When inclusivity breaks down in the OR, patient safety is at risk. In this interview with Infection Control Today®, Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, senior director of perioperative education for AORN, explains how perioperative leaders can use education, empathy, and patient-centered storytelling to address inclusivity challenges, strengthen team culture, and support safer surgical care.
In perioperative environments, inclusion is not optional. It is essential to patient safety, trust, and effective infection prevention. In this installment of an interview with Infection Control Today® (ICT®), Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, senior director of perioperative education for the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), addresses how nurse leaders can respond when inclusivity breaks down within their teams.
She emphasizes education, empathy, and patient-centered storytelling as practical tools to help staff reconnect with their professional responsibility. By grounding difficult conversations in shared humanity and real patient experiences, leaders can foster growth, accountability, and safer care rather than exclusion or blame.
ICT: What do you say to a perioperative nurse leader when a perioperative nurse who reports to them doesn't follow that and has a difficult time with inclusivity? What do you say to them? Are there lessons they can learn, training they can take, or is it simply that they cannot be an effective perioperative nurse?
Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K: We're fortunate in many health care systems that diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural competency are courses available and included in our nursing education. Depending on the state we practice in, they may be part of our continuing education unit hours as we, you know, regain our licensure every couple of years.
With that, I know I mentioned earlier that data and facts are important, and I was taught many years ago that data tells, but stories sell. Sometimes, bringing it back to the patient. This is your patient for today. This is what he or she had to encounter to meet you and receive care from you, just providing that background.
When you bring it down to just being people and being human, every nurse is going to have that compassion and some level of empathy. I may not truly understand where you came from, but as a human, I want to help you, and once I know your story, I'm better able to assist you.
(The transcript is edited for length and clarity.)
