The 46th AfPP (Association for Perioperative Practice) Congress and Exhibition is now just weeks away and interest from both delegates and visitors is hotting up. Having listened closely to the needs of healthcare professionals, a thought-provoking programme of speakers and educational workshops has been organised – tackling the most topical issues affecting perioperative practitioners and assisting with important areas of skills development.
This year, AfPP has announced four key pathways under which masterclasses and specialist sessions will feature at this year’s Congress:
• Anaesthetics and recovery: ideal for nurses, ODPs, anaesthetists, students and support workers, sessions will include the management of DVT/VTE and difficult airways.
• Theatre managers: for managers, matrons and non-executive directors, these sessions include statement writing and giving evidence, human factors training and advanced surgical roles.
• Students and support workers: including healthcare assistants who will be interested in sessions on career pathways, mentorship and developing or refreshing basic skills such as scrubbing up and infection prevention.
• Clinical services managers including commissioners: of particular interest will be the mid-Staffs inquiry, never events and bullying/harassment.
These are suggested pathways for a selection of job roles – the programme offers practical workshops, plus good practice and theory for perioperative practitioners working in all areas and specialisms at any level of their career.
Congress
Congress organisers have secured a number of high-profile speakers covering a wide range of topical subjects. On Thursday, the question of “Surgical Smoke – can clean air in the OR be a reality?” will be addressed by Kay Ball, nurse consultant/educator/faculty and past president AORN - the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AfPP’s US equivalent).
Perioperative professionals and patients are routinely exposed to surgical smoke, plume and aerosols produced by instruments used to dissect tissue and provide haemostasis, such as lasers, cautery units and high speed drills. Anything that produces heat can produce smoke or aerosols; surgical smoke is part of the patient-care environment wherever surgical and/or invasive procedures are carried out. As a result, the air quality in operating rooms around the world has been a concern for over three decades (Rothrock 2007).
Although the long-term effects on healthcare workers exposed to surgical smoke remain unknown, there is a need to proactively prevent potential harm. Engineering controls and personal protective equipment should be used to protect all staff and patients from exposure to smoke by-products.
In an hour-long masterclass, Kay Ball will discuss smoke plume emissions associated in particular with laser and electrosurgery, examine research which has identified hazards to individuals, and review the best methods of protection from inhaling surgical smoke plume.
Speaking up, speaking out
A number of non-clinical but very current issues will also be tackled by keynote speakers. Dr Phil Hammond – author, TV and radio star, comedian and GP – leads the opening session on the subject of “Difficult Discussions – Speaking Up/Speaking Out”. This will address how we can change the culture within acute care to ensure that staff, patients and relatives are able to speak up about their concerns over safety or quality without fear of victimisation. Martin Bromiley – Chair of the Clinical Human Factors Group – will be taking this a stage further to investigate difficult discussions. He will share practical tips that can be adopted by practitioners to support them in having such discussions.
The session by Sir Stephen Moss is expected to fill to capacity with delegates when he delivers his session on “Mid-Staffordshire: too close for comfort”, which will look at the lessons to be learnt from the inquiry and how we can prevent this happening in any other Trusts.
On Saturday, the Siobhan Rankin legacy lecture puts bullying and harassment under the spotlight. It is estimated that bullying affects around 50% of the UK workforce at some time in their lives. Unison and the RCN have published surveys that indicate a third of all nursing and healthcare workers could be affected. It could be something as simple as gossiping behind your back or unreasonable criticism that starts a spiral of bullying behaviour. Bullying not only has a demoralising effect on your self-esteem, it is almost certain to impact on your performance at work, could easily result in sickness and time off, and may even force somebody to leave their job if the issues are not addressed.
Employers have a duty of care to provide a safe, healthy working environment and should always lead by example in demonstrating firmly that bullying in any form will not be tolerated. The lecture, facilitated by AfPP President Diane Gilmour and presented by Dr Jacqueline Randle, will look at examples of bullying behaviour and the measures that can be taken to address such issues, whether you are the victim or an employer.
AfPP2010 takes place at the Harrogate International Centre from 14 to 16 October 2010. To register and for further information, visit: www.afpp.org.uk and follow the links to the Congress and Exhibition pages.
