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2022 Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium

Join hundreds of your fellow cardiovascular nurses and nurse practitioners at the Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association's (PCNA's) 28th Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium. We're excited to be holding the meeting in person at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel on March 24 to 26, 2022. Virtual attendance is available as well through our webcast. This 3-day program will cover the hottest topics in the field.

 

Pharmacology Preconference

 

* Supplement Use in Cardiovascular Patients: What You Need to Know

 

* Contraceptive Pills, Hormone Therapies and Cardiovascular Disease Risks

 

* Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19: A Review of the Current Data

 

* Heart Failure: Evidenced-based Pharmacologic Therapies

 

 

General Sessions

 

* Assessing Cardiovascular Risk: Where Is the Data Now and Where Do We Go From Here?

 

* Spectrum of Chronic Kidney and the Impact on Overall Cardiovascular Health

 

* Resistant Hypertension: Who Is at Risk? Detection, Evaluation and Treatment

 

* COVID-19 Long-Haulers: The Search for Answers

 

* Management of Atrial Fibrillation and Best Practices

 

* Maternal Mortality: All About Cardiovascular Disease and Prevention

 

* Health Equity

 

* Precision Medicine and Genetics

 

* Cardiovascular Health and CVD Risk in Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

 

* Renewal and Resilience for Healthcare Burnout

 

 

Learn more and register at https://pcna.net/symposium/.

 

Cardiovascular Nursing Certificate Scholarships

The Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association's new Cardiovascular Nursing Certificate is a first-in-class educational program that will enhance your skills in cardiovascular care and support your career advancement. If you are interested in the certificate but can't afford the cost, consider applying for a scholarship. The application is a simple 5-question form.

 

We are so excited to offer this educational experience for nurses! It can improve your job satisfaction, expand career opportunities, and enhance the care you provide to your patients. Learn more and sign up at pcna.net/certificate.

 

Behavior Change for Heart Health

Helping patients successfully navigate the complexities of behavior change is a top priority for many professionals in the field of cardiovascular disease management. Research studies support the use of a variety of behavior change strategies in addressing risk factors such as activity, weight loss, smoking cessation, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and blood glucose levels,1,2 yet patients often struggle to apply these changes to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.

 

Particularly for diverse and underserved racial/ethnic groups who are at a higher risk,3 having a variety of options can allow for more individualized interactions and effectively reach patients where they are on the continuum of change, reduce frustration, and empower patients to make behavioral changes over time.

 

The Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association's updated "Behavior Change Mini-Certificate Program" is geared to assist healthcare providers from a variety of settings-cardiac rehabilitation, primary care, community outreach, and inpatient and outpatient clinical encounters-and improve their knowledge and skills in helping their patients apply effective behavior change strategies. Participants completing the program will earn a minimum of 8.0 CE contact hours.

 

Learn more at pcna.net/behaviorchange.

 

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Understanding This Underdiagnosed Disease

With an estimated worldwide prevalence of 1 in 500 (0.2%),4 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common genetic heart disease in the United States.5 What are the most recent guidelines on how we, as providers, effectively recognize and manage this underrecognized disease?

 

The Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association has an ever-expanding set of resources for providers and their patients about this important clinical topic. The most recent offerings will be discussed hereinafter, which are available at pcna.net/HCM.

 

Peer-to-Peer Videos

A combination of relatable anecdotes, personal insights, and instruction will be explored in a pair of short (2- to 3-minute) tutorial videos to expand understanding about the role of shared decision making in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and empower patients to be meaningful members of their healthcare team. One video is geared at increasing the knowledge and skills of clinicians, and the other is aimed at providers to share with their patients within a clinical encounter.

 

Patient Education

Designed for healthcare providers to share with their patients in the context of a clinical encounter, a new patient education sheet helps patients, their families, and caregivers understand what hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is, its symptoms and treatments, and how to partner with the healthcare team, which is available as a digital download for use on electronic devices or to be printed and shared with patients.

 

Heart Failure Prescribers Guide

Heart failure is a chronic progressive disease and the most common hospital discharge diagnosis for patients older than 65 years.6 It is a complex disease to manage, and providers have a large armamentarium of pharmacologic agents, devices, and related interventions for treatment. To help clinicians have easy access to the most up-to-date, guideline-driven strategies, PCNA has created a pocket prescriber's guide that includes the following:

 

* Heart failure with preserved injection fraction and heart failure with reduced injection fraction similarities and differences

 

* Heart failure stages and classes

 

* Lifestyle management

 

* Pharmacological management

 

* Therapeutic management

 

 

This is available as a digital download and with limited print quantities. Providers can find this and other resources at pcna.net/hf.

 

It Runs in the Family: Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Underdiagnosed and undertreated, familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder characterized by high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and a significant increased risk of coronary heart disease.7,8 The worldwide prevalence of FH is estimated at 1:300 individuals, with some populations at a greater risk.9 Homozygous FH is the most severe form; although a rare disease, it is estimated to affect between 1:160 000 and 1:300 000 people globally.10

 

The Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association has recently updated the patient education sheet, "What You Need to Know: Familial Hypercholesterolemia," to reflect new guidelines and treatments. Used in a clinical encounter and as a take-home resource for patients, this sheet will help improve understanding of heterozygous and homozygous FH signs, symptoms, family history, and testing-even in young people.

 

Download or order at PCNA.net/FH.

 

All About Aortic Stenosis

Available online 24/7 and accessible when you need it, PCNA's new, 2-part video tutorial series will help increase your awareness and understanding of aortic stenosis. Earn 0.25 CE contact hours for each video (each approximately 15 minutes long).

 

The first video focuses on the aortic valve: anatomy and normal function, causes and risk factors for aortic stenosis, and symptoms. The second video targets how to effectively identify aortic stenosis in clinical practice-from family history and physical examination to diagnostic testing.

 

Find both videos at PCNA.net.

 

REFERENCES

 

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3. Stuart-Shor EM, Berra KA, Kamau MW, Kumanyika SK. Behavioral strategies for cardiovascular risk reduction in diverse and underserved racial/ethnic groups. Circulation. 2012;125:171-184. doi:. [Context Link]

 

4. Husser D, Ueberham L, Jacob J, et al. Prevalence of clinically apparent hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Germany-an analysis of over 5 million patients. PLoS One. 2018;13(5):e0196612. [Context Link]

 

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8. Nordestgaard BG, Chapman MJ, Humphries SE, et al. Familial hypercholesterolaemia is underdiagnosed and undertreated in the general population: guidance for clinicians to prevent coronary heart disease: consensus statement of the European Atherosclerosis Society. Eur Heart J. 2013;34:3478-3490a. doi:. [Context Link]

 

9. Beheshti SO, Madsen CM, Varbo A, Nordestgaard BG. Worldwide prevalence of familial hypercholesterolemia: meta-analyses of 11 million subjects. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75:2553-2566. [Context Link]

 

10. Vallejo-Vaz AJ, Ray KK. Epidemiology of familial hypercholesterolaemia: community and clinical. Atherosclerosis. 2018;277:289-297. doi:. [Context Link]