Oh, What a Time! WoW!
CEO’s October Message for the AMSN Blog
The 31st Annual AMSN Convention
Wow. Just wow.
I just returned home from AMSN’s 31st annual convention in San Antonio and it was incredible to be with our members and attendees in person!
I didn’t realize just how much I missed the in-person interaction that convention provides. I knew I missed seeing the attendees and spending time with them, but the joy being with the attendees brought me and the healing to my soul was beyond what I expected.
From the opening session with Joshua Lozoff, who tied together the importance of communication and magic, to the outstanding educational sessions, networking opportunities, and the Saturday night magic dance party, we had an incredible time.
Attendees engaged with each other, the Board of Directors, volunteers, and staff to celebrate the first in-person event in three years. We also had plenty of time in the exhibit hall so our attendees could speak to our exhibitors, and we had exhibit hall prizes, too!
Seeing the attendees spending time together was so rewarding. I saw new friendships bloom, heard great discussions on best practices, saw smiles and heard laughter throughout the entire convention center. Attendees participated in morning yoga, donated blood in our blood drive, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of San Antonio.
The Riverwalk was a big hit! I think my favorite part of convention was seeing attendees taking selfies with friends both new, and old (some of whom hadn’t seen each other in three years!) and some of them were in their AMSN shirts and swag.
Experiencing convention reinforced for me how important it is to have a community of peers to be able to lean on. While we all have our teams and colleagues, there’s nothing like being surrounded by medical-surgical nurses from around the country. I started thinking about our preconvention workshop and concurrent session on professional identity.
AMSN has been participating in the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing (ISPIN) and advocating for the importance of professional identity in the practice setting. Belonging to a fantastic group of like-minded professionals is incredibly important for us to understand our place in shaping the future of nursing.
I feel one of the unrecognized benefits of convention is our ability to further shape, refine and solidify our individual professional identities. That, in turn, can help us navigate the practice challenges we face every day.
We will continue to build off the energy, community, and shared professional identity we jump-started at convention with Med-Surg Nurses Week ’22, which will occur November 1-7, 2022.
We will have educational sessions, networking, materials you can share with your colleagues at work and more. Please watch for more information on our website, social media and AMSN’s new member community, The Pulse!
Thank you to all of you that attended convention. If you couldn’t join us, I hope to see you next year in Las Vegas. I hope you will all participate in Med-Surg Nurses Week ’22. Let us continue to celebrate you and all you do for your patients as medical-surgical nurses!
PS... Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages! You might see yourself!