DENVER, May 9, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Linda K. Groah, MSN,
RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN, the CEO and Executive Director of AORN
(Association of periOperative Registered Nurses), has announced her
plans to retire at the end of this year after a new CEO is
selected.
AORN's board president, president-elect, treasurer, CFO and
Senior HR Director will oversee the search and selection process
for a new CEO, which is expected to take six to nine months.
Groah, a veteran perioperative nursing executive, steps down
from her role after more than 17 years leading the national
nonprofit association that authors the universally recognized
nursing standards for surgical patient and team safety.
"Linda has set a high bar of professionalism and innovation over
the past 17 years, and we're thankful for everything she has
contributed to advance our specialty and patient safety," said AORN
Board President Nakeisha Tolliver,
DNP, MBA, RN.
"Our search committee will be rigorous in finding the very best
candidate who understands the rapidly evolving environment that
perioperative nurses work in and, most important, how AORN will
guide them in providing safe care for patients undergoing surgery
in every hospital and ambulatory setting in the country."
A Legacy of Vision
Groah has been AORN's longest serving chief executive, taking on
the role in March 2007 after nearly
18 years as a Chief Nursing Officer/COO with Kaiser Foundation
Hospitals in San Francisco and
several other perioperative nursing roles. She had also served as
AORN Board President for the 1996-1997 term.
As CEO, Groah has had a key role in advancing changes to improve
perioperative nursing practice and furthering AORN's mission
supporting patient and workplace safety. Most important was leading
AORN's evolution from issuing "recommended practices" to a higher
standard of perioperative guidelines derived from research and
providing evidence-based recommendations.
Groah was one of two nurses to participate in the 2009 World
Health Organization's international conference to standardize a
Comprehensive Surgical Checklist aimed at reducing surgical risk
and complications. This checklist is now used globally in caring
for patients before, during and after surgery.
She has been outspoken on the importance of having a registered
nurse circulator as the primary patient advocate in the OR and
helped push for legislation or regulation in 25 states requiring an
RN circulator.
Under her leadership in 2016, AORN launched a national advocacy
and education initiative to eliminate surgical smoke in operating
rooms and reduce health hazards impacting OR nurses. Legislation
has successfully passed in 17 states to date, with several others
pending.
As nursing shortages grew to a national crisis, Groah focused on
growing the pipeline of perioperative nurses. She created
partnerships with colleges to educate undergraduate nursing
students about the surgical specialty. AORN's Introduction to
Perioperative Nursing course is now offered as an elective
in more than 60 US colleges and has been shown to increase
those choosing perioperative practice for their career.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Groah elevated AORN's influence on
safe surgical practice. She was instrumental in building a
coalition with leaders among the American College of Surgeons, the
American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Hospital
Association and AORN to determine processes and provide a roadmap
for facilities and surgical teams to safely resume surgeries.
The pandemic also spotlighted Groah's longstanding commitment to
invest in new technology and transform AORN into a digital company.
Just two months after canceling its annual Global Surgical
Conference & Expo 2020, AORN became one of the first healthcare
associations to transition to a fully virtual conference and
tradeshow.
"There was no modern roadmap for leading an organization through
a global crisis that would influence patient care while
restructuring an organization to maintain solvency. But Linda
modeled resilience for staff and steered us to embrace greater
collaboration and innovation," said AORN CFO James Cousin.
Continued Achievements
In 2017, Groah established AORN Syntegrity, a subsidiary that
develops solutions for healthcare facilities to improve
documentation of perioperative workflows, surgical scheduling, and
the visibility of nursing's impact on outcomes. More than 800
facilities now use AORN Syntegrity within their electronic health
records.
Under Groah's leadership, AORN also acquired two companies:
Pfiedler Education Inc. in 2015 and Outpatient Surgery
Magazine in 2018.
"Linda's pursuit of strong strategic and financial outcomes has
led AORN to achieve higher membership, record revenues, largest
number of employees, creation of new successful products and
services and strong partnerships with associations, medical device
companies and health systems," Cousin said.
During Groah's tenure, AORN has received multiple awards for
being a top workplace and for advancements in diversity, equity,
and inclusion (DEI). Newsweek magazine also listed AORN among its
Top Online Learning Providers. Groah herself has been recognized by
Becker's Healthcare as a "Patient safety expert to know" for 10
consecutive years.
"Linda's influence goes well beyond her business acumen,"
Tolliver said. "She is first and foremost a nurse. She demonstrates
that in how she treats people with compassion, and how she puts the
needs of perioperative nurses and their patients as AORN's first
priority."
About AORN
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)
supports the professional practice of more than 200,000
perioperative nurses by providing evidence-based research,
education, and practice standards to keep healthcare workers safe
and enable optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and
other invasive procedures.
CONTACT:
Adam Ross
Senior Manager Communications and Public Relations
AORN
aross@aorn.org
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SOURCE Association of periOperative Registered Nurses