Nurses are Conference Presenters, too

Well, this week finds me at my desk in my office again wondering what to blog about.  And, the mail is not delivering any answers this week.  But, my workload is!  I am sitting here surrounded by layouts for scholarly posters that various nurses are going to be presenting at conferences throughout the country over the next few months.  This gets me thinking of another thing that defines today’s nurse: conference presenter. 

So, what does it mean for a nurse to present at a conference?  It all starts with the implementation of a great idea—which nurses have no short supply of.  The ideas range from nurses giving change-of-shift reports at the bedside to using a new piece of medical equipment.  These ideas are put into effect and nurses measure the success of them.  After trying them out for a while, successful ideas are put into everyday practice.  This is where the road to conference presentation begins and where a large part of my job takes place.

The process begins with developing a brief, concise written statement about what the project is, how it was implemented and what results have been achieved.  I help nurses who work at the bedside to put their ideas on paper and meet the requirements of the specific conference.  Once this is accepted, the nurse will either develop a poster or an oral presentation using PowerPoint slides.  Again, I help the everyday nurse put thoughts and ideas on paper.  These thoughts are then made into beautiful, shiny vinyl posters or PowerPoint slides for the nurse to take to the conference and present to nursing professionals throughout the country.

The nurses who get to present posters or speak to a group absolutely love the experience and are truly rock stars.  They get to share their hard work and outstanding ideas with nurses from all over to bring back to hospitals from all over…changing practice throughout the country.  And, local nurses who go to a conference bring back new ideas from other places to try here.  This idea of professionals sharing and learning from each other is how a profession grows.  And, most importantly, it is how nurses in the Lehigh Valley provide the very best care to patients right here. 

The next time you find yourself talking with a nurse, ask if he or she has been to a conference lately—either as a presenter or a learner—or learned anything from a colleague who has attended.  Then, rest assured knowing that today’s nurses provide the best care because they learn from the real life experiences of nursing colleagues everywhere.