Most nurses don’t become nurses to spend countless hours staring at screens and filling out forms. They want to be part of making a patient’s experience safer, less scary and more comfortable.

That’s why AORN Syntegrity® content is continuously updated by our team of expert informatics nurses to ensure perioperative nurses in the field (1) have the surgical procedures that align precisely with everchanging industry standards, and (2) don’t experience documentation burnout. Our procedures and documentation electronic health records (EHR) content can make all the difference between staring into an abyss of paperwork and actually nursing patients. 

In 2022, AORN Syntegrity added in-demand specialty content for ophthalmology, orthopedics and endoscopy.

As of 2020, the number of ambulatory surgery center (ASC)s offering ophthalmology procedures was 2,806 – 36 percent of the total number of ASCs in the United States. (Cataract surgeries alone accounted for 18.8 percent of all ASC procedures.) Orthopedic specialty procedures were provided at 36 percent of all ASCs (2,806 centers). And endoscopy specialty ASCs accounted for 32 percent of ASCs (1,854).*

“It is critical that AORN Syntegrity continues to evolve our content for perioperative nurses who need up-to-code procedures with very specific criteria,” explains Janice Kelly MS, RN-BC, President, AORN Syntegrity Inc. “We understand that each specialty has unique procedures and documentation burdens. By offering specialty content, we make the nurses’ jobs more streamline, and that helps keep patients safe and reduce costs.”

Learn more about AORN Syntegrity specialty content.

In 2023, AORN Syntegrity will help make perioperative nursing even easier with two major enhancements.

AORN Syntegrity has two leading edge enhancements on the horizon for 2023: “We’re developing a digital library of patient-friendly terminology that’s available in line with the procedures list,” says Kelly. “We’re also working to reduce the nurses’ documentation burden by doing a deep dive into existing documentation.”

The patient glossary will be available as part of the Surgical Scheduling Procedures List solution, providing handy alternatives to industry terms, designed specifically for helping patients understand what’s happening during procedures. “Appendectomy”, for instance, is a term nurses and doctors understand. A patient will likely better grasp words like “removal of appendix”.

“It’s easy to forget that patients don’t know the formal terms for medical procedures, especially if you’re understaffed and trying to multitask,” explains Kelly. “This enhancement will remind and enable nurses to keep patients in the know with conversational terminology.”

When it comes to reducing the amount of documentation that’s required before, during and after surgery, AORN Syntegrity has formed a documentation burden work group specifically to review, update and remove any unnecessary documentation elements in the EHR.

“The documentation burden is significant for nurses,” Kelly says. “It contributes to nursing burnout and reduces the amount of time nurses can be with their patients.”

Nursing burnout is a serious concern for many healthcare facilities. In June 2022, AORN surveyed its members and some nonmembers to examine the status of perioperative nursing compensation in the United States. The survey also addressed job satisfaction, potential nursing turnover, and the reasons why some nurses are actively considering leaving their jobs. Sixty (60) percent of those surveyed listed workplace burnout as a factor contributing to dissatisfaction - the third highest factor.

The AORN Syntegrity team is specifically evaluating documentation requirements against the following criteria: value, relevance, redundancy, conformity, regulation, accreditation, legality, evidence, accessibility, and more.

“It is our intention to be exhaustive in our analysis of EHR documentation because this enhancement will end up benefitting perioperative nurses, their patients, and their facilities in so many ways,” says Kelly.

For more information about AORN Syntegrity, sign up for a free consultation today.

*100 things to know about ASCs | 2020