THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE

Beacons of Change: Focusing on the FutureChristine M. Price, MSN, RN, CPAN, CAPA

Christine M. Price, MSN, RN, CPAN, CAPA, President for the

American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses for 2011-2012.

She is currently the Nursing Director, PeriOperative Services,

Bayhealth Medical Center, Dover and Milford, DE.

Address correspondence to Christine M. Price, 4080 Willey

Drive, Townsend, DE 19734; e-mail address: cprice@aspan

.org.

� 2011 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

1089-9472/$36.00

doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2011.02.004

Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, Vol 26, No 2 (April), 2011: pp 69-71

Chris Price, MSN, RN, CPAN, CAPA is honored to serve asASPAN’s 31st President from 2011-2012. Prior to her electionas Vice President/President Elect, she served two terms asASPAN’s Region 5 Director and one term as the Chair for theCouncil of Component Presidents. She has been a member ofASPAN’s Education Provider Committee, Education ApproverCommittee, Research Committee, Clinical Practice Commit-tee, Succession Planning Strategic Work Team, National Con-ference Strategic Work Team (Seattle), and a mentor inASPAN’s Up and Comer Program. She has been a coordinatorfor the Advanced Degree Specialty Practice Group, and theAdvanced PerianesthesiaDegree StrategicWork team. She hasreviewed articles and textbook chapters for perianesthesianursing textbooks, the ASPAN website, and publications. Shehas been a member of the ASPAN’s Speaker forum and haslectured nationally on perianesthesia practice, education, andregulatory and management topics. She is a member of theJournal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing Advisory Board and theCoordinator of the JoPANPhoto contest. She has served as thePresident, Vice President-Elect, and Secretary of ChesapeakeBay Societyof PeriAnesthesiaNurses (CBSPAN). She is a Boardmember of the Eastern Shore Society of PeriAnesthesiaNurses, a district of the CBSPAN.

Chris lives in Townsend, Delaware and works full- time as theDirector of PeriOperative Services at BayhealthMedical Center,a two-hospital system located in Dover and Milford, Delaware.She provides administrative oversight for management, educa-tion, and daily operations for the Operating Rooms, CardiacOR, Pre-Admission Testing and Day Surgery areas, Post Anes-thesia Care Units, Cystoscopy, and Endoscopy at both facilities.

OHTOBEAPERIANESTHESIA nurse in this timeof modern nursing and medical technology, a dy-

namic and ever changing presence in our nation

and our world! Regardless of how long a nurse is

in this specialty, those of us who have made it

our chosen practice and life’s work, know that

perianesthesia nurses are true patient advocates

first and foremost.

There are55,000strongwhocurrentlypractice inall

phases of perianesthesia care.1 These nurses make

a difference every day to all those for whom they

advocate. They critically assess and reassess theirpatents, with an inherent commitment, clinical ex-

pertise, and dedication that may not be recognized

or even remembered in some phases of care by

those for whom they nurse. But, I can assure you,

families, husbands, partners, daughters, sons, grand-

children, and friends who witness their caring and

compassion—they know and remember.

69

70 CHRISTINE M. PRICE

Our clinical days present a variety of scenarios,

clinical situations, and assignments inwhichwe as-

sess, plan, implement, and evaluate care. As educa-

tors and clinicians, we assess both clinical and

learning needs quickly, plan our strategies andgoals, and then make appropriate interventions

to reach them.We are recognized as expert clinical

resources by our patients, their families, novice

nurses and our surgical colleagues.

Our practice gives meaning to the term ‘‘change

agent’’ as we are most effective when we assess

and intervene on behalf of our patients, both stableand unstable, protecting and guiding them during

their perianesthesia course. Quite simply, we un-

derstand change—and the need to respond to it.

Perianesthesia nurses respond daily and within

moments to the physiological, emotional, and psy-

chological needs of their patients, assuring they

are met, in a variety of settings, in the provisionof all phases of care, at all levels. Skilled providers

are revered by less experienced nursing col-

leagues, respected by anesthesia providers, and

idolized by nursing and medical students.

Whenmymother prepared for a surgery that should

have been both palliative and routine, it was a peri-

anesthesia nurse who made sure that an identifiedexpert and ‘‘her’’ own favorite anesthesia provider

was assigned her care. He was recognized by her

as the best, and was a special request. In a day

and age when family visitation was an unknown

concept, it was she who assured that my father

and I could be with her in the holding room the

morning of her surgery. It was she who thought

to introduce us to the ICU Manager whose nurseswould care for her after she was stabilized for trans-

fer to the next level of care after the PACU. It was

her advocacy that allowedme a memory that would

give me comfort in years to come as I watched my

mother drifting quietly to sleep, her beautiful hands

relaxing in response to the sedation she received im-

mediately prior to being transferred to the operating

room for a surgery that would claim her life on theoperating room table that day. For me, that nurse

was a beacon of promise and hope that our loved

one would be provided for and diligently cared for

during the course of her major surgery. It was that

nurse who shared our very unpredictable and tor-

turous surgical experience—a journey that started

with hope, life and anxiety, changing to uncertainty,

death, despair, grief, shock, and endingwith a numb

acceptance—all in a very short time span of about 6

hours.

To that special perianesthesia nurse, an ASPANmember and colleague, this was just a part of her

daily practice. Years later, when I play that day

over andover inmymind, I amcomforted to remem-

ber her thoughtful and careful planning to assuremy

mom received the best possible care and attention.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘‘Bea-

con’’ as ‘‘a guiding or warning signal, as alight orfire, especially one in an elevated position.’’ 2 Bea-

cons, similar to those from lighthouses, or search

helicopters, are not unlike our nurses, and our pro-

fession, taking the lead, seeking and stepping up to

point out the safest journey to the provision of care

for our perianesthesia patients.

It is ironic that in the 1980s, during the birth ofASPAN as an organization representing our spe-

cialty, that many of the issues that were faced

then are what we in nursing are facing today in

our practice environments. Ironic, too, that ‘‘de-

spite the changes, new technology, the growth as

well as the setbacks, at the close of the century,

the essence of nursing has not changed.’’3

In the 1990s, issues emerged that still are seen

even today as health care continues to evolve

into the 21st century and the age of Healthcare Re-

form. Throughout this time, the concerns faced by

our hospitals and institutions were the nursing

shortage, escalating health care costs, and an un-

certain future as a result of these impacts.

As the demand for nurses intensified, so too, did re-

cruitment efforts, and nurses worked long hours,

faced burnout, and made decisions to seek other

less demanding work. Medicare established DRGs

to help deal with the rising cost of health care.4

The visionary statementsmadebyCongresswoman

Barbara Jordan at that time said, ‘‘This is no time for

nurses’ numbers to be declining: Congress has justexpandedMedicare. Without nurseswe don’t have

a system.’’4 This remains just as pertinent today,

even while we are facing a critical review of the

Medicare system by our nation’s leaders.

Clearly, from our beginnings, and nursing’s begin-

nings, it is the professional nurse who is the one

THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE 71

constant, the Beacon leading the journey into the

future of our nation’s high expectations for the

practice. We are and have always been the safe har-

bor that our patients and the public demands.

During this period of growth, transformational lead-

ership and visioning, ASPAN’s Board of Directors

has taken this same sacred trust and challenge to

heart in the review and transformation of our initia-

tives, strategic plan, and committee structure to as-

sure that the best possible avenues are in place to

continue to serve our nearly 14,000 members.

Our organization’s leadership, representing those40 components and our members, is focusing on

the future without sacrificing the vision that our re-

vered past leaders created for perianesthesia safety,

public policy, and nursing practice, nursing re-

search, education and standards of care.

We stand on the edge of unprecedented changes in

health care. For all of us, these changes may beuncertain—even daunting. As nurses, we need

to focus on this as an opportunity, rather than

a dilemma. Now, more than ever, nurses, and peri-

anesthesia nurses especially, will be the providers,

thebeaconsof change that are the constantbecause

we, with our ever changing patient population and

conditions, understand the needs of those we care

for, as well as the demands of our practice.

ASPAN has long provided the support, educational

materials, and practice guidelines and standards

that guide our practice. ASPAN has also looked at

and addressed challenges—and continues to pro-

vide visionary insight for the future. We must

pledge to stand firm, and be prepared to meet

any challenge, embrace any opportunity created,without ever losing sight of our core values and

strategic goals. Mahatma Ghandi so wisely said,

‘‘You must be the change you want to see in the

world.’’5

As your President, as we focus on our future, I

promise you that change is coming—together we

must continue to ensure that our journey is collec-tive and collaborative to meet those changes head

on, in order to provide a guiding light and safe pas-

sage to that sound future.

References

1. ASPAN. Available at: http://www.aspan.org. Accessed

February 1, 2011.

2. The American Heritage Dictionary. Boston, MA: Houghton

Mifflin Company; 1985:164.

3. Schorr TA, Kennedy MS. The Nineties: Anticipating the

NewMillennium. In: 100 Years of AmericanNursing: Celebrat-

ing a Century of Caring. Philadlephia, PA: Lippincott, Williams

& Wilkins; 1999: 179-201.

4. Schorr TA, Kennedy MS. Redefining Practice. In: 100

Years of American Nursing: Celebrating a Century of Caring.

Philadlephia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 1999: 155-

178.

5. Inspirational Quotes. Google. Available at: www.quota

tionspage.com/Mahatma_Ghandi. Accessed April 2010.