International guests receive welcome reception
In November of this year, hundreds of healthcare professionals, academics and consumers descended on Adelaide, Australia with one common purpose in mind: to witness, discuss, and explore the possibilities inherent in the evidence-based healthcare revolution.
Delegates present at the 2009 Joanna Briggs Institute International Convention 'Ripples to Revolution: from bench to bedside'; looked on as rowdy revolutionaries besieged the InterContinental Adelaide, intent on making their voices heard as they called for better research and scientific evidence to back the healthcare methods practiced by nurses, midwives, medicos and allied health professionals all around the world. In fact, over 60 countries were represented at this event alone, including Australia, Canada, Belgium, Romania, Nigeria, Thailand, China, Japan, Pakistan, Qatar, Italy, England, Scotland, USA, Ethiopia, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Spain, among others.
After a moving opening ceremony, Professor Alan Pearson welcomed the diverse group of attendees before they were addressed via video link by the renowned Sir Muir Gray, who examined the call to revolution and the reasons for its necessity. Soon after, the proceedings heated up as Dr Norman Swan and Associate Professor Mellick Chehade went head to head in a debate over the need for an evidence-based healthcare revolution in Australia and throughout the world.
It was on this high-energy note that the convention kicked off, leaving attendees to grapple with their own beliefs about the revolution and what their role in it may be. Each day opened and closed with presentations from highly-regarded keynote speakers including such globally recognised names as Professor Jos Kleijnen, Eamonn Noonan, Nick Royle, Dr Philip Hassen, Professor Chris Baggoley, Professor Jeremy Wyatt, Professor Margaret Cargo, Dr Kate Flemming, Dr Lisa Hopp, and more.
Suitably challenged by the keynote speakers, the delegates then had three days to hear the sessions that were thoughtfully prepared and presented by their respected peers in healthcare from around the world, choosing to attend over 85 different oral presentations throughout the convention. Day one was themed 'From Bench'; while day two was themed 'To Bedside'; and day three was 'And Back Again';. Together, the presentations over the three days helped show delegates how to take evidence from bench to bedside and back again in order to improve their practice in each unique healthcare situation.
Topics were wide-ranging, covering issues from dementia to Aboriginal hospitals, medication safety to domestic violence in Pakistan, and systematic reviews in education to the meaning of evidence for the consumer. Other topics included cancer care, nurse mentoring, malnutrition in the elderly, using podcasts to broadcast systematic reviews, pain management, the effect of music therapy, the Cochrane Nursing Care Network, randomised controlled trials, ethical issues, health promotion, mental health, nurse distress, wound management, and many more.
Delegates report that having such an impressive variety of presentations to choose from helped them to explore topics that they would not normally have the opportunity to engage with. One attendee exclaimed that it was "great to see such a high standard set for the quality of the presentations that were chosen to make up the concurrent sessions". Chris Cafcakis, Events Officer at the Joanna Briggs Institute, agreed, saying, "We experienced an enormous amount of interest from those wishing to showcase the work that they're doing at the 2009 convention. Though it was hard to narrow our choices down, we were very pleased to have a large group of submissions from which to choose the highest quality presentations to include in our event".
Orator Professor Robin Watts, Foundation Professor of Nursing at Curtin University and Director of the WA Centre for Evidence Based Nursing and Midwifery, provided a stirring Oration titled 'Musings from the March';. Having spent her early career as a nurse educator in Honduras and working as part of the great change in nursing education in Australia, not to mention serving for nine years as the Royal College of Nursing Australia nominee on the Australian Health Ethics Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Professor Watts was more than qualified to give this important address. Held on day two of the event, the Oration celebrated the evidence-based healthcare movement and its accomplishments and helped delegates to focus on envisioning the future.
Another highlight of the event was a special lunchtime celebration on Thursday 19 November, where three very important new resources were launched as a part of the Joanna Briggs Institute's suite of services and tools. The three new products included JBI CONnECT+, a fully reworked version of the old CONnECT website and database which incorporates all of the old features and tools in addition to some exclusive new and exciting aspects. Also included were the new Burns Node and Mental Health Node. Both are now ready for public use thanks to very generous funding. The Burns node is supported by SA Burns, a collaboration between the Burns Service RAH and CYHS, NSW Severe Burns Injury Service and Burns WA. The Mental Health Node is funded by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
Though the convention provided ample opportunity for learning, discussion, debate and deliberation, there was no lack of entertainment and networking opportunities!! The first day of the event kicked off with a cocktail reception where SA welcomed the world to its doorstep for the 2009 International Convention. This is was an exciting event that was hosted by the Centre for Evidence-based Practice in South Australia (CEPSA) and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide, Justin Beilby. The very next evening delegates enjoyed a revolutionary evening of food and entertainment at the Gala Dinner. Between fresh SA produce, the tantalizing Circus Trick Tease performance group, and magician Matt Hollywood, the attendees were more than primed for dancing by the time local group The Flaming Sambucas took the stage!! Delegates danced the night away at what was termed "the best Gala Dinner I've ever been to" by more than one enthusiastic guest!!
All in all, this paper is pleased to report that the 2009 Joanna Briggs International Convention, 'Ripples to revolution: from bench to bedside' was an outstanding success!! It was made possible with the support of several sponsors and exhibitors, who JBI thanks heartily for their contributions. Till next year!!