The American Diabetes Association's 71st Scientific Sessions took place at the end of June and several headlines have come across our newsfeed .  Here are some highlights that you might be interested in:

• Diabetes Prevention Strategies Are Cost-Effective: Lifestyle intervention and metformin treatment are cost-effective and improve quality of life
• Cardiac Risk Factors Up in Teen Girls With Diabetes: Adolescent girls with diabetes have higher CRP, LDL, HbA1c and BMI than boys
• Longer Life Expectancy for Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: Survival gap between patients with type 1 diabetes and the general U.S. population decreasing
• Diabetes Prevalence, Glycemia Levels Rising Globally: In high-income subregions, North America has largest increase in mean fasting plasma glucose
• Dietary Support Helps Type 2 Diabetes Outcomes: Intense diet intervention improves glycemic control, but exercise does not offer more benefits
• High-Protein or High-Carb Diet Help Weight Loss: Found equally effective in helping patients with type 2 diabetes lose weight
• Sulphonylurea Agents May Increase Cardiac Events: Sulfonylurea therapies may increase risk of CVD events in older patients with type 2 diabetes

Access more information from this meeting, including video highlights, webcasts of select presentations, and links to abstracts, at DiabetesPro: Professional Resources Online.

I just attended the ANCC Magnet Conference in Phoenix last week and I have to say it was one of the best conferences I've attended this year. Each year it seems to grow larger and larger. This year was no exception with over 6,500 attendees. The excitement was certainly palpable as I saw groups of nurses, sometimes 20-30 nurses from the same facility, banding together and celebrating their accomplishments. The sessions were very practical and addressed the issues all institutions face as they are embarking on the Magnet Journey. Deepak Chopra MD gave the keynote speech and spoke about the power and art of caring which nurses do so well.

For those of you who are looking for a conference to reinvigorate your passion for our profession, then I encourage you to attend the ANCC Magnet Conference in 2011.

    On  Wednesday, September 22 to Sunday September 26, nurse managers and nurse executives are gathering at Nursing Management Congress at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas near Dallas. While the Congress is still underway, I wanted to post about how great the conference is going. Preconferences on September 22 and 23rd provided essential skills for new nurse managers and those seeking certification as nurse executive or nurse executive advanced. Plus some attendees explored the Anatomy of a Malpractice Trial.    

    The evening of September 23rd, Nancy McKinstry CEO and Chairman of Wolters Kluwer, (Lippincott's parent company), delivered the opening address. Nancy McKinstry set the stage for the entire Nursing Management Congress by discussing national and international trends in nursing and the demands on nurses' need for information. She demonstrated how advances in technology and information solutions can be integrated into nurses' workflow to help them focus on what is relevant and credible among the enormous volumes of new information available to them.  Nancy McKinstry emphasized the critical importance of nurse managers and nurse executives of placing access to evidence based information at the bedside or clinical area to improve quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of nursing care.

     While the planners of Nursing Management Congresss are serious about providing education, they also like to infuse energetic, motivational, and entertaining presentations in to the program.   The keynote address on Friday, September 24th "performed" by Robin Crow delivered on all three points. His riveting guitar music captivated the nursing audience while he drove home a leadership message of personal accountability for ensuring the success and survice quality in our organizations.

     With a day and a half to go, the participants are enthusiastice about the sessions, new products and opportunities in the exhibital hall, and they are networking and sharing ideas about new practice and management models at the poster sessions.

The NNSDO Convention is off to a great start at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in San Diego, CA. Preconference workshops commenced on Wednesday, July 7 and Thursday, July 8 and included topics on leadership, technology, research, and preparation for the nursing professional development certification exam. The keynote address was delivered by Beverly Malone, PhD,RN,FAAN, Chief Exective Officer of the National League for Nursing. Dr. Malone addressed the audience with an energetic and dynamic presentation which challenged our assumptions about the ongoing issues within nursing that undermine workplace safety. She provided a framework for transformational leadership to improve interactions among coworkers and create a more harmonious work environment.

During the conference, NNSDO celebrated the publication of the Scope and Standards of Nursing Professional Development with a parade of costumed nurses depicting the roles of the nursing professional development specialist, which was a truly memorable moment.

A strong theme that resonated was addressing the need for more rigorous research to support the practice of nursing professional development specialists, especially during the session, What's the Evidence for Your Practice presented by Julia Aucoin, Vicki Lundmark, Mary Krugman, and Joan Warren. This panel demonstrated how much of the professional education literature is based on tradition, myths, or huge leaps and generalizations. This is not an indictment of nursing professional development specialists alone, there is deficiency in all the health professional continuing education literature. This provides a vast opportunity for research.

The participants also have opportunities to learn more about their colleagues evidence-based research and implementation projects at the poster presentations. Attendees are meeting with exhibitors, and they are attending NNSDO business meetings while at the Convention. There is quite a bit of networking and sharing of ideas and best practices for new ideas to take back to their organizations. 

As the Director of CE and Conferences, I have a bird's-eye view of the activities at the National Conference for Nurse Practitioner. While not being able to summarize the entire conference in this blog, I will share five notable observations and factoids that I learned this week in Chicago.

1. According to statistics presented by Kismet Rasmussen on Women in Heart Disease: 2010 Update, health care providers continue to be unaware of women’s high risk for heard disease and that more women than man die from heart attacks. For a full list of data go to: http://www.womensheart.org/content/HeartDisease/heart_disease_facts.asp
2. Mimi Secor shared that very few NPs are trained in the insertion of implantable and intrauterine contraception underscoring the importance of networking with colleagues and identifying willing preceptors.
3. The Michael Loughran, President of AON Affinity Liability Insurance and Bruce Dmytrow, VP CNA presented research data collected from a 10 year period from1998 to 2008 that debunks the myth that years RN experience prior to becoming a nurse practitioner is a predictor of avoidance of malpractice. The research shows that a greater number of years as an NP is more protection from malpractice claims.  
4. More health systems are tapping into the value of employing NPs as hospitalists for full-time coverage. Some conference participants shared examples hospitals that employ over 100 NPs. Consequently, acute care nurse practitioners need more continuing education related to their specific learning needs.
5. Last but not least, Chicagoans are extremely friendly and helpful. This may not be what you were expecting, but it is very important when conference attendees are navigating an unfamiliar city and complex convention space. Kudos to the Hyatt Regency hotel and convention staff, local security team, and registration workers!

So here I am at the National Conference for Nurse Practitioners; the conference for primary and acute care clinicians.  This year the conference is in the windy city, Chicago. Today was the first day of the conference and I have to say it didn't disappoint.  Eleen O'Grady's, PhD, RN, NP keynote address titled: Health Care Reform 2010: Taking Risks, Speaking Up, and Stepping Out, was truely inspirational.  She spoke about the opportunities for advanced practice nurses, especially nurse practitioners, with health care reform.  She challenged all the NP's in the audience to stretch outside their comfort zone and look at ways NPs can really make a difference. She cautioned the audience to fight the fights that really make a difference and to avoid the issues that aren't worth pursuing.  She spoke about the need for one unifying body which NPs and other advanced practice nurses can call as their own and can bring an influential voice to Capital Hill.  For the first time, it appears the federal government recognizes the value NPs and other advanced practice nurses can bring to healthcare reform.

If you are an NP looking for a combination primary care/acute care conference, then I recommend you attend NCNP 2011. 

Christine Kessler, MSN, CRNP of Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. delivered the opening address at Nursing2010 Symposium in Las Vegas on April 6. In her presentation titled "What Would Florence Do? Nursing Past, Present, and Future", Kessler reported on experts' projections about the severity of the nursing shortage over the next ten to fifteen years. Kessler also warned that we should not assume that the nursing shortage is over because many markets that are experiencing a downturn in the economy have little to no vacancies. The global trend is that the aging nursing workforce will result in many practicing nurses and nursing faculty retiring at high rates. Kessler made optimistic suggestions for increasing numbers in the profession, and generated keen interest from a group of nurses traveling from Jordan who shared their story about the nursing shortage.

I met two of the nurses from Jordan at the reception that evening and asked them if I could share their strory in my blog. Randa, a doctoral nurse and Alia, a baccalaureate nurse, were eager to discuss how there is a shortage of female nurses in their country. They explained that not only are fewer women entering the workforce than men, but that the women often leave the profession when they marry and have children. A factor that compounds the problem is that in this predominently Muslim nation, there are religious traditions that dictate who can deliver care based on gender. Randa said that "men an women are separate floors in the hospital" and "women only are permitted to care for other women and children". Therefore, these nurses are very concerned about the quality of care of women and children. Randa and Alia are encouraged by the government's action of setting quotas in nursing schools that require admission of a higher percentage of females. Still they are seeking additional ideas from Nursing2010 Symposium to take back to Jordan and disseminate in papers and presentations.

Like these Jordanian nurses, nurse exectives, nurse educators, and government officials around the globe must collaborate to find realistic solutions to the nursing shortage. To learn more about the global nursing shortage, go to the International Council of Nurses website at www.inc.ch and the World Health Organization website at www.who.int.

Welcome from Nursing2010 Symposium in Las Vegas!  I have just spent the last 3 days attending a conference focused on providing nurses with the most up to date information for clinical practice and professional development. It was refreshing to hear from over 1,000 nurses, how excited they were to attend a conference and network with their colleagues. What made this more impressive was the fact that the majority of these nurses paid for their travel and the conference on their own.  All the sessions challenged attendees to think differently about how they can be better leaders regardless if they are in a clinical, management, or educational role.

I encourage each of you to attend at least one conference each year. The opportunity to recharge your batteries and network with colleagues can be just the medicine you need to become energized about the nursing profession once again. 

I am at the HIMSS Conference in Atlanta, Georgia right now.  For those of you who don't know what HIMSS stands for, it is the Healthcare Information and  Management Systems Society.  This conference is one of the most cutting-edge conferences I have ever attended.  According to the HIMSS representative I spoke to, their attendance is 25,000 this year.  For those of you interested in how technology can improve practice, this conference is for you.  Nurses involved in informatics, clinical leaders, and nurse leaders presented how information management systems, electronic health care records, computerized prescriber order entry, and different types of monitoring systems can fit into workflow and give nurses the clinical support they need to deliver the highest quality, evidence-based care. What I was most impressed with was their Interoperability Showcase which used patient case studies to demonstrate how different systems can exchange information and seamlessly work together.  Many of the sessions stressed the importance of having nurses part of the decision making process when new technology is being evaluated.

It was refreshing to see healthcare institutions sending their nurse leaders, clinical leaders, and nurse informatics specialists to this conference to find ways to use technology to improve patient care.  If you're interested in how technology can improve nursing practice and improve patient outcomes, or your facility is looking at new technology, then I would highly recommend you attend this conference.