I recently attended the Ohio Valley Plastic Surgery meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. I was very proud of our two PSNCB members who helped organize this meeting-Christine Brajkovich and Jacqueline Frazee; they did an amazing job. I would encourage everyone to try and support their regional meetings as well as the national convention. It is a great way to earn your required continuing education units, for recertification, and to network. The ASPSN (American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses) has launched the Plastic Surgical Nurses Certification.
Preparation Course DVD Series
The Plastic Surgical Nurses Certification Review course is a 4-disc series used to prepare nurses to sit for the PSNCB's Certified Plastic Surgical Nurse (CPSN) examination. This course is also offered in person in venues around the United States and Canada. It is presented by an ASPSN member Marcia Spear, MSN, RN, CPSN, CWS, APRN-BC.
After the completion of the course, the learner will be able to
* describe significant characteristics of the specialty practice of plastic surgical nursing.
* discuss components of the preoperative assessment of plastic surgery patients.
* describe the role of the nurse in caring for the patient receiving anesthesia.
* describe specific considerations for geriatric patients.
* identify the principles of wound healing.
* discuss nonsurgical interventions for skin esthetics.
* identify intraoperative standards and recommended practices.
* discuss esthetic and reconstructive surgeries of the head and neck.
* identify various technologies used in plastic surgical procedures.
To purchase your copy, and other ASPSN publications, visit the ASPSN store on their Web site (https://aspsn.org).
To learn more about the CPSN examination, please visit the Web site of Plastic Surgical Nurses Certification Board.
To be eligible to apply for certification, the candidate must
1. be currently licensed as a registered nurse in the United States, its territories, or Canada;
2. have a minimum of 2 years of plastic surgical nursing experience as a registered nurse in a general staff, administrative, teaching, or research capacity within 5 years prior to application; and
3. have spent at least 50% of practice hours in plastic surgical nursing during 2 years of the preceding 5 years.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at (502)-459-2319 or the national office at (978)-927-8330.
For a list of sites and application deadlines, please visit the C-NET Web site.
The deadline to apply for the ASPSN convention examination on October 26, 2012, is August 27, 2012.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at this year's convention October 26-29, 2012, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Reserve your hotel room before Friday, September 28, 2012, housing deadline.