That’s a Wrap: An Exceptional 30th Convention!

CEO's Corner - October 2021

What an absolutely wonderful convention. We had informative and engaging educational content, fantastic conversations and connection in the convention platform, and some community fun at our 30th anniversary painting party on Saturday evening.

Some of the highlights included Terry Foster’s funny opening “COVID Power Talk,” where we all acknowledged the difficulties encountered during the pandemic - but also how to cope using humor, positivity, and healthy attitudes.

I loved listening to Sue Hassmiller’s keynote address on the Future of Nursing report and the role of med-surg nurses in the future of our profession. We have an opportunity to improve nurse well-being and health equity- so watch for more from AMSN on how to get involved!

We had so much fun listening and watching our Med-surg Moments: The AMSN Podcast co-hosts record a live podcast at the end of Day 1. Personally, I poured a glass of wine and enjoyed listening to Alyssa, Evie, Chelsea, and Caroline talk about what was new with them and unexpected pathways to nursing wisdom. If you missed it, please be sure to visit your favorite podcast site to subscribe, download, to listen in!

Other notable sessions included a session by Dr. Jill Arzouman on an evidence-based practice project she’s leading at Banner Health using capnography for opioid-induced respiratory depression, and a session from AMSN’s Immediate Past President Robin Hertel and Dr. Susan Swayze on the role of bias in healthcare. AMSN has released a DEI eLearning course that is free for members, and we encourage you to take the course.

AMSN has released a DEI eLearning course that is free for members, and we encourage you to take the course.

There were several clinical topics covered during the convention, including trends in anticoagulant therapy, marijuana patient care issues, monoclonal antibodies, acute abdominal pain, communication strategies, psychiatric issues on med-surg units, risk management and telehealth. In fact, there are over 50 contact hours available for the convention! If you missed out, you can still sign up and participate in this content. You won’t regret it!

Jennifer Kennedy, Treasurer on the AMSN board of directors, did an outstanding job leading our townhall session on Saturday. In the townhall we reflected on 30 years of AMSN and med-surg’s recognition as a specialty and discussed how to continue to build upon our success.

It was inspiring to hear what attendees had to say, and how much they love their specialty. We also had an excellent session on providing care to transgender patients led by Connor Wesley. We all learned so much in a safe space, where no question was off-limits and we recognized we all have so much more to learn.

Last, but certainly not least, we had a fabulous endnote by Dr. Tim Cunningham, the vice president of practice and innovation at Emory Healthcare. He spoke about the pandemic and acknowledged the challenges nurses and other health care providers have faced with COVID-19 but focused on post-traumatic growth as a positive coming out of the pandemic. It was inspiring and full of hope. I think our attendees needed to hear that message and many of them felt better after his session.

I know the last 19 months have been incredibly difficult, so it was so wonderful to see the community and feel the connection during the convention. The chat and social walls were full of positive messages and fellowship. The attendees had great conversations, great fun and learned so much. Despite not being able to be together in person this year, I was blown away by how great the convention was and how much the attendees enjoyed the entire experience.

While it was a great convention, I hope we’re done with solely virtual conventions. We are fervently hoping we’ll be together in San Antonio next year, (September 29th to October 2nd, so mark your calendars) so we can finally gather face-to-face and continue to build upon the experience of this year.

Rest assured, though, we do plan to continue to offer a virtual convention for those that can’t travel and join us in person. The hybrid convention will offer the opportunity for virtual and in-person attendees to network and engage, so it will be the best of both worlds!