Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing
Eligibility: The applicant must be a current member of AORN whose work and accomplishments must have had global implications on perioperative nursing in the areas of practice, education and research.

(OMITTED APPLICATION DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE)

SECTION A: APPLICANT INFORMATION

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Name: Bob Baxter RN, CNOR
Address: Box 1824
Everett, WA 98201

Work Phone: 425-261-4203 (Voice Mail)
Home Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
E-mail Address: bobaxter@periop.org

2. YEARS IN PERIOPERATIVE NURSING: 17

3. AORN MEMBER NUMBER: XXXXXX

4. AORN MEMBER SINCE: 1986

5. NUMBER OF CONGRESSES ATTENDED: 3

6. DELEGATE/ALTERNATE (Number of years): 3

7. CURRENT CNOR CERTIFICATION:
X Yes, expiration date: 2004

8. DEGREES: None at present; RN diploma graduate

9. LIST THE AORN SPECIALTY ASSEMBLIES/STATE COUNCILS IN WHICH YOU HAVE MEMBERSHIP:
#4803, Pacific Cascade AORN
Washington State Council of Perioperative Nurses
Perioperative Nursing Informatics Specialty Assembly
Advanced Technology Specialty Assembly

10. OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: (Excluding alumni organizations)
Laser Institute of America

AWARD: X Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing

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Section B: Essay

1. In 250 words or less describe two (2) outstanding contributions BEYOND YOUR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES that you have been involved in to enhance perioperative nursing.

I am the creator and list owner of PERIOP: An Electronic Forum for Perioperative/OR/Theatre Nurses WorldWide. Using my home computer, I started this list in April, 1996 with 32 subscribers. Today it has more than 1250 subscribers, representing 14 countries over 5 continents, and generates 30-70 messages per day on a variety of clinical and professional topics related to the care of patients perioperatively.
Because of my avocation for the Internet as a means of communication and education, I have given several well-received presentations on Internet topics to nursing & healthcare audiences for local, regional and national organizations, including the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses, American Nurses Association and AORN.
While president of my local AORN chapter, I was awarded an incentive grant from AORN, and have set up several videoconference educational sessions with nurses from the members-at-large group in central Washington State. At present, there are no AORN chapters in that area, but it has proved so successful that they have agreed to join our chapter as a means of continuing the process.

2. In 250 words or less describe the impact and outcome of your outstanding contributions on perioperative nursing as describe above.

PERIOP allows rural or isolated OR nurses to network with their peers; they can get opinions and answers to their questions quickly from both nursing leaders and as-yet-unrecognized "experts". Now no one can say that they do not have the ability to confirm if "everybody does it this way". Within 24 hours, a question can be answered by 7 to 10 different subscribers, who can share in a personal response ideas and opinions worthy of publication. It introduces North American nurses to healthcare culture in other parts of the world, and lets nurses from that world listen in on our concerns.
Since the list is open to professions and occupations other than nursing, those who share the commitment to the best care of the patient and the efficient flow of the healthcare system during surgery can also offer their opinions and concerns. The dialog that results from several different perspectives allows each profession or department to see the concerns or needs of the other, and leads to more cooperation for the good of the patient.
PERIOP has influence well beyond its subscribership. Members report that they are asking questions on behalf of their management or practice committees, and they share the responses. Others print out the daily messages and post them for their colleagues who are not yet Internet savvy. It has influenced the development of other mailing lists related to perioperative nursing, such as AORN's MemberTalk and OR Nurses Down Under in Australia.

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Robert L. Baxter RN, CNOR
Box 1824
EVERETT, WA 98201
Voice: (425) 252-3603 (Voice Mail)
Fax: (425) 261-4210
E-mail: bobaxter@periop.org

Education
RN Diploma from Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing, (Philadelphia, PA) 1981.

Achievements
-BCLS Instructor-trainer for American Heart Association. Taught over 100 classes to
general public and healthcare professionals, 1975-1985.

-CNOR: Certification in perioperative nursing from AORN, 1989 to present.

-Owner and manager of international mailing list on the Internet, "PERIOP: The Electronic Forum for Perioperative/OR/Theatre Nurses Worldwide", 1996-present. Currently has over 1250 subscribers from 14 countries, and generates 20-70 messages each day on a variety of clinical and professional topics related to perioperative patient care.

-Beta tester for National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE search software
(Internet Grateful Med), 1996.

Presentations
-Presented at quarterly meeting, WA State Council of Perioperative Nurses, "Troubleshooting Video Systems", 1995
-Developed and presented educational offering for AORN chapter meeting, "Nursing & the Internet", 1996 (1.2 CEU)
-Repeated program twice for local hospitals, 1996
-Developed, managed and presented conference, "The INTERNET: New Dimensions for HealthCare" to an audience of 60 nurses from wide regional area, 1996 (6.8 CEU)
-Presented at annual mini-Congress for WA State Council of Perioperative Nurses, "Perioperative Nursing and the Internet", 1996 (1.8 CEU)
-Repeated program for Seattle AORN chapter, 1996
-Repeated program for Oregon State Council of Perioperative Nurses at annual mini-Congress, 1997
-Repeated program at New Mexico Nurse's Association convention, 1997
-Also presented on the Internet at conferences of perinatal, critical care
and perianesthesia nurse groups, 1996-97
-Presented program on Internet mailing lists at biennial convention of American Nurses Association, 1998, AORN Congress, 2000, British Columbia OR Nurses Group (Provincial Convention), 2000 and NAON convention, 2000.
-Presentation on Health Care Resources on the Internet at 2 AORN specialty conferences, 2000 (1.8 CEU).
-Repeated program for Washington State Council of Perioperative Nurses, 2000

Publications
-Author of 7 articles for Nursing97 magazine, monthly series "Nursing the Net", 1997
-Author of article "OR Nursing in the Net" for Today's Surgical Nurse magazine, January/February, 1998.
-Author of articles for NetCafe magazine distributed at AORN convention, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
-Author of 2 articles for Perioperative Informatics Specialty Assembly newsletter, 1999-2000

Employment
Staff nurse at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Division (Philadelphia, PA), 1981-86. Worked in medical-surgical unit, psychiatry (locked unit), and operating room (2 1/2 years). While in OR, in responsible for urological service.
Staff nurse at Hahnemann University Hospital (Philadelphia, PA), 1986-87.

Staff nurse at General Hospital Medical Center/Providence Everett Medical Center (Everett, WA), 1987-present. Work in all surgical services, both as scrub and circulator (except Open Heart). Volunteer for night/weekend charge position as opportunity arises.
Temporarily assigned as Surgery Scheduler, 6 months of1999: responsible for entering, updating & modifying records for surgery procedures and related databases. Designed several reports to abstract/analyze data from the database at management's request; continue this to present day. Served as acting Administrator for ESI ORBIT program. Created training program for permanent replacement.

Current Responsibilities
Surgery specialist at Providence Everett Medical Center for abdominal laparoscopy service 2000-present. Responsible for program serving both General & Gynecological surgery. Submitting budget for capital expenditures, planning design of 2 room minimally invasive surgery suite to be opened fall 2001.
Appointed laser safety officer for Surgical Services, 2001

Work Related Achievements
-Created database forms for charging disposable items and inventory control in OR, in use 1990-94.
-Staff member sent to company training for STERIS system processor,1995. On return, responsible for setting up procedure protocols for operation and biological testing. Designed training materials and trained all OR & GI Lab staff in operation. Continue to train all staff, and selected staff in maintenance & troubleshooting procedures.
-Member of ETO reduction task force 1996; group reduced ETO usage in organization from 4 loads/day to 3 loads/week.
-Member of surgical services/materials management CQI committee, 1997-1999; worked on sterilization policy for entire Providence Everett organization.
-Member of Shared Leadership Nursing Education committee & Web designer on organization intranet 1999-2000; created pages in HTML and responsible for updating. Worked on sub-committee designing Internet/intranet use education program for all organization staff.
-Member of OR policy, procedures and practices committee, 1998-present. Responsible for updating of all written policies and OR practices, then providing means for educating staff on reinforcement or changes.

-Using wordprocessing, spreadsheet, database and Internet access programs on a daily basis.
-Familiar with ICD-9 diagnosis and CPT procedures coding.

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