AVA conference, DAY 4 (the end)

[InfusionTx]

Here I am for the last days review. Sorry for the delay. I left the meeting right at the close and headed for the airport. Half the plane out of Savanna was AVA people. So that was pretty cool. Once I got to Atlanta I got to sit on my behind for 2.75 hours. I finally landed in Dallas at midnight. My wonderful bride picked me up and we headed home. After a suitcase change and a brief catching up I hurried to sleep so I could get up at 05:30 to catch a plane to work in Houston. I worked here until 20:00. Whew; so now here I am.   My morning trip was the pits. I am from Texas and therefore allergic to the cold. A cold front rolled in during the night. My breath was fogging. I had to trot quick like a bunny down the hill. I had my ear muffs and gloves on. I got lucky and the ferry was waiting when I got there so I was able to crawl into the warmth and safety of the boat.   The last day started early, gee what a surprise, with the Clinical Roundtables. I actually was so involved with the two sessions I was in that I plum forgot to count heads but it was well attended. I did notice a few suitcases following their owners around like faithful little puppy dogs. Oh yeah and it was darn cold in the rooms again today.   The roundtables provide an opportunity to talk face to face with experts in a variety of subjects in a small group setting. Jim Lacy, RN, kept us on schedule and was of course the “sharp dressed man” of the event. ZZ top would be proud of him.   The morning general session was done by Sue Masoorli, RN. She talked about the clinical and legal implications of standards. She mostly talked about the same things we have heard before (inappropriate solutions given peripherally and failure to assess or respond to tip malpositioning. But since we still see it, it is obvious we still need to work on getting the word out. I enjoy listen to Sue. She is good speaker.   The balance of the morning was Breakout Sessions. There was a smattering of topics. So there was something for just about everyone. I still saw lots of happy faces and chatter going on, and those faithful suitcases of course.   Lunch took the form of a town hall meeting. At lunch we were introduced to the outgoing board and committee chairs as well as the new ones. Poster presentation awards were given. JAVA awards were also handed out. A lot of recognition to a lot of deserving people, and good food. There was too much food for the little plates. Not enough hands on the body either. But I only saw one plate fall and it landed gracefully in the cole slaw instead of the floor. It was at the town hall that they officially announced that I am no longer the editor of E-VAN and they are seeking a replacement.   The afternoon started with Walter Scott, PhD, Capt USPHS. He has been a long time friend of AVA. He spoke about the FDA’s device reporting program. He tried to clarify the rules and roles so as to dispel some of the myths. Sadly he had only 19 balls to give out. But the good news is there were plenty of book marks. Sorry you would have had to been there for that joke.   And the prize for last pony goes to Denis Macklin, RN. And she did great. I think she ws surprised to see so many people still there. So she developing patient education programs that address what the patient needs in terms of their individual learning styles. She was so pleased that her program went so well after the techno nightmare she had at the breakfast.   So there you have it. Another great meeting. 500 attendees. There were 580 in Vancouver. So the Canadians still hold the record. We will have to work on that. If we let them keep the honor too long we will have to listen to their version of American Woman again.   Although doing this daily review has been a bit of a challenge, I have enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone for all the kind words and encouragement, and yes even thanks to the ones that point out my typos. We will do it again in September. Now I am finally going to bed!!   Tony West, RN, CRNI Healix, Inc. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] SMS: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 214-674-4848