Since 1990, October 30 has been recognized as Orthopaedic Nurse Day, later becoming International Orthopaedic Nurse Day. As October 30 approaches, it is time to think about our role as orthopaedic nurses. Those of us who heard the session at Congress on the NDNQI Nursing Satisfaction surveys learned that nurses on orthopaedic units have high satisfaction rates, including areas related to nurse-to-nurse interaction and nurse-to-physician interaction and autonomy. Although this information may have been a surprise to some, for many of us, it was confirmation of what we experience on a daily basis. One of the reasons I have enjoyed working in orthopaedic units is the sense of teamwork and camaraderie I have felt on the units where I have worked. As nursing becomes more challenging, and the competition increases in attracting new staff for units, how do we take the knowledge that orthopaedic units are great places to work and use it to our advantage? How do we build on this to increase the number of qualified orthopaedic nurses caring for our patients? And how do we use it to help administration recognize the work we do and help preserve dedicated orthopaedic units?
One of the biggest challenges we face is that most students get very little exposure to orthopaedics in school. They have the misconception that it is not challenging and that it is all lifting and little excitement. Like many, my only experience as a student was with a patient with a hip fracture as a surgical follow-through. I confess that my experience in the operating room with the saws and hammers did not inspire me. It was not until I went to work on the orthopaedic unit at the University of Minnesota that I discovered that there was so much more to it, and found it was my calling.
How many of you have nursing students on your unit? If you have students, are you one of those who embrace them, enjoying the opportunity to share your knowledge and experience, or are you the one who looks for ways to avoid working with them? How can they learn why we love what we do if we do not work with them? If your unit does not have students, are there schools of nursing in your community where the students need preceptors for one-on-one experiences? Have you offered to serve as a preceptor? You do not have to wait for someone to contact you-call the schools and volunteer your services.
If you are a chapter member, and looking for ways to interface with the schools, what about purchasing a copy of the "core curriculum," or one of the other NAON text books, and donating it to a nursing school in your area-being sure to put on the book plate the name of the "chapter" as a reminder of who gave it. If you have meetings with educational offerings, send information about these to the schools, inviting students to attend and waiving registration fees if you charge them. What better way to begin introducing new nurses to the wonders of orthopaedics?
In your hospital, do you have a newsletter or publication that you can use to highlight achievements of your unit? Are there bulletin boards or exhibit spaces where you can spotlight unit activities? If you are wondering what types of things are notable, one of the easiest is certification-do you publish the names of nurses who achieve their ONC either on the unit or in a hospital-wide way? Does your hospital participate in the Daisy Program? If so, have you nominated any of your coworkers for the award? These are all ways we can draw attention to the quality of the work that is done everyday by orthopaedic nurses. We need to put it out there so that everyone can see it.
As we look to October 30 this year, I congratulate all of you on the outstanding work you do to make sure the orthopaedic patients in your care receive the best care possible. I also challenge you to find ways to share your successes with others so that we can attract the best and the brightest of the new nurses to work in orthopaedics. We want to assure that those who come after us are given the same opportunities we have had to make sure the orthopaedic patients of the future will continue receiving the best care possible. We owe it to them.
Happy International Orthopaedic Nurses Day!!