William J. Duffy Assumes AORN Presidency

SAN DIEGO -- William J. Duffy, RN, BSN, MJ, CNOR, became the national president of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) at its 51st annual Congress in San Diego, March 21-25, 2004. Duffy will serve a one-year term.

Duffy is currently assistant vice president of perioperative services for Evanston (Ill.) Northwestern Healthcare Corporation. He is responsible for the administrative direction for the clinical and fiscal activities of the Surgical Services Business Unit, encompassing the operating rooms, post-anesthesia care units, and ambulatory surgery programs for three hospitals, which are rated in the top 100 hospitals, and the top 15 teaching hospitals in the country. Prior to joining Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation, Duffy was the Surgical Services Operations Coordinator at Saint Joseph Health Centers and Hospitals in Chicago.

Duffy earned his bachelor of science degree in nursing from Loyola University of Chicago. He graduated from Loyola University's School of Law in 1992 with a master's of jurisprudence in health law. Duffy has been a member of AORN since 1983. In 1998, he was honored with AORN's Award for Excellence in Perioperative Management.

Duffy has two main focuses for his presidency. One is that he wants to celebrate the value of perioperative nurses.

Duffy notes, "We need to understand and help others understand the value we bring to the OR." He adds that perioperative nurses must be viewed by hospital administrators as valued resources, not just as expenses.

"I know there are people alive today because of my actions in the OR; those actions also affect future generations. Many of my perioperative nurse colleagues can say the same thing about their perioperative nursing practice."

The second focus for Duffy is that of "getting back to discussing the practice of the profession of perioperative nursing."

"Most AORN members," notes Duffy, "are concerned about providing quality care for their patients, and they need help with the problems they are facing. We're going to focus on issues that affect the practice of the profession, including working the day after being on-call all night, managing implantable electronic devices, and best practices for preventing sharps injuries."

AORN is the professional organization of perioperative registered nurses that supports registered nurses in achieving optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. AORN is the global leader in promoting excellence in perioperative nursing practice. AORN is composed of approximately 40,000 perioperative registered nurses in the United States and abroad. Perioperative nurses are defined as "those who provide, manage, teach, and study the care of patients undergoing operative or other invasive procedures."

Source: AORN