Nurses are teachers. Trauma nurses teach each other, physicians, prehospital providers, specialties that provide care to trauma patients, patients, families, and communities. The Society of Trauma Nurses had 6 major education initiatives in 2009.
1. The annual conference committee under the leadership of Madonna Walters, MSN, RN, has planned another wonderful educational opportunity "A World of Discovery" in Orlando, April 7-9, 2010. This year there will be more opportunities to obtain CEs (continuing education credits). There will be CEs available at several of the SIG (special interest group) meetings and in the Vendor Hall.The Education Committee has developed an aggressive plan to update and expand educational opportunities. Janet Cortez is the Board of Directors leader of this committee and Cindy Blank-Reid is the chairperson of the committee. There have been 3 very active subgroups.
2. The CE group has developed 3 of the sessions presented at the annual conference in 2009 as Web-based CE offerings and these are now available on the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) Web site. The topics are Grant Writing 101, Mosaic of Rural Trauma Care, and Anticoagulation Reversal in the Head-Injured Patient.
3. A curriculum group has developed the updated curriculum for the new edition of the e-library. The first edition of the e-library contained a CD that contained trauma-related presentations along with validated tests for each presentation.The e-library group has been hard at work on developing the content for each presentation. They plan to have a demonstration of the program available at the spring conference for feedback and input from attendees.
4. SLIP (Senior Lifestyles and Injury Prevention) is a complete program that contains 6 different modules encompassing fall prevention, home safety, motor vehicle, and pedestrian safety. SLIP includes PowerPoint presentations and accompanying materials that have been specifically designed for older population. This affordable program will enhance your injury prevention library. SLIP is the result of collaboration between the Michigan Trauma Professional Council, the Injury Prevention SIG, and current STN Board members.
5. The Optimal Trauma Center Organization and Management Course was developed by a partnership between the American College of Surgery Committee on Trauma (ACSCOT) and the STN.This collaborative course is taught by physicians and nurses with the goal of enhancing trauma center systems of care and improving patient care through implementation of the ACSCOT Trauma Center Standards. Whether a verified mature center or a hospital preparing for designation, this course is designed to assist participants to create strategies, processes, and operations to support trauma systems based on their own unique environments. The course is designed to assist trauma medical directors, trauma program managers/coordinators, administrators, trauma registrars, state/region personnel, and other disciplines involved in trauma.
6. Betsy Seislove, the STN Board of Directors ATCN chairperson, led the ATCN textbook and test update.
All of these initiatives have been designed to increase the quality and variety of educational opportunities available and provide tools for trauma nurses and trauma professionals to use while educating others in trauma care and injury prevention.