There was no nursing shortage in Atlanta when more than 6,000 critical care nurses gathered at the Georgia World Congress Center for the annual meeting of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). From May 4 to 9, presentations ran from sunup to sundown. American Red Cross trainings, computer learning labs, and research sessions updated nurses in areas ranging from pediatric asthma to capnography to certification reviews. FIGURES 1 and 2

Figure 1. Members of the 2002 class of the Wyeth/

Figure 2. Students from Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School visited the exhibit hall as part of AACN's outreach to schoolchildren to encourage them to think about careers in nursing.

Highlights from this year's program included the keynote address given by AACN president Michael L. Williams. In keeping with this year's theme, A Journey of Rediscovery: Looking In and Reaching Out, he encouraged nurses to renew their passion for caring and then share it with others. Nurses also heard from Dana Reeve-the wife of actor Christopher Reeve, who has become an advocate of research into spinal cord injuries-and award-winning journalist Suzanne Gordon, who charged her audience to "tell the world" about nursing.

In the accompanying three-day critical care exposition, representatives of more than 400 pharmaceutical companies, product manufacturers, publishers, and health care organizations staffed exhibition booths in the huge hall.

Next year's meeting will be held in San Antonio, Texas, from May 17 to 22. For information about the AACN, go to http://www.aacn.org. FIGURES 3-5

Figure 3. Learning labs in the convention center gave participants opportunities for continuing education and other programs.

Figure 4. Sales of the 2002 NTI logo T-shirt had this group in smiles.

Figure 5. The Critical Care Exposition brought together nurses and product manufacturers; hands-on (or full body) experience can be invaluable in assessing equipment.

Maureen Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN

news director