Abstract
IT IS SAID THAT the only thing for certain is death and taxes—and most of us wish it was in that order! Change is a way of life. Those of us in health care know that better than most. Over the past few years, we have seen the majority of surgeries move to the ambulatory setting, a focus change from illness to wellness, a return to the primary practitioner, and the impact of multidisciplinary teams. We have seen the world of health care move from patient-centered to cost effectiveness and now back to patient-centered quality care, but with an emphasis on cost containment. Think about the changes we have seen in our own specialty. We have changed from postanesthesia to perianesthesia to encompass those nurses working in the preoperative and ambulatory surgery setting or various other settings in which sedation and/or anesthesia are performed. This change was even reflected in the name change of our organization from the American Society of Post Anesthesia Nurses to the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. The content of this Journal has expanded to reflect that change. ASPAN was challenged to rise to the occasion; it met the challenge, and made the change. Our original articles in this issue focus on changes that have worked—a change in practice or a change in a system. The articles discuss providing music and low noise levels for the perianesthesia patient, changing discharge criteria for outpatients to a scoring system, and revising a preanesthesia/postanesthesia area to provide a better patient flow. All deal with change. Change is occurring so fast in the world today that it has been said, “We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.” How will we respond? We do have personal responsibilities regarding change. Price Pritchett discussed ground rules for job success in the information age in The Employee Handbook of New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World. Some of his suggestions include the following:
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