H Editorial

Do women lack skills boys learn in team sports? While boys are playing baseball, football, soc- cer, and other team sports, girls are playing tennis, golf, swimming, and skating-one-on- one sports.

Boys learn team skills that help them suc- ceed in organizations. Lacking these skills, women often have difficulty coping with or- ganizational environments.

This is one of the many interesting points that Margaret Hennig and Anne Jardim make in their book, The Managerial Woman (Garden City, NY: Anchor PresslDoubleday, 1977). Both women have doctoratesfrom the Harvard Business School and serve as consultants to businesswomen’s professional organizations.

The authors have written the book to help both men and women “understand the criti- cally different beliefs and assumptions they hold about themselves and each other, about organizations and a management career.” Al- though primarily related to management in business and industry, much of the authors’ analysis and advice can be applied to other settings such as hospitals.

Their discussion of team skills seemed par- ticularly applicable to the operating room where nurses are both team leaders and players. The authors see women as having a lack of understanding of the organization envi- ronment and lack of ability to make it work for them. Women’s response in work situations can be traced back, according to the authors, to what they didn’t learn about team play as children.

What skills do little boys learn on the Little League diamond or the football field? They learn competition and cooperation-working with “guys you wouldn‘t choose as friends out- side the team.” They get a sense of belonging-of being part of the team. They learn about losing and how to keep it in perspective and how to take criticism. Boys learn early that to win you have to have a plan and some alternatives. You need a leader to provide motivation. These are the personal skills that men use in their working environ- ment and that are critical in management.

Men and women also have different views of their careers. Men, according to the authors, see their careers as a series of jobs leading upward with reward and recognition implied. Women tend to have more limited horizons and see their careers in terms of personal growth, as self-fulfillment, a contribution to others, as doing something one wants to do. They are more concerned with the here and now of their job and may lack long-term career goals.

Whether or not one agrees with the authors, the book provides some interesting points to consider as one looks at oneself and col- leagues.

For example, in the operating room, are nurses, most of whom are women, less skilled as team players than men? Can you identify the personal skills that make the operating room team work smoothly, the behaviors that do not contribute to teamwork?

Are operating room nurses able to use effec- tively the organizational environment-the OR suite and the hospital-or do they fight the structure?

Do they work together or do they compete among themselves?

AORN Journal, November 1977, Vol26, No 5 835

Do they place more emphasis on whether they like people or is the primary thing getting the job done?

How do they see their current job? Is it an end in itself or do they have long-term career goals?

In a chapter, "What women can do," the authors offer some good advice on developing managerial skills and how to cope with difficult situations encountered in the work environ- ment. They offer some suggestions on manag- ing emotions, coping with anxieties about the unknown, dealing with criticism, gaining a perspective on risk taking-some of the areas with which women seem to have the most trouble.

This book has caused me to reflect on my own experience as a child with team sports. I spent many happy hours in grade school play- ing softball after school. I am a good batter, but not so hot in the field. We played informally- both boys and girls, then formed a girls' softball team and played against teams from other elementary schools. It all stopped abruptly when we went to high school in the eighth grade.

Did this experience contribute to my working skills? An interesting question.

In this Journal, we are introducing a new feature called "Opinions." Each month we in- tend to ask a number of members to comment briefly on a specific question. In this way, we hope to present to the membership a cross section of members' opinions on different is- sues. Some of the questions, like this month's on first assistants, will be directly related to OR nursing. Others may be more general.

How do we select members to ask? Mem- bers of the Editorial Committee are asking their colleagues and fellow chapter members. For the question of first assistants. we asked people who had indicated a willingness to serve on the AORN committee to study the concept of the RN acting as first assistant. Perhaps not surprisingly, all the people we asked to comment on this question responded willingly. They already had a strong opinion. With a question on AORNlANA certification, we had more trouble getting responses. Then, we tried a question on personal experiences with risk taking and drew only no's. No one wanted to risk it . Another question on the impact of AORN technical standards drew

good response. Obviously, the success of this column is

based on the willing participation of members. If we ask you to respond, we hope you will do so as willingly as some of these respondents.

I have enjoyed the challenge of collecting my thoughts in writing. I look forward to hav- ing the opportunity to express myself on fu- ture issues. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on "the nurse as first assistant." It has been a privilege to be asked to partici- pate in the discussion for the Journal. I have read all information on this subject in publications available to me, listened to my associates, evaluated events, arrived at conclusions, and appreciate the opportunity to respond to the question. The new feature seems exciting and I am pleased to contrib- ute. If you would like to be asked to comment on

one of the future questions, send us a postcard indicating your willingness. You might include your areas of interest. Also, if there are some questions you would like to have used in the column, please send them along.

The success of the column depends on you.

Elinor S Schrader Editor

Davol gives scholarship funds Two representatives of Davol, Inc, Bill Meares production manager, and Dave Inglehart. national sales director, presented a check for $3,000 to Jerry Peers, AORN executive director, for scholarships The presentation was made at AORN Headquarters in Denver in August

This is the second year that Davol has presented a $3,000 check to AORN for scholarships Selection of recipients will be made during the February Scholarship Board meeting, and recipients will be announced at the AORN Congress in March

H:16 AORN Journal, Nouc~mhcr 1977, Vol26, No 5