Do the sun and waves beckon you? Does the surf call you? If so, we hope you are making plans to attend the National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) Convention, July 8-11, 2009, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina in San Diego, California. The planning committee has worked hard to develop a program that will appeal to and be useful for staff development educators in a variety of settings and at various levels of experience. With the numerous and rapid changes occurring in health care, the convention is a great resource for ideas on how to meet the changing regulatory requirements and the challenges of decreasing resources.
THE CITY
San Diego is one of nation's largest cities and, arguably, one of its most pleasant. In addition to a balmy climate and 70 miles of beaches, San Diego boasts a long list of cultural sights and proximity to snowy mountains, sweeping desert, and the Mexican border. It is home to one of the country's best zoos as well as theme parks, world-caliber shopping centers, top-ranked golf courses, and a thriving arts scene, but with a pace more laid-back than that of busy Los Angeles.
First visited by Europeans in the mid-1500s, San Diego also happens to be one of America's older cities, its heritage visible in grand old Spanish Mansions and the architecture of Old Town and Gaslamp Quarter. But in addition to renovated historic buildings, the city also has to its credit a truly fine cultural complex, Balboa Park, which takes up in its sweep the San Diego Zoo, carefully cultivated gardens, and a very long list of museums, including the San Diego Museum of Art and the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
Venture out of the city center and the attractions are similarly varied. Curving gracefully across a stretch of San Diego Bay, the Coronado Bridge offers easy access to the long, soft beaches of the peninsular neighborhood, Coronado. In the general vicinity are two major wildlife parks, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Sea World. Beaches up and down the coast offer access to surfing hot spots, boardwalks, and noteworthy sunsets with towel space to spare, as well as easy access to art galleries, horse races, and assorted cultural pursuits. Vineyards flourish in Temecula Valley to the northwest, a popular spot for wine tasting tours, but venture farther east and you will shortly discover, depending on your outdoor needs, that it is a short trip to ski slopes and surreal desert.
In short, San Diego very nearly has it all-and what it does not have is within driving distance. San Diego is located in southwest California, about 20 miles from the Mexican border and 120 miles south of Los Angeles.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
This year's invited speakers are Beverly Malone, Maria O'Rourke, and Patricia Ebright.
Opening Session: Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN
Beverly Malone began her nursing career with a first degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati in 1970. She combined further study with clinical practice, a master's in psychiatric nursing, and a doctorate in clinical psychology in 1981.
Her career has mixed policy, education, administration, and clinical practice. Dr. Malone has worked as a surgical staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, director of nursing, and assistant administrator of nursing. During the 1980s, she was dean of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In 1996, she was elected for two terms as president of the American Nurses Association, representing 180,000 nurses in the United States. She became deputy assistant secretary for health within the US Department of Health and Human Services, the highest position so far held by any nurse in the US government.
Dr. Malone was general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the United Kingdom's largest professional union of nurses, with more than 390,000 members, from June 2001 to January 2007. Dr Malone was also a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. She represented the RCN, the European Federation of Nurses Associations, the Commonwealth Nurses Federation, and the International Council of Nurses with the RCN president.
In February 2007, Dr. Malone was appointed chief executive officer of the National League for Nursing (NLN) in New York. Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the NLN is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to 20,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members.
Keynote Session: Maria Williams O'Rourke, DNSc, RN, FAAN, CHC
Dr. O'Rourke is a nationally known expert on the use of the professional role within an interdisciplinary team, with special expertise in the use of the role of the registered nurse (RN). She was instrumental in rewriting the California Nursing Practice Act in 1974 and published the first paper on its implementation, which served to guide the profession in the appropriate use of the professional RN. Throughout her career, she has provided service and education with quality learning programs, which send a clear and consistent message about the professional RN role and the expectations for the performance. Her "Back to Basics" approach about role-based accountability paints a clear picture of the pivotal decision-making role that the professional role plays in the delivery of quality patient care and sets the stage for building strong role relationships within the clinical team.
She received her bachelor of science in nursing from Boston University and her master's and doctorate of nursing science from the University of California, San Francisco (USCF). Dr. O'Rourke was selected in 1977 as an NLN Robert Wood Johnson Fellow in Public Policy, elected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1985, awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for Boston University School of Nursing in 1986, and certified as a healthcare consultant by American Association of Healthcare Consultants in 2000. Through her dedication and extensive work, she has garnered several nominations for prestigious honors, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality and the Association of California Nurse Leaders Best Practice in Clinical Practice Award. She has held a variety of roles in service and education, including clinical nurse specialist, director of staff development and research, UCSF faculty, UCSF assistant dean for clinical affairs at San Francisco General Hospital and vice president of patient care services. She is currently president and CEO of Maria W. O'Rourke, Inc.
Closing Session: Patricia Ebright, DNS, RN
Dr. Ebright's healthcare experience includes 35 years as an RN, with the first 28 years as staff nurse, nurse manager, and clinical nurse specialist in acute care hospital settings. Since finishing a nursing doctorate in 1998 at Indiana University, she has been teaching in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Her research focus is on work complexity for healthcare providers and the link between complexity and care delivery systems, implementation of change in systems, and patient safety. She was a member of the first Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship class sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation and collaborates with Clarian Health Partners, Indianapolis, on its patient safety program. She recently completed an Informatics Fellowship with the Roudebush VA in Indianapolis.
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
The NNSDO convention's concurrent sessions are in the following tracks:
* Advanced
* Leadership
* General staff development
* Preceptor/recruitment/retention
* Technology
* Research
Presenters for the convention's 42 sixty-minute concurrent sessions are selected from submitted proposals, with the planning committee's most highly rated topics chosen. The planning committee works to ensure that the program has something for everybody by considering sessions for varying levels of experience, relevance of topic to current challenges in staff development/patient education, and feasibility of application to a variety of settings.
WORKSHOPS
The NNSDO convention program also has 16 four-hour workshops on a variety of topics. These longer sessions allow for more in-depth coverage of the topic as well as small-group activities designed to help participants consider practical applications. Workshops are scheduled for Wednesday (July 7, 2010) and Thursday (July 8, 2010). New this year, a bundle pricing package is being offered.
POSTERS
In addition to the podium presentations, there are more than 70 posters presented annually at each NNSDO convention. Poster presenters staff their posters during established times to allow for one-on-one communication between poster presenters and participants. Contact hours for poster presentations review are available.
NURSING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATION PREPARATION COURSE
The NNSDO has once again scheduled its popular and effective 2-day certification preparation course to prepare participants for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) generalist certification examination in nursing professional development. The course includes an extensive review of the staff development curriculum and a 60-question practice examination. This is a good foundational course for those new to staff development in addition to those wishing to take the certification examination. The course will be taught by Kari Schmidt, MS, RN-BC.
NURSING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION
The NNSDO has made arrangements to offer the Nursing Professional Development Certification Examination after the convention. The examination will be held on Sunday, July 11, 2010, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Members of the NNSDO pay a discounted fee of $310 (non-NNSDO-member rate is $380). Seating is limited to 100.
To take the examination, you must register directly with the ANCC. In Section 2 on the application, indicate that you are taking the examination Nursing Professional Development 24. In Section 3, list "San Diego-NNSDO Conv" for examination site location/city and "CA" for state. You can view the requirements and application at http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/PDFs/NursingProfDev_App.pdf or at the ANCC Web site at http://www.nursecredentialing.org, or you can call ANCC at (800) 284-2378.
Mail your application and accompanying materials early to ensure that your information is in order and that you are approved to take the examination in San Diego.
EXHIBITS
Representatives from a variety of companies will be on hand at the NNSDO convention to answer your questions and to demonstrate their products. You will learn about the latest products and services for staff development, and your practice will benefit from having a productive relationship with industry representatives who can keep you informed of the latest developments in technology, pharmaceuticals, software, publications, and other products and services for staff development professionals.
HOTEL INFORMATION
The 2010 convention will be held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. The Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina is holding rooms for the NNSDO at the rate of $169.00 for single/double occupancy or $189.00 for deluxe occupancy until June 12, 2010, or until the room block is filled.
Nestled at the edge of spectacular San Diego Bay, the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina enjoys panoramic views of the bay and the city skyline. Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina enjoys a prime waterfront location on lovely San Diego Bay. Many of the area's most popular attractions are within a short walk or drive, including the San Diego Zoo, Gaslamp Quarter, Old Town, Balboa Park, and Sea World Park. Shops and restaurants abound at nearby Horton Plaza.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For a complete copy of the NNSDO 2010 convention registration brochure, contact the NNSDO National Office at 800-489-1995 or 850-474-0995 or visit the NNSDO Web site at http://www.nnsdo.org.
Submitted by:
Jacquelyn Byrd, MSN, RN
Chair, NNSDO Planning Committee