The Chesapeake Bay Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses promotes quality and cost effective care for patients, their families, and the community through public and professional education, research and standards of care.

2013-2014 Strategic Plan is Here!

Summer CBSPANNER is now available!!

CBSPANNER Summer 2013

 

 

HAPPY NURSES WEEK!!

This coming week, Nurses Week,  is recognized world wide in order to honor the birth (May 12, 1820), and life, of the founder of modern nursing practice – Florence Nightingale – and to celebrate the achievements of her living legacy: the nurses of today and the wonderful profession we all practice.  Our work can be demanding, yet each day presents an opportunity to ‘make a difference’ in the lives of patients we serve.  Every day also gives each of us the chance to personally commend our colleagues for a job well done: for their commitment to patient care, and at this particular time, for group achievement at National Conference.   Kudos to those having had posters!  CBSPAN members had eight ‘Celebrate Successful Practices’ (CSP) posters and one ‘Research’ poster with an oral presentation – WOW!  The evidence is clear: there are wonderful nurses who ARE the Chesapeake Bay Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses.

 Nursing may seem to be a collection of unique specialties, yet nursing the profession is truly an integration of those specialties.  A patient’s first exposure to a nurse may be in the E.D. then leading to care provided by the Med-Surg, Critical Care, Behavioral Health, Perioperative or Perianesthesia nurses.  We all, however, have one specialty in common: patient care.  After that we just specialize in different nursing disciplines.  I have been a Med-Surg nurse working on an Oncology unit, a Critical Care nurse working in I.C.U and C.C.U., and have cross trained to assist in the E.D., but I truly found my niche  when I became a staff nurse in a Phase 1 PACU.  The perianesthesia nurse gets to practice many different nursing disciplines within one physical environment.  I use the skills learned in Med-Surg to manage the care of many patients in a single shift …  and usually two fresh post-op patients at once.  I use skills learned in I.C.U. to interpret data provided by the cardiac monitor, or ventilator, to optimize patient recovery.  I use the therapeutic communication taught in my nursing program to actively listen to patients when they discuss how they feel or how they feel about a diagnosis just received.  I am fortunate to work with a group of caring individuals who believe providing safe, high quality patient care is the norm, and I continually learn from them different ways to provide that care.

On a further, personal note, I have now joined the legion of nurses who have entered the 21st century via the Electronic Health Record (EHR).  I became a nurse because I wanted to be involved with people and to help them regain their health.  These last two weeks since National Conference have been challenging.  Coordinating my patient care with documenting per the EHR is daunting.  The mantra of my co-workers, indeed from our manager on down, is “Patient care comes first and then documentation”.  This has meant reinventing what I call my rhythm of patient care.  What ever that rhythm may become, I know that being a perianesthesia nurse is where I am meant to be.

 If Florence Nightingale were to visit our nursing world of today, she would certainly be astonished by the knowledge and skill of it’s nurses, and the incredible technology in place.  She would be gratified to see that the things she fought for: education, hygiene, and of course, respect for the nurses themselves and their profession, are now part of our lives.  She would no doubt be initially confused (though only initially confused!) by the EHR system, but would joyfully celebrate how her ‘brainchild’ had grown, since among her many achievements was the introduction (some say – invention!) of statistical analysis as a way to identify ’cause and effect’.  She was rare as a woman of her time, in that she was highly skilled in the art of mathematics.  It was only through the visibility of her data that she was able to bring changes to the entrenched ignorance – and egotism – within the nineteenth century medical establishment.   Today she is remembered and revered.  The dedication, sacrifice, and genius of Florence Nightingale, and her determination to establish nursing as an honored profession, is why we celebrate her and ALL nurses annually from May 6th through May 12th.

Diane Swintek BSN, RN, CPAN

CBSPAN President, 2011-2013

updated 6.10.2013