuals and the community. The authors consider examples of RNs leading innovative ideas and practices to create new knowledge; develop healthcare policies and practices; improve the quality of care; and advance health information technology. This article describes a number of key innovation goals identified by the American Nurses Association Professional Issues Panel, Barriers to RN Scope of Practice, discusses relevant literature related to overcoming barriers to innovation, and identifies recommendations for leading innovative change to achieve innovation goals.

Crisis Management of Hypotension in the OR.

Perioperative nurses play a pivotal role in coordinating care during crises, employing their nursing skills to foster a positive outcome and collaborating with their colleagues and peers to achieve the desired resolution. Whether caring for a patient during a liver transplantation or one undergoing removal of a cyst, perioperative nurses know that a drop in the blood pressure may signal a momentary phenomenon or a critical event that can become a crisis. It is important for nurses to understand how the color of the patient's tissue, the strength of a pulse, or the downward trending of blood pressure readings can affect how well blood is distributed throughout the body and eventually adversely affect cellular viability with prolonged hypotension.

Crisis management of air embolism in the or.

An air embolism in the OR is a life-threatening emergency that demands prompt coordinated interventions by all perioperative team members. Specific applications of protocols and guidelines, such as the flowchart provided in this article, provide key components of traditional and effective responses to surgical crises. Successful management of an air embolism event requires critical skills of perioperative nurses who must consider both the risks for VAE or AAE and preventive actions, be aware of the resources available during an air embolism in the OR, and collaborate with their team members through precise and accurate communication.

Crisis management of fire in the OR.

Fire in the OR is a life-threatening emergency that demands prompt, coordinated, and effective interventions. Specific applications of fire protocols and guidelines for perioperative nurses and their interprofessional colleagues may take several approaches. The perioperative nurse’s role is one that can frequently prevent or ameliorate the damaging thermal effects of a fire.

Risk factors for rehospitalization and inpatient care among pediatric psychiatric intake response center patients.

Background: The study sought to explore the characteristics, risk factors for inpatient recommendation, and risk factors for revisits to a pediatric psychiatric intake response center (PIRC). There are three research questions: 1. What is the general profile of pediatric patients who present at the PIRC? 2.

Implementing AORN recommended practices for transfer of patient care information.

The Joint Commission estimates that 80% of serious medical errors are associated with miscommunication during patient transfers. Patient transfers may occur between a wide array of settings: between physicians' offices or preoperative areas and traditional ORs or ambulatory settings, between emergency departments or interventional suites and the OR, and between other areas where the exchange of patient information occurs. AORN's "Recommended practices for transfer of patient care information" serves as a guide for establishing achievable practices that promote a safe level of care during perioperative patient transfers.

The circulating nurse's role in error recovery in the cardiovascular OR.

Nursing surveillance, an essential component of perioperative practice, includes the detection of and recovery from errors. However, error recovery is considered routine during nursing care and may go under-recognized. This study assessed the types of errors or potential errors that were detected and recovered by the circulating nurse during care of patients undergoing coronary artery or valve surgery.