Commenter:
Linda Groah, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
Continued Competency Requirements
We are writing on behalf of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the Virginia Council of Perioperative Registered Nurses (VCORN) to comment on the continued competency requirements recently proposed by the Virginia Board of Nursing.
AORN represents the interests of 160,000 perioperative registered nurses, including over 41,000 registered nurse members in the United States and abroad who facilitate the management, teaching, and practice of perioperative nursing, are engaged in perioperative research, are enrolled in nursing education, and perioperative nurses who work in related business and industry sectors. There are over 1200 Registered Nurses in Virginia represented by both AORN and VCORN.
Perioperative registered nursing is a specialized area of nursing practice. As a fundamental member of the surgical team, the perioperative registered nurse can function in the role of circulator, scrub person, or first assistant during surgery. Many perioperative nurses maintain specialty certification in operating room nursing. The CNOR credential is currently held by more than 33,500 perioperative nurses nationwide. In addition, over 1,500 perioperative nurses who practice as first assistants at surgery maintain the CRNFA credential. More information on these credentials is available from the Competency & Credentialing Institute at http://www.cc-institute.org/home.
The CNOR credential is currently accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and the American Board for Specialty Nursing Certification, and the CRNFA credential is currently accredited by NCCA. It is unclear from the Board’s proposed language whether maintaining a CNOR or CRNFA credential would meet the continued competency requirements of 18 VAC §90-20-221(A)(1). Given the rigor of these certification programs and the ongoing practice requirements for CNORs and CRNFAs, it is AORN and VCORN’s hope that the Virginia Board of Nursing will define national certifying organization in a way that includes the CNOR and CRNFA credentials.
