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Day 3 The morning started with the usual crowd at the coffee bar. If it was not for the coffee so graciously provided by AngioDynamics, I am certain that there would have been some people that just could not have made it through the morning. No matter how exciting, the presentations do get a bit long and the caffeine seems to be a necessary item. Add to that the big room colder than my ice box at home. I sure am glad I remembered to bring a light jacket with me. Personally I would have liked to have had some hot chocolate. Maybe they will read this and have pity on me next year. The morning roundtables were well attended. Several had standing room only and I don’t think any were lacking in attendance. So the topics and variety were enough to get the masses out at that early hour. The first morning general session was “Aiming for Zero Errors” presented by Kathy Rapala, JD, RN. This is such a huge topic she could easily have taken two hours. But in half that time she did a wonderful job of discussing factors that lead to errors and strategies for preventing and even dealing with errors. Zero errors may seem an impossible goal but it is a worthy one that we just might achieve with effort, care and time. The conference committee came up with another very unique topic and presenter next. Ellen Jo Baron, PhD, D(ABMM) covered “Laboratory Diagnosis of Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections”. She is a laboratory professional and has more credentials than stars in the evening sky. But when she started out telling us we were walking bacteria culture plates I had my doubts about her. I am not a bug farm; am I? But she made a marvelous presentation. We have heard about blood cultures and quantitative and semi-quantitative for years now. But she was able to tell us what happens to the blood when it gets to the lab. Why volume of the specimen is important, why serial cultures, why different sites, and why we SHOULD waste prior to the culture specimen. Go ahead read that sentence again, I will wait. She reminds me that professionals other than RNs, RPhs and MDs have valuable knowledge to share with us. I would love to see something from her in JAVA. After a short break Dr Issam I. Raad did “The Role of Antimicrobial Catheters in the Prevention of Bloodstream Infections”. He gave us an extensive review of the literature on the value of catheters impregnated with various antibiotics and/or antimicrobial agents. There wasn’t any really new information but he brought diverse studies and literature together to highlight the importance these lines can play in preventing CRBSIs. Then it was off to the exhibit hall for one last time; and one last lunch. I did make it through all the booths finally. I met so many wonderful folks and several new vendors, some of which were brand new start up companies. I also reviewed all the poster presentations. The posters were amazing. They were all so well done and full of information that can be applied to our various practice settings. I also spoke with several of the authors. Although they were not always people whose names we have heard, they were extremely knowledgeable and so willing to share their experiences. I continued to speak with many first time attendees. Everyone said that
they were so impressed at how easy it was to talk to people at the meeting. How
outgoing, helpful, supportive and friendly we were. As I think back that is a
major part of what attracted me to The afternoon started off with a bit of a mix again. The exhibitor theater ran at the same time as the special educational sessions. The educational sessions required preregistration and I guess I wasn’t fast enough because I didn’t get a ticket. But that was fine as the exhibitor theaters were again diverse in their offerings and so well presented. I loved what I attended and didn’t hear that any of them were anything short of great. The afternoon ended with a general session “Transitioning to Adulthood
with a Central Line”. This was sponsored by Oley Foundation. If you are not
familiar with this wonderful group please visit their web page. They are
dedicated to patients with long term vascular access needs. It is primarily a
support and information clearing house for patients, caregivers and family.
There is seldom a dry eye in the house when they start telling some of their
stories. Joan Bishop introduced the foundation then introduced us to Bettemarie
Bond and Megan Gravenstein. Both of them young ladies with long term vascular
access devices. They had lived with vascular access needs through their teen
years and into adulthood. They had wonderful insights from a patient’s
perspective. Body image, dating, job interviews, insurance, peer reactions and
many things those of us on this end might not think about or have thought to be
an issue. Both of these young ladies were very informative and enlightening.
They were very supportive of our specialty as well as the SAVE That Line
program. Have you introduced the SAVE That Line program in your institution
(visit the That concluded the day for a lot of the attendees but many continued on
to various committee meetings. This is the one time every year that a lot of the
committee can meet face to face. Committees are the back bone of
This was our free night. So many of the vendors were wonderful and took small groups out to dinner. Others just went out with new and old friends on their own. I went to a vendor sponsored dinner and met an industry engineer and a JD, RN faculty member from the conference. My new friends and the others I knew from before all had a wonderful meal with great conversation about our lives, our work and our passions. I did discover that contrary to my previous reportings there was one casualty at last night’s gala party. A nurse had a migraine headache afterwards that has kept her out of the meetings all day today. I could see how that music pounding away could hurt your head, after all we did wear out one of the speakers as you may recall. I hope she is doing better and look forward to seeing her tomorrow morning at the AngioDynamics coffee service. Sorry but I must now run off and begin the task of trying to fit all this paperwork and goodies, gifts and samples into my suit cases. It is amazing how much more I leave with than I came with. My blog tomorrow, our last day, may not get posted immediately because I will be on a vicious travel schedule so please be patient, I will get it posted in a day or two. |
