During the 18th century, Philadelphia was known as the "Athens of the Americas" due to its rich, diverse culture. Today, the city continues as a cultural center with landmarks such as Independence Hall, the United States Mint, and neighboring Valley Forge National Historic Park. Adding to this enlightening environment October 15 to 18 is Congress2006, Nursing Management's flagship conference. Featuring several thorough, hands-on workshops, followed by two-and-a-half days of stimulating sessions, Congress2006 will satisfy the needs of nurse executives, service line leaders, directors of staff education and development, nursing faculty, and many others across the nursing leadership continuum.
Many of the sessions Congress2006 is offering run the educational gamut. Because of the numerous noteworthy topics to choose from, one article couldn't adequately sum up the amount of remarkable activities this year's conference has in store. Comprising the final part of a three-part series, this month's installment delves deeper into the symposium by highlighting five sessions guaranteed to spark discussion and add to your knowledge base.
Room for improvement
According to Judith Briles, DBA, MBA, author, The Briles Group, Inc., Aurora, Colo., rarely is a communication style wrong-it's just different. During her session, "What the Bleep Did You Say?" Briles will share specific steps to effective communication both as a listener and speaker. She also plans on educating attendees as to the pitfalls of sharing too much information, and why listening is the key to resolving conflict and successful negotiation.
"The number one way to create staff conflict is rotten communications," Briles explains. "'What the Bleep Did You Say?' promises to deliver four quick ways to effectively communicate what you want and mean, and a miniscript that will cut through the maze that miscommunication and conflict creates."
Recruitment and retention is a constant struggle in many nursing arenas. With this in mind, Dennis R. Sherrod, RN, EdD, Forsyth Medical Center, endowed chair of recruitment and retention, division of nursing, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, N.C., will explore a number of studies and models that recognize excellence and promote nurse satisfaction in the healthcare setting during his session "Hallmarks of Healthy Workplaces."
"Attracting and keeping the best talent requires consistent improvement of both our workforce and our workplace," notes Sherrod. "Retention is your best recruitment strategy!! Just as we've learned we must improve quality and individualize care to improve patient satisfaction, we must systematically improvethe workplace to keep our staff engaged and enthusiastic."
Improving communication and staff engagement are crucial factors in nursing. Nonetheless, expanding your skills using pen and paper is just as important. Anne Woods, RN, PRN, BC, CRNP, MSN, clinical director, journals, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Ambler, Pa., will discuss developing manuscripts that suit the needs of the reader, journal, and editors so it's more likely to be accepted. As this session is an open discussion, Woods encourages attendees to bring topic ideas to critique and get feedback from the group.
"Many nurse managers and their staffs want to spread the word about how they're improving patient outcomes by using evidence-based practice, but don't know how to do it," says Woods. "The session 'Doing the "Write" Thing for Your Career' educates nurses on the process of writing for publication from idea development, literature search, and writing the article, through formal submission. My goal is to mentor novice nurse authors through the writing process so they can contribute to moving the profession forward."
Motivate employees
Employee motivation challenges nurse leaders at all levels. During his session "Do What? Oh, I Just Make the Fries," Jeffrey Doucette, RN, CEN, MS, associate operating officer, Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C., will examine the barriers to effective staff performance, best practices for ensuring employee accountability, and easy-to-implement solutions to motivate your team.
"Many leaders today are challenged with motivating employees to go above and beyond," Doucette notes. "Learn some new and innovative ways to get the most out of your team."
Evidence-based practices are "becoming more and more practical in healthcare settings," according to Melissa A. Fitzpatrick, RN, MSN, FAAN, principal healthcare strategist, SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.; president and CEO, Fitzpatrick & Associates, Chapel Hill, N.C. Fitzpatrick developed a key session titled "Becoming Evidence-Based in Your Practice: Metrics and Strategy and Alignment OH MY!!" With a tagline of "If we measure it, we can achieve it," the class aims to help quantify the difference that nurses make every day in the delivery of high-quality care, and in the ability to achieve a strong bottom line while simultaneously providing high patient and nurse satisfaction.
"Evidence-based practice is a term that's all the rage today and nurses need to dive into this arena with both feet," she says. "Using data and the best clinical evidence to drive patient care decision making is essential if we're to achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients in the most cost-effective manner."
Register now
You can register for Congress2006 by one of three ways: online (see below), via fax at 1-856-218-0557, or by phone at 1-800-346-7844, ext. 7798 or ext. 7750. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.nmcongress.com.
Exhibitors galore
The following healthcare companies will have representatives in the exhibit hall:
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
American Nurses Association
American Organization of Nurse Executives
AMN Healthcare
Armstrong Medical Industries, Inc.
Artromick International, Inc.
Assessment Technologies Institute, LLC
Atlas Business Solutions, Inc.
AtStaff, Inc.
Avant Healthcare Professionals, LLC
Bernard Hodes Group
B. E. Smith
BidShift, Inc.
C2 Professional Services Group
Calmoseptine, Inc.
Care Systems, Inc.
Cross Country Staffing
Dale Medical Products, Inc.
Durfold Corporation
Elsevier-Mosby/Saunders
Excelsior College
Fastaff US Nursing
FocusOne Solutions
HCPro, Inc.
Hoana Medical
IVS/InteleCare, Inc.
Jannetti Publications, Inc.
Jeron Electronic Systems, Inc.
Job2 Career
Lionville Systems, Inc.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, division of Wolters Kluwer Health
Muffin Enterprises, Inc.
Nonin Medical, Inc.
Nurses Service Organization
O'Grady Peyton International
On Assignment Nurse Travel
OptiVox Patient Reports
Per-Se Technologies
Posey Company
Raspberry Med, Inc.
Rauland-Borg Corporation
Res-Q Healthcare Systems
SimplexGrinnell
SpectraLink
Suburban Surgical Company, Inc.
Symbio Solutions, Inc.
TekTone Sound & Signal Mfg., Inc.
VasTech
Vivid Learning Systems
Wescom Products for Healthcare, Inc.
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