GWAC Critical Care Chronicle Volume 14, Issue 3 March 2014 The President s Message Brett Dodd, RN, CEN, CCRN, CFRN The Greater Washington Area Chapter of AACN has done some pretty amazing things over the past few years. I m hoping more members will get involved with the specific projects supporting the GWAC mission To provide valuable networking and educational opportunities that prepare acute and critical care nurses to make their optimal contribution in delivering the highest quality patient and family centered care. I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of our chapter s accomplishments over the past year. 1. Promotion to student nurses. In partnership with The Medicines Company, a presentation was done to help student nurses and recently graduated nurses prepare for job interviews. This was done in Pennsylvania in an area where new nurses were struggling to find employment. We also used student nurse volunteers at the past Spotlight on Critical Care conference and have implemented them into our Spotlight 2014 planning. Our goal is get nurses involved in critical care early and show them the benefits of being involved in a professional organization. 2. GWAC Hospital Liaison Program. Designed to be an entry-level position for involvement beyond general membership, this program encourages others to promote the AACN/GWAC benefits and programs. The thought is to make outside meetings and commitments minimal while placing the emphasis on communication with peers at your facility. Initial interest in this program has been great and our first meeting was in early February via GoToMeeting. 3. Transition Meetings. Traditionally, our yearly transition meeting was held at someone s home as we turned over the GWAC Board Of Directors crown to our next generation of leaders. Starting last year, our transition meeting has been a four-hour minileadership conference highlighting topics important to GWAC leaders. This meeting offered CE's to attendees and was open to all of our members to attend. The second annual Transition Meeting is scheduled for June of this year at Suburban Hospital. 4. Advanced Practice Conference. This is our third year of promoting education in advanced care through the rejuvenation of our Advanced Practice conference. Expanding our horizons and ensuring GWAC meets the educational needs of the student nurse up to the advanced practice nurse, this conference is growing roots and has a core group of advanced practice members dedicated to its planning. A recently added Advance Practice board position will help GWAC ensure excellent guidance for future endeavors with advanced practice nurses. 5. Commitment to the creation of policies. To try and ensure uniformity within our organization and to create better standardization from year-to-year, we began to create policies to address common issues. The first of these addresses the "process for requests to recruit nurses as research subjects." The second policy we created addresses advertisement of events outside of GWAC to our members. These two policies help the board address the many requests the chapter gets on a monthly basis while protecting the interest of our members. 6. Move to paperless. Through the work of various channels, we've worked to be "green." This means online membership applications, paperless registration for conferences, and the use of a centralized e-mail list for promoting events. The addition of technologies, like credit card readers for payments and ipads for walk in registration has simplified the process to join AACN/GWAC and attend conferences while minimizing paper and time. Through this move we've greatly reduced our costs and use of paper while continuing to meet the needs of our members. 7. Promotion of involvement through online meetings. Over the past year, our chapter has transitioned from onsite meetings to the use of GoToMeeting. This has helped encourage participation on the BOD and committees by not requiring physical presence at meetings. By offering virtual attendance, we are encouraging participation while respecting the member s time. Education was provided at last year s transition meeting to ensure the BOD, new and returning, was familiar with this option. As we continue to grow and think of new and innovative ways to meet the needs of our members, we could use your help. If you are interested in participating on a committee or have an idea to help promote education, please contact me at Brettdodd@msn.com or go to our website www.gwac-aacn.com and contact any of our board members. I look forward to continuing to Step Forward with all of you. GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 1
Membership by Hospital Hospital Members Suburban 58 WHC 36 Georgetown 26 Fairfax 20 Membership Report Carolee Beckford, RN, CCRN Current membership is 294. We continue to promote membership and with our new liaison program hope to have a great year in 2014. Holy Cross 14 Shady Grove 13 GW 9 500 400 300 200 100 0 GWAC Membership Report First Quarter 2014 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr 2012 2013 2014 Alexandria 7 Reston 7 Doctors 6 VHC 6 Others 5 each* 15 Others 4 each 16 Students 10 Others <4 each 51 Total 294 GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 2
Treasurer s Report Minnie Raju, RN, MS 4 th Quarter October 1 thru December 21, 2013 KUDOS Alisa Olson, MSN, RN-BC, CCRN New CCRNs Kaitlyn Elizabeth Aversa, RN, CCRN Suburban Hospital ICU Morgan Parker, RN, CCRN, SICU MedStar Georgetown University Hospital New PCCNs Mary DiMasi, RN, PCCN, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Ashley Epperson, RN, PCCN, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Fiscal Year 2014 GWAC Board President: Brett Dodd, RN, CEN, CCRN, CFRN President Elect: Karen Mack, RN, MS, MBA, ACNP Immediate Past President: Kelly McNeil-Jones, RN, MBA, RCIS Treasurer: Minnie Raju, RN, MS Treasurer-Elect: Vacant Recording Secretary: Lori C. Dodd, RN, BSN, CEN Education Chair: Marianne Hess, RN, MSN, CCRN Membership Chair: Carolee Beckford, RN, CCRN Newsletter Editor: Alisa Olson, RN-BC, MSN, CCRN Spotlight Chair: Lori Dodd, RN, BSN, CEN Student Liaison: Kelly McNeil-Jones, RN, MBA, RCIS Region IV Advisor: Helen Hughes, RN, BSN, CCRN NTI Join the AACN in Denver for NTI 2014 AACN s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition and the Advanced Practice Institute where you can update your knowledge, refine your skills and always learn something new at the premier conference for high acuity and critical care nurses. For more information go to www.aacn.org Student Corner Thanks to the members of GWAC for welcoming students to the chapter! -Theresa Cattuna, RN Last fall, I was afforded the opportunity to participate in the Spotlight on Critical Care Conference with fellow classmates where we met national speakers, and networked with nurses from various critical care specialties. We loved it! Looking back, I am both amazed and sincerely grateful for the warm welcome we received from GWAC. I know that my involvement in the chapter will continue to shape my journey from novice to expert nurse as I bring principles of nursing excellence into my own practice. For me, being a part of GWAC is a great reminder that in spite of my sore feet and chapped hands, I ve chosen an honorable and exciting career. I feel supported in knowing that through GWAC and the AACN, I will connect with nurses of all specialties and witness firsthand the great impact nurses make on healthcare. I ve found that GWAC has a lot to offer nursing students and novice nurses. The kindness extended to my classmates and I during our transition into nursing will be a tradition that I will look forward to sharing with others. GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 3
SAVE THE DATE! The Greater Washington Area Chapter of AACN Presents Spotlight on Critical Care 2014 at Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Bethesda on November 1, 2014 This annual one-day conference includes a variety of topics in the spotlight of critical care nursing. The program highlights advances in critical care, complex patient assessment, innovations in patient management, evidence based best practices and future directions of critical care. Over 30 exhibitors will be present displaying the latest critical care technology, educational and professional opportunities. Registration details to follow! Membership Information www.gwac-aacn.org GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 4 7
Check out the Greater Washington Area Chapter s E-STORE! http://ces.landsend.com/gwacaacn Choosing Wisely in Critical Care: Nurses Taking Action AACN Critical Care Webinar Series Presented by: Deborah Becker, RN, PhD, ACNP, BC, CCNS Thursday May 01, 2014 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET Dozens of national healthcare groups including the interdisciplinary Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC) have partnered with the ABIM Foundation s Choosing Wisely campaign to develop evidencebased lists of tests and procedures that may be overused in their field. Working together for more than a year, the CCSC task force identified and published five routine critical care practices that should be questioned because they may not always be necessary and could, in fact, be harmful. (Webinar is free to anyone to watch- 0.5 CE credit is free to AACN members, $5 for non-members) Register at: http://www.aacn.org/dm/webinar/webinardetail.aspx?category=webinarseries&productcode=wb0012# Like us on Facebook! GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 5
Call for Nominations GWAC Board of Directors For Terms Beginning July 1, 2014 The GWAC Board of Directors in conjunction with AACN has defined the accountabilities to successfully serve in a GWAC-AACN governance leadership position. Please review these accountabilities and submit nominations for individuals you believe can fulfill these accountabilities. Self-nominations are welcomed and encouraged! Send nominations to brettdodd@msn.com or fax to 866-838-7528. I would like to nominate the following individual or myself: (Please print clearly) Name AACN National Member #: GWAC Member #: Address City State Zip Telephone E-Mail address I am nominating myself/the above person for the office(s) of: (Check all that apply) q President-Elect q Treasurer-Elect q Recording Secretary q Membership Chair q Education Chair q Advanced Practice Chair Officer Accountabilities President-Elect: The president-elect serves alongside the president in order to become familiar with the duties of the position. This learning period is critical to his/her success when he/she steps into the presidential role. The president-elect should be an active member of the chapter. Essential skills include strong leadership and communication skills. Knowledge about chapter governance, obtained as president-elect, will be key to a successful year as president. The primary accountabilities of the president-elect are: Work collaboratively with the chapter president throughout his/her term to provide for continuity of leadership and a smooth transition for chapter leadership. In the absence of the President, fills in to ensure the accountabilities of the president are met, for example to facilitate a chapter meeting. GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 6
Treasurer & Treasurer-Elect: The Treasurer is responsible for the ongoing management, accounting, and reporting of the chapter s finances. Overall accountability for the financial management of the chapter is the responsibility of the full board, thus the Treasurer must work in partnership with the board to ensure the appropriate management of the chapter finances. This includes developing the budget, ensuring reporting requirements to National are met and that the chapter finances are reported to the full membership on a regular basis. The accountabilities of the Treasurer are fairly extensive and require a good working knowledge of basic financial management. For this reason, GWAC has chosen to have a Treasurer-elect position on their board. This individual works with the Treasurer during the year to learn about the chapter s finances and reporting requirements. The primary accountabilities of the Treasurer are: Perform all accounting for the chapter, including managing cash receivables and expenses. Assist in preparing the chapter s annual budget. Prepare the quarterly financial reports for the chapter and present these reports to the chapter board, chapter membership, and AACN National. Prepare and submit all financial reports required as part of the chapter s charter agreement with National. In partnership with the chapter President, negotiate and execute all chapter contracts after approval is obtained from National. Please note that sometimes it will be appropriate for the chapter President and the designated Chairperson, rather than the Treasurer, to execute certain contracts. Work collaboratively with the Treasurer-elect, to provide a smooth transition of the chapter financial management. Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for keeping the minutes and other records of the chapter. The primary accountabilities of the Secretary are: Notify all board members and chapter members of meetings. Notice can be given via mail, telephone, or e-mail. Maintain all chapter records, including the chapter charter, financial reports, minutes from board meetings, chapter meetings and committee meeting, and correspondence. Distribute board, chapter, or committee meeting minutes to members prior to the next meeting. Create / update the Board of Directors list with accurate information. Create template for minutes and agenda if not already done prior year. Once dates set for board meetings, create a one-page document with all the dates and locations of the meetings. Assess if any of the dates conflict with holidays. Create a distribution email list of all board members for notification of meetings. Test for correct email addresses and request reply that they have been received. Assist the President in formulating the agenda. Membership Director: Maintain an active chapter membership roster. In partnership with the board and committee chairs promotes chapter membership activities and develops strategies to increase membership value. GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 7
Education Chair In partnership with the board and committee chairs recommends and reviews educational content for appropriateness to critical care nurses. Review educational material and applies for continuing education hours when applicable. Maintains all records in accordance with AACN standards. Advanced Practice Chair In partnership with the board and committee chairs develops the advanced practice future goals and annual objectives for the chapter. Please ask a GWAC board member if you would like more information on any of the positions. SPEACS-2: Online Communication Training for ICU Nurses SPEACS-2 is an online professional development toolkit designed to assist nurses with assessing and communicating with nonvocal, mechanically ventilated patients. Initially developed and tested in a study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to improve nurse-communication, SPEACS-2 is endorsed by AACN and refined and tested by more than 300 ICU nurses in a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) project. The online communication toolkit includes: 60-minute self-guided training program. Downloadable pocket reference guides. References and resource guides. Tips for implementation in the ICU. Get a comprehensive description of the SPEACS-2 communication training program and access the interactive learning modules at http://go.osu.edu/speacs2. GWAC Critical Care Chronicle 8