Edi+orial

CE standards: an endorsement and a reservation

Everybody i s for continuing education, but what i s it, who teaches it, what i s i ts pur- pose, and how do you measure it?

These are some of the questions be- leaguering nurses interested in pursuing continuing education, and those planning continuing education programs.

The answers to some of these questions are contained in a concise and straight- forward booklet, "Standards for Continuing Education in Nursing," recently issued by the American Nurses' Association (ANA). These are the standards for continuing edu- cation endorsed by the House of Delegates at the 21st AORN Congress.

In ten pages, the booklet covers the basics. In the introduction it states: "Con- tinuing education i s a life long learning process which builds on and modifies previously acquired knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the individual."

The purpose of the "Standards" i s "to identify standards for nonacademic credit for continuing education." There i s a sec- tion on standards for conducting continuing programs, and a section on the continuing education unit, the standard 04 measure- ment. There i s also a glossary.

The AORN resolution endorsing the

The primary objective of the Association of Operating Room Nurses i s to motivate and encourage operating room nurses to accept responsibility for continuing their education in order to attain and main- tain competency in the comprehensive care of the patient undergoing surgery.

AORN believes that continuing education i s a joint responsibility of both the registered nurse and the association, but the actual pursuit i s the responsibility of the individual.

AORN i s generally acknowledged to have an excellent continuing education program for its members. In the resolution, it i s stated that the ANA standards parallel AORN's concept of continuing educa- tion.

AORN i s the first professional organiza- tion to endorse the ANA standards. This is a strong step towards unity in nursing. If each nursing organization sets up i ts own standards for continuing education, there will be a proliferation of programs with no uniform standard of quality. The nurse pursuing continuing education will be con-

standards states:

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fused, as well as institutions planning pro- grams. And the employers and consumers will be at a loss to figure out what i t all means.

We would encourage other nursing or- ganizations to study these standards and consider endorsing them. A single standard for continuing education in nursing would strengthen nursing.

In endorsing these standards, AORN has one reservation. Under the section on re- sources, it says: "All individuals with leadership responsibilities for Continuing Education programs should be prepared at the graduate level and have expertise in the area of adult education."

The AORN Board of Directors has stated that this should be an ultimate goal for the future. The Board notes that significant con- tributions are being made by nurses not prepared at the graduate level. In fact, only 3% of currently employed RNs have master's degrees and .14% have doctor- ates. To negate the expertise and teaching abilities of nurses without advanced de- grees would be unwise at this time.

AORN does agree that nurses who hold continuing education leadership positions should begin to explore the benefits of ad- vanced educational preparation. But AORN believes it is unrealistic at this time to ex- clude those without graduate degrees from leadership responsibilities in continuing edu- cation.

Copies of the standards were given to delegates at Congress. We would en- courage other members to obtain a copy from the American Nurses' Association, 2420 Pershing Rd, Kansas City, Mo 64108. The cost i s $1.00. It is a good investment.

0 At its Congress meeting, the Board of Directors voted to eliminate "Proceedings" as a regular feature in the Journal. "Pro- ceedings" included chapter news and events.

Both AORN and the Journal have grown in recent years. With 218 chapters, it was

becoming increasingly difficult to give all the chapters which sent in news items ap- propriate and equal coverage. And as the Journal has become more professional, readers have indicated interest in clinical articles in preference to chapter news.

Special chapter news and events will be included in the chapter newsletters from Headquarters, If your chapter has an in- novative program or event that you think will be of interest to other chapters, please send information to Jerry Peers, executive director.

Please keep the Journal on your news- letter mailing list. We find this a useful source for potential articles.

We will continue to publicize in advance both workshop and regional institute pro- grams. And we will publish follow-up reports for regional institutes submitted to us. For those planning these events, the education department i s preparing new guidelines.

We recently received an interesting note from Sara Alterman, AORN's librarian. She informed us that for the first time op- erating room nursing appears as a subject heading in Medical Subject Headings, pub- lished by the National Library of Medicine. This is the principal listing of subjects used in all indexes and bibliographies.

Acknowledging that perhaps only a librarian might get excited about this news, Sara explains i ts importance: "I view this as a significant development in that more literature is devoted to operating room nursing. It indicates that operating room nursing is being considered as a separate entity with a body of knowledge and literature of its own. It i s recognition of the importance and prestige of operating room nursing."

That says it well.

Elinor S Schrader Editor

994 AORN Journal, May 1974, Vol 19, N o 5