Happy First Birthday to The Stitch!

Greetings!  

Happy Birthday to The Stitch! Can you believe it? It has been just over a year since we launched The Stitch: Putting the Pieces Together for Novice Perioperative Nurses in September 2023. As the Associate Editor of this new publication that novice nurses can refer to for advice, I have witnessed an incredible and supportive community. I am extremely proud of our authors who submitted their articles and videos and shared their expertise to support the perioperative profession.  

With The Stitch, our hope was that novice nurses would have a supportive community to turn to for advice, tips and tricks, and new learning opportunities to bridge the knowledge-to-practice gap from orientation and beyond. Novice nurses: You are making a difference every day for your patients who trust you to advocate and care for them. Know that, above all, we recognize that learning to be a perioperative nurse is not easy and we hope you continue to come to The Stitch for guidance and support. If you have suggestions regarding how we can better support you, please email us at [email protected]. 

Since the beginning, The Stitch has received several hundred submissions and published 131 articles (as of October 2024) from our network. Over the past year, there have been more than 11,000 views of the content on our website. Total engagements and impressions for The Stitch posts on social media are approximately 47,000 and 750,000, respectively. What are perioperative nurses saying about The Stitch? 

• “I like using the content to not only support new nurses but remind seasoned nurses and preceptors what might be on the minds of new staff, and the stress they encounter.” 
• “As a new periop nurse it is great to read stories I can relate to. All tips and tricks are helpful to me since I haven't found ways that work on my own at times.”
• “Very reliable resource for daily perioperative role.” 
• “Great information that helps me understand the concepts more clearly.”
• “The Stitch is a valuable supplement to Periop 101, providing practical insights, updates, and tips that support foundational perioperative skills, making the coursework more applicable to real-world practice.”   
• “I believe that using The Stitch alongside my Periop 101 coursework has enriched my learning experience and better prepared me for a career in perioperative nursing.”
• “Material is an excellent resource for the novice nurse. Articles are on point to what the novice nurse experiences in the OR.”
• “The articles about the steep learning curve when becoming a perioperative nurse are great as well as articles to help the preceptors and other team members support new staff. I love that the articles are short and relevant. The games and quizzes are fun, too!" 

Future Plans for The Stitch Community 

Over the summer, The Stitch team convened and held a strategic planning session to identify goals for the future year. One new goal the team identified was to introduce several new columns: Tech Talks, Community Involvement, and Periop Times. Stay tuned as these columns begin to evolve. If you are interested in assisting and writing about technology or ways you are involved in your community from a perioperative nursing lens, please feel free to submit your ideas to the [email protected]. 

Let’s Celebrate! 

To our contributors: Because of your expertise and love for perioperative nursing, you have created a thriving environment built around support and engagement that is welcoming for our novice perioperative nurses. To our readers: You are our inspiration, and we strive to provide you with relatable stories to support you as you learn and grow as perioperative nurses because we know it is not easy being new and learning new practices. We want to celebrate the tremendous contributions of perioperative nurses to The Stitch, including writing articles, posting videos, providing feedback and insights, engaging on social media, and much more. Thank you for making The Stitch a highly read and loved platform.

Thank You! 

Before I sign off, I want to recognize The Stitch series coordinators: Sara Angelilli, Andrea Dyer, Emily McKisson, and Margaret Vance. They have supported The Stitch community by recruiting authors, writing numerous articles, participating in marketing and promotion, and more. Their time and dedication have been instrumental to the success of The Stitch. I also want to thank our team of perioperative nurse contributors, The Stitch advisory board members, and AORN leadership for making support for novice nurses a priority. Finally, to our readers, I want to thank you for your interest and engagement in The Stitch community. We are delighted you are here, and we hope you feel supported in your role as perioperative nurses. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to read the stories and trusting us to be a reliable source to which you can turn for advice. 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Vortman

Associate Editor

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