Convention 2009

Daily Schedule: Saturday, October 10

Time Event/Information
6:30 – 7:30 AM Fun Run/Walk for Nurses House (Ticketed event; see Registration)

Get some exercise and raise funds for Nurses House, an international organization that assists RNs in need. After you register, you will be mailed a sponsor sheet. Ask your colleagues, friends, and family members to sponsor you with a donation. When you come to convention, bring the completed sponsor form and the donations you’ve collected. The first 50 people to send in their entry fees will receive Nurses House t-shirts and prizes will be awarded to the top four fundraisers.
8:00 – 9:15 AM Concurrent CE Sessions (1.25 contact hours each)

Track 1: The Adoption Option

Corinna Lohser, MPH
Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children

As healthcare providers, nurses have a responsibility to inform patients who are uncertain about parenting about all of their options, including adoption. Nurses in prenatal and post-natal settings play a critical role in advocating for women and adolescents who express an interest in adoption. Get information about contemporary adoption practices, an overview of adoption law and birth-parent rights; and important tools you can use in situations where adoption is being considered.

Objectives:
  • Discuss personal feelings/experiences of adoption as they relate to one’s treatment of patients considering adoption.
  • Recognize the history of adoption in the United States to promote an understanding of the changes that have occurred since 1900.
  • List the three different types of adoption and cite research re: benefits of open adoption for all members of the adoption triad

Track 2: Compassion Fatigue: The Cost of Caring

Carol Lynn Esposito, JD, RN
Associate Director, NYSNA Economic and General Welfare Program
Thomas Lowe, MPH, RN, COHN-S, COHST
Occupational Safety and Health Representative, NYSNA Economic and General Welfare Program

Compassion fatigue is a natural consequence of patient care. Nurses must continuously monitor themselves and their reactions, recognizing the potential negative consequences of caring too much. Learn how to identify the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, physical, and work performance symptoms of compassion fatigue. Explore various methods for monitoring and preventing it.

Objectives:
  • Define compassion fatigue.
  • Identify the causes of compassion fatigue.
  • Identify the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, physical, and work performance symptoms of compassion fatigue.
  • Describe the compassion fatigue process.
  • Describe methods that are effective in preventing and monitoring compassion fatigue.

Track 3: Healthcare Reform: The Path to a Single Payer System

Andrew Coates, MD
Physicians for a National Health Program
Karen Ballard, MA, RN
Rekindling Reform

The debate over healthcare reform has taken front stage in Washington this year, resulting in a great deal of discussion and even more confusion. Join us for a discussion about healthcare reform – past, present and future – and learn about ongoing efforts to move our nation toward a single payer healthcare system.

Objectives:
  • Discuss the history of healthcare reform from Clinton through present day.
  • Identify why single-payer is superior to other reform proposals.
  • Recognize the current healthcare reform proposals.

Track 4: Different Generations, Different Expectations

Connie Jastremski, MS, MBA, RN
Imogene Bassett Hospital, Cooperstown, NY

All organizations face the challenges of having four generations working side by side in the workplace. Learn the value systems of the four generations (Traditionalist, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials), how these value systems were formed, and how they affect the workplace. Explore how to work with people from different generations and how to use each generation’s strengths to create a workable succession plan.

Objectives:
  • Describe the process of value analysis and how that relates to the generations.
  • Define the four generations in the workforce.
  • Describe the influences on each generation that helped to shape their value systems.
  • List the strengths of each generation.
  • Describe the plan for working the generations and using their strengths to create a succession plan.
  • Develop a personal succession plan using the knowledge about the generations.
8:00 - 9:15 AM Parliamentary Procedure

Learn the basic skills related to the parliamentary process used in Voting Body sessions. This “hands-on” session provides actual practice in Voting Body procedures and will enable you to be a more effective participant in the decision-making process.
9:30 – 11:30 AM Professional Issues/Voting Body (1.5 contact hours)

Today’s session will include an address from the NYSNA Chief Executive Officer and reports from member councils and committees.

Objectives:
  • Identify current nursing issues in New York and beyond.
  • Describe how Voting Body contributes to achieving NYSNA’s goals to promote the nursing profession and protect the public.
11:30 AM – 2:00 PM Exhibit Hall and Lunch

Visit the exhibitors you missed on Friday evening or get more information from the many vendors on hand. A free box lunch will be served
2:00 – 3:15 PM Special Session for Nursing Students

Get the “scoop on scope” at a presentation on RN scope of practice, legal and regulatory requirements, and the important topic of delegation of tasks and supervision of other healthcare workers.

Students are encouraged to observe the morning Professional Issues/Voting Body session and the Awards Ceremony at 6:00 PM, when a nursing student will be honored.
2:00 – 3:15 PM

Concurrent CE Sessions (1.25 contact hours each)

Track 1: Organ Donation Education for Nurses

Joan Kruegler, MS
New York Alliance for Donation, Inc.

New York State has one of the lowest percentages of organ donors in the U.S. Find out some of the reasons for this low enrollment and the nurse’s role in public organ donation education. This program is designed for nurses who are not already in the transplantation field, who want to be prepared to educate the public about organ donation.

Objectives:
  • Discuss nurses’ experiences with transplant and donation.
  • Identify factors presented in the video that relate to organ donation.
  • Identify opportunities to education patients regarding organ and tissue donation.
  • Engage in role play as a counselor in a prescribed situation.

Track 2: Applying Emotional Intelligence to Patient Care

Mark Van Buren
New Haven Consulting Group, Inc.

Emotional intelligence – the ability to identify, understand, use, and manage emotions in yourself and others – is often misunderstood in human interaction. Many choose the profession of nursing because of their inherent respect for maintaining personal dignity while delivering patient care. Discover how an Emotional Intelligence Blueprint can help you understand how EI has both helped and hindered you at your most critical nursing moments.

Objectives:
  • Introduce the four EI abilities
  • Define EI
  • Define the MSCEIT Assessment
  • Discuss the “Emotional Hijack” Syndrome
  • Describe the Emotional Intelligence Blueprint
  • Discuss the impact of “individual styles” on personal behavior

Track 3: Nurse Advocacy: The LDC Experience

Janice Howard, MS, RN
Miriam Gonzalez, BS, RN
Veronica Richardson, RN, C
Linda O’Brien, MS, RN
Shaun Flynn
, Director, NYSNA Governmental Affairs

From the 1932 Nurse Practice Act to last year's legislation banning mandatory overtime, individual nurses have played key roles in shaping public policy in New York State. Join veterans of NYSNA’s Legislative District Coordinator program for a discussion about the importance of nurse advocacy from a nurse’s perspective.

Objectives:
  • Learn about the history of grassroots advocacy at NYSNA.
  • Explore the experience of being an LDC.
  • Receive advice on how members can participate in the program and help ensure its success.

Track 4: Documentation: Nurses on the Front Line of Litigation

Ann Marie Parisi, RN, CLNC
Nightingale Legal Consulting, Saratoga Springs, NY

When nurses are involved in litigation related to malpractice or negligence, their use of documentation can be crucial. Learn about current legal issues that affect the nursing profession as a whole. Follow the steps through a nursing negligence case and see how documentation affects the outcome. Participants will have an opportunity to review examples of nursing documentation and critique common documentation blunders.

Objectives:
  • Identify several issues impacting current nursing litigation.
  • Identify the four key elements of a nursing negligence case.
  • Verbalize importance of nursing documentation in relation to case outcomes/verdicts.
  • Recognize the important role contributory negligence plays with regard to defense verdicts.
  • Identify the legal ramifications of altering medical records.
  • Discuss the clinical Never Events as outlined by the National Quality Forum.
3:30 – 4:45 PM

Concurrent CE Sessions (1.25 contact hours each)

Track 1: SANE: It’s Not Just About the Sperm

Janice Ceccucci, RN, SANE-A, NYSAFE, SANP-P
Sexual Assault & Crime Victims Assistance Program

Step into the world of forensic nursing and learn about the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) specialty. Patient assessment, evidence collection, specialized techniques, and the legal process will be discussed. Learn about the role of the SANE nurse and the requirements needed to complete training.

Objectives:
  • Discuss the specialty of forensic nursing.
  • Differentiate among the roles of a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE).
  • Discuss the role of the SANE in the prosecution of sexual assault perpetrators.
  • Identify the educational requirements to become a sexual assault nurse examiner.

Track 2: Safe Patient Handling

Melissa Rowland, RN, EES
WNY Council on Occupational Safety & Health

The Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH), through the New York State Demonstration Project, has implemented safe patient handling and movement programs in three acute care and two long-term care facilities. This presentation will include some of the key elements of the WNYCOSH safe patient handling programs, research data on reduction of worker injuries and lost workdays, and a brief overview of current state legislation.

Objectives:
  • Discuss the safe patient handling programs implemented in three acute care and two long-term health care facilities.
  • Describe results of research data on reduction of worker injuries and lost workdays associated with patient handling.
  • Recognize the components of the NYS Safe Patient Handling Policy bill.

Track 3: Protecting Patients Through Legislative Advocacy

Shaun Flynn
Director, NYSNA Governmental Affairs

Decisions are made every year at the State Capitol that affect nursing practice and patient care. Too often, these decisions are made without adequate input from nurses. Explore the basics of state government and the major nursing issues that are currently under consideration. Learn the skills to become an effective legislative advocate for your patients and your profession.

Objectives:
  • Describe the legislative process.
  • Identify how interest groups influence the policymaking process.
  • Identify ways that nurses can become involved in the legislative and political processes.

Track 4: The Aging of the HIV Epidemic

Judy K. Shaw, PhD, MS, ANP-C
Samuel S. Stratton VA Medical Center, Albany, NY

As the HIV epidemic enters its third decade, greater attention is being directed to the diagnosis and management of older HIV-infected patients. These patients have an extremely complicated disease course, often with complications of HIV, adverse effects from ART, mental illness, substance abuse, and multiple medical co-morbidities. Get updated on various aspects of antiretroviral medication, as well as treatment and therapeutic options for managing the expanding aging population with HIV.

Objectives:
  • Discuss the three myths related to HIV among people age 50+.
  • Discuss the difference in HIV prevalence by gender, race, and age
  • Identify reasons why older people may not be tested until later stages of HIV.
  • Recognize differences between older and younger persons with HIV/AIDS.
  • Identify risk factors for HIV among the elderly.
3:30 - 5:00 PM Insulation Doctrine and the NYSNA Collective Bargaining Program

As part of the settlement of the lawsuit brought against NYSNA last year, the plaintiffs and NYSNA agreed to participate in a panel discussion on issues of insulation and the NYSNA Collective Bargaining program. Panelists for the Nurses for Unity group will be Patricia Kane, RN and Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN. Panelists for NYSNA will be Tina Gerardi, MS, RN, CAE, Chief Executive Officer and Elizabeth Orfan, Esq., NYSNA labor counsel. In addition to remarks by the panelists, there will be opportunity for audience members to ask questions and seek clarification on these issues. Please note: no contact hours awarded.
6:00 – 7:15 PM Awards Ceremony

A highlight of Convention, the Awards Ceremony recognizes nurses who have made significant contributions to the profession. Enrich your Convention experience by attending this semiformal event.

Hear from the award winners and express your congratulations to them. There is no charge for this event.
7:30 PM – Midnight Awards Dinner (Ticketed event; see Registration)

Spend the last night of Convention in style and honor our award recipients. Enjoy the company of old friends while establishing connections you will keep for a lifetime.