Don't miss your chance to be one of the nearly 500 nurse leaders attending the 2005 Nursing Management Recruitment & Retention Conference, April 24 to 26, Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nev. Make sure what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, as you bring back the innovative retention tips from the conference to your individual facility.
The best faculty present the best tips, with topics such as Retention Deficit Disorder; The New Healthcare Continuum: Creating the Seamless System; Partnering with Human Resources to Solve the Data Equation; and Workplace Diversity: Recruiting Men and Minorities into Nursing. Earn 10.8 contact hours as you learn ways to take your organization's recruitment and retention practices to the next level.
"Nursing Management 's Recruitment & Retention Conference is your 'best bet' to help you improve patient care, broaden your horizons, reach new heights in career satisfaction, relax a little, and most of all, recognize the magnitude of your potential," said Conference Chairperson Dennis R. Sherrod, RN, EdD.
Exhibitors revealed
Part of the conference's purpose is to put you in touch with the resources that can help you best address recruitment and retention. To that end, exhibit hall hours are woven throughout the sessions. Don't forget to stop by and gather solutions from organizations that offer assistance tailor-made for your facility.
Save some time to check in with companies such as AMH Healthcare, Assessment Tech Institute, Bernard Hodes Group, The Body Connection, Drexel University (offering an NCLEX Excel preparation course), GlobeMed Resources, The Icon Group, JWT Specialized Communications, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Media Solutions, NAS Recruitment, NursingCenter.com, O'Grady Peyton International, Position Manager, Progressive Nursing Staffers, Pulse Magazine, Res-Q Healthcare Systems, Shaker Recruitment, Signature Healthcare Resources, and Symbio Solutions.
Inside the sessions
As a nurse leader, you're not just working alongside co-workers, you're working to sustain and improve your community. In the keynote address, Sharon Cox, RN, MSN, CNAA, will highlight the key issues to consider in building a sense of community, as well as practical ideas for next-day use. Faculty members will focus on both the big picture and the smaller scale, where you can make a difference in your unit the minute you get back to your organization.
The first full day of the conference kicks off with Great People, Great Results, presented by Jeff Doucette, RN, MS, CEN, CHE, CNAA. Improving the nursing work environment is probably near the top of your list of goals. Doucette's program will offer interventions you can use to create and foster a great work environment to ensure superior service.
Monday's concurrent sessions range from workplace diversity to 101 ways to boost recruitment and retention. Randolph Rasch, RN, PhD, FNP, FAANP, will teach you how men and minorities experience the nursing education and employment placement experience. Use this knowledge to break down the barriers to recruiting a diverse group of nurses. Golden Bethune, RN, CNAA,BC, MSN, will share the 101 tips her facility used to decrease turnover rates from 14.3% to 8% and keep the vacancy rate below 4%.
Take your pick from the afternoon's information-packed sessions: Workforce Development: Aligning Human Capital with Organizational Needs and Key Market Devices or The Key to a Healthy Work Environment; and Does Your Organization Have Retention Deficit Disorder or Creating a Workplace of Choice Through Employee Selection.
The conference's final day has much to offer, as well. In Partnering with HR to Solve the R&R Data Equation, Sherrod discusses models that allow healthcare recruiters and human resources professionals to collaborate on developing systematic methods of collecting and reporting quantitative and qualitative recruitment and retention indicators. For the afternoon, choose either the Build a Culture of Retention for Your Nurses with the New-Hire Support Program session or Retention through Appreciative Inquiry. The day ends with a session by Gregory L. Crow, RN, EdD, called The New Healthcare Continuum: Creating the Seamless System. He'll identify characteristics necessary for nurses to thrive and the fundamental requirements needed to keep nurses engaged and involved.
Don't miss it
In the evenings, there's lots of fun to have and sights to see. It's Las Vegas, a city that never sleeps, so there's recreation available at every turn, from musical shows to acrobatics. Visit http://www.vegas.com to find activities and book tickets.
You can still register at 1-800-346-7844, ext. 7798 or 7750, or visit http://www.promos-lww.com/r&r.html. Call 1-888-732-7117 to reserve a room at the Las Vegas Hilton.