Get contemporary and effective management tips by day, enjoy Disney's Contemporary Resort by night. Nursing Management Congress2005 is chock-full of presentations that get to the heart of the most crucial issues nurse leaders face today. Endorsed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; the American Organization of Nurse Executives; Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society; Sigma Theta Tau International, The Honor Society of Nursing; and The American Association of Nurse Attorneys; the conference will provide you with research updates, management tips, and up to 30 continuing-education contact hours.
To help you choose which break-out sessions will best augment your leadership skills, consider the following in-depth look at the conference's breakout sessions.
Get specific
Congress2005's breakouts are tailored to meet your leadership needs. Monday morning offers five great choices.
"With the average age of this country's RN population over 45 years old, we should be thinking about who's going to take over in nursing leadership," says Pamela Hunt, RN, MSN, administrative director of surgical services and the division of critical care, Marion General Hospital. "In my session 'Motivating Everyone to Want Your Job,' you'll discover how current leaders can help create a desire for leadership in the next generation and foster that desire by teaching and mentoring effective leadership."
"Stop. Look. Listen. Are We Our Own Worst Enemy?" is a presentation by Virginia R. Beeson, MSN, director of leadership development, The Advisory Board Committee. She asks and will answer, "How does our dress/appearance, language, and treatment of one another hurt our profession and its future?"
Betty R. Kupperschmidt, RN, CNAA,BC, EdD, associate professor, College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma, will present "The ANA Code of Ethics: A Code for All Ages." Her presentation will answer the following two questions: Do generational differences influence nurses' interpretation of the code and thus how they practice nursing? How can nurse leaders use the code and generational differences to address ethical considerations of multigenerational nurses and patients?
Most of us have heard of Extreme Makeover. Richard T. Hader, RN, CNA, CHE, CPHQ, PhD, conference chairperson; editor-in-chief, Nursing Management journal; senior vice president, chief nurse executive, Meridian Health System, will present the nursing edition. He says, "Come to discuss how organizations have capitalized on their strengths and made radical differences in the practice setting to enhance the work environment for nurses while also improving the experience for the patient."
The last of the morning breakout sessions ranked as one of the best of 2004.
"Learn about the top 10 challenges facing nursing leaders in the next 5 years," says Mary Lou Jones, RN, AOO, PhD, director, Network Services, Duke University Health System, presenter of "Forecast the Future: Challenges, Issues, and Solutions for Nursing Leaders by 2010." "Gain insight into innovative strategies and tactics to position nursing leaders for success in shaping the delivery of healthcare to individuals, communities, and populations in multiple settings."
Fill your toolbox
Monday afternoon's breakout sessions focus on how best to deal with staff members.
"A resilient 'bounce back' team not only provides a better healthcare service but also knows how to support each other through times of crisis," says Dan Johnston, clinical psychologist, Mercer University School of Medicine, presenter of "Getting the Most from Your Staff: Creating and Maintaining a Resilient Work Team." "This practical, interactive presentation teaches the essential skills of resiliency."
Janet S. Fulton, RN, PhD, editor-in-chief, Clinical Nurse Specialist journal, will speak on a contemporary model for clinical nurse specialists.
"The newer model for CNS practice moves away from the silo approach of the traditional sub-role to an integrated practice model that combines expert, innovative nursing care for patients with CNS abilities to influence nurses, nursing personnel, nursing standards, and system/delivery of care," she says.
Nurse leaders aiming to improve their work environment will find "'Just' Culture: Moving from Punishment to Reward" to be beneficial.
"This session will provide the experience of one Magnet hospital's journey to achieve a culture that supports and rewards the reporting of errors, near misses and sentinel events, based on the Marx model for a true and just culture," says presenter Cole Edmonson, RN, CHE, CNAA,BC, MS, assistant chief nurse officer, Medical City Dallas Hospital/North Texas Hospital for Children. "The model is supported by the IOM [Institute of Medicine] and research conducted by the leadership of the facility to assess the culture for resources and barriers to the creation of the 'just' culture."
Patricia R. Messmer, RN,BC, PhD, FAAN, nurse researcher, Miami Children's Hospital, wants all nurse leaders to get on board the nursing research train.
"The ANCC Magnet journey requires teamwork to prevent 'derailment' as CNOs/nurse leaders address the 14 Forces of Magnetism," she says. "Nurse leaders 'on board' integrate nursing research studies and projects in an evidence-based environment, evolving continuous quality improvement projects into nursing research studies for improved patient care outcomes."
In "Creating a Positive Work-place: Increasing the Happiness Level of Managers and Employees," Jo Manion, RN, CNAA, PhD, FAAN, president, Manion & Associates, encourages attendees to get happy.
"Recent research in the field of positive psychology sheds light on the importance of happiness at work and offers us concrete, evidence-based approaches for dealing with this challenge," she says.
The language of leadership
Monday afternoon has even more leadership gems to offer. From the language of finance to that of performance appraisals, the following sessions prepare leaders to wear a variety of hats throughout their practice.
Beth A. Brooks, RN, CHE, PhD, associate dean and executive director, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, will teach attendees how to use behavioral interviewing to hire the best candidates.
"Behavioral interviewing improves your hiring success rate by accurately predicting a candidate's job performance at least 70% of the time," she says. "By contrast, traditional intuitive interviewing techniques have a relatively low success rate of 15%."
The language of finance will be taught by Pamela Hunt, RN, MSN. "This presentation offers you step-by-step examples of how to calculate and justify the staff, equipment, and supplies that your department needs to provide quality care," she says.
Interested in making evidence-based nursing a reality at your facility? Attend the session by Cole Edmonson, RN, CHE, CNAA,BC, MS.
"Evidence-based nursing as a subset of evidence-based practice is the combination of nursing experience, research, and patient preferences," he says. "Chief nursing officers can create a system that not only supports evidence-based nursing but also contributes to improved nursing engagement measures and improved patient outcomes."
"Performance Appraisals: Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead" is a presentation by Mary Jenkins, vice president, Worklife Community, Genesys Health System.
"By exploring the root assumptions beneath the design of all appraisals, you will discover why they backfire," she says. "Options for moving away from traditional appraisals will be shared-everything from how to get better results with your existing process to radically changing your organization's approach altogether."
Judith "Ski" Lower, RN, CCRN, CNRN, MSN, nurse manager, NCCU and NVICU, Johns Hopkins Hospital, will present "Resource-Based Admissions," an alternative to mandatory staffing ratios.
"Our unit piloted another option, which involves allowing the charge nurse to determine on each shift how many patients can be accommodated at any given moment," she says. "Over 2 years, this has proven to be very successful, with excellent outcomes."
New techniques
To prepare enough nurses for the future, Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow, a coalition of 45 nursing and healthcare organizations, is waging a communications campaign, "Nursing Education...Pass It On," to increase the number of nurse educators. Carol Toussie Weingarten, RN, PhD, associate professor, College of Nursing, Villanova University, will present this Sigma Theta Tau International-sponsored session.
Michele Sacco, executive director, Health Care Staffing Services Certification, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, will delineate the organization's new Health Care Staffing Services Certification.
"This session will provide attendees with valuable insight as to how this new certification program was developed, what the process entails, and what the response has been from the staffing industry and healthcare organizations," she says.
In "Developing Critical-Thinking Skills in the New Graduate Nurse," Shelley Cohen, RN, CEN, BS, educator/consultant, Health Resources Unlimited, will present a session that helps managers or educators develop and present a critical-thinking skills course for the new graduate nurse. She'll review objectives, course content, and resources for class material.
Is your facility considering implementing clinical decision support? Then "Nursing: Involvement in and Impact on Clinical Decision Support," presented by Margaret M. Quinn, MD, Meridian Health, chief medical information officer, is a can't-miss session.
"Clinical decision support is one form of intelligence that adds value," she says. "I'll demonstrate several types of clinical decision support, review its impact on patient care, and discuss the role of nursing in the development and implementation of clinical decision support."
Do you have a "bless-her-heart" employee at your facility? Let Sharon Cox, RN, MSN, CNAA, president, Cox & Associates, Brentwood, Tenn., explain.
"Bless her heart-she means well, tries hard, has been with us a long time, or clinically she's really good," she says. "In reality, we are avoiding dealing with a performance issue or tolerating toxic behavior, and the impact on staff morale and patient outcomes can be a problem."
Registration still open
Mark the date: October 9 to 12, 2005. There's still time to register for this bounty of leadership information. All preregistrations must be received by September 25, 2005. Walk-in registrations will be available on-site at the Contemporary Resort. Visit http://nmcongress.com for more details.
The conference committee has packed a lot of leadership tools into Monday's breakout sessions. Look for Tuesday's sessions and highlights in our next issue.