OCT. 24, 2014 • Issue 3 of 3 • 11 PAGES

As ENA President Deena Brecher, MSN, RN, APN, ACNS-BC, CEN, CPEN,

welcomed attendees to the Racing Capital of the World on Oct. 9, she

invited them to take advantage of all the learning opportunities in Indy but

also to remain focused on the issues most pertinent to emergency nurses.

The ongoing response to the Ebola crisis was the most concerning issue,

Brecher said, with special emphasis given to providing resources for

emergency nurses. ENA’s goal was to ‘‘make sure that you have all the tools

you need to care for these patients,’’ she said.

She said it was up to emergency nurses to speak up if they saw

something that was not right.

‘‘We stand at the front door of our hospital. We stand at the opportunity

to help prevent an epidemic in this country,’’ she said.

Brecher’s other messages included working to finally change the culture

of workplace violence after nine years of collecting data on the issue;

expanding ENA’s outreach to industry partners; being

diligent about reporting events; and keeping

practice safe by using the resources provided and

maintaining credentials.

‘‘I have complete and total faith in the brain

trust in this room,’’ Brecher said.

PUSHING THE PEDAL ON PRACTICEPresident Puts the Focus on Our Resources and Our Reporting

By Amy Carpenter Aquino, Conference Connection

Expanded coverage from the ENA Annual Conference

will appear in your December copy of ENA Connection!

Leadership expert John Spence is

known for making the very complex

‘‘awesomely simple.’’ Acknowledging that

no other industry changes as rapidly as

healthcare, Spence’s enthusiastic Closing

Session presentation covered the six critical

strategies for building and sustaining a

highly successful organization. His colorful

stories and anecdotes provided actionable

advice for immediate real-world application.

He covered the key elements of a

winning culture, attributes of a great place

to work and the seven keys to trust. Spence

says a simple mnemonic will help you

remember the four C’s of how to gain trust:

consistently communicate that you’re

competent and you care.

See the December issue of ENA

Connection to read about Spence’s main

message: the six things leaders must

implement to ensure a successful change

management process.

Marie Grimaldi, Communications

& Public Relations Manager

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‘If You Want to See Change, You’re the One Who Has to Do It’

Featured Speakers

‘When you’re living life like an emergency, it’s easy to miss

the warning signs.’’

Diane Sieg, RN, CYT, CSP, a former emergency nurse, told the

story of a stressed, frantic patient who came to the ED one morning

seeking pain medication and left before Sieg could tell her she was

having a heart attack.

‘‘What don’t you have time for right now?’’ Sieg asked Opening

Session attendees on Oct. 9. ‘‘Your family, your friends? What about

your own heart attacks?’’

Sieg cited research showing that two out of three healthcare

providers were suffering from burnout. She led attendees through a

mindfulness session intended to help them shift their mind-set from

chaos to calm and to help them let go of old hurts and anxieties.

‘‘Mindfulness is so powerful,’’ Sieg said. ‘‘It allows us to listen

and connect and problem-solve and create at a much higher level.’’

Attendees practiced deep breathing, stillness and meditation

exercises that Sieg, a yogi, said could be performed any time they

needed a mindfulness break.

Amy Carpenter Aquino

Mending With Mindfulness

Emergency nurses understand how an interactive

team works — with everyone showing respect

for everyone else — and have the best vantage

point for seeing how to create process

improvements that provide truly safe patient care.

‘‘It’s not about the doctor, it’s not about the

emergency room, it’s not about the nurse,’’ said

General Session speaker John Nance, a best-selling

author, pilot and air safety analyst/advocate for

‘‘ABC World News.’’ ‘‘It’s

about the patient —

patient-centric care.

‘‘Everything, everything

— including the interests

of the CFO — is

subordinate to the best

interests of the patient.’’

That simple concept is

in direct opposition to what Nance called the most

dangerous phrase in medicine worldwide, ‘‘This is

the way we’ve always done it.’’

Other obstacles arise from what Nance called the

‘‘Who’s on first?’’ question, or confusion over whose

job it is to keep the patient safe.

The culture in American medicine must be

changed because the results are no longer effective

on any level, said Nance, citing a 2013 published

study showing that 440,000 deaths due to

medication errors, infections and other avoidable

reasons occurred in hospitals each year.

Culture changes take years, sometimes decades,

yet emergency nurses have amazing capabilities to

enact change at record speed and are poised to take

a leadership role, he said.

Amy Carpenter Aquino

‘It’s About the Patient’

On Oct. 10, Jeff Solheim, MSN, RN-BC, CEN,

CFRN, FAEN, introduced conference

attendees to six heroes during the ENA Foundation

exclusive event, ‘‘The Power of One: Engaging

Generations of Nurses to Give Back and Do Incredible Things.’’

Solheim, an internationally recognized motivational speaker, shared the

stories of these heroes from around the world who worked to provide a

better future for others. Some of those heroes include the following:

• Robert Nabulere, who overcame the hardship of his early life in

Uganda through education and hard work, was motivated to help those still stuck in poverty. Ten years ago, he moved his family to the

Kampala slums and started a church and a school. In 2013, he broke ground on a four-story clinic and plans to add a university and a

teaching hospital.

• ENA members Joan Eberhardt, MA, RN, CCRN, FAEN, and Helen Sandkuhl, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN, during one of their trips to

Cochabamba, Bolivia, saved a badly burned boy from a lifetime of hardship. They raised $25,000 to bring him to the U.S., where he

spent seven weeks in a burn unit. After his release, he lived with Eberhardt because his family was too poor to care for his needs

during his recovery. The women eventually raised enough money to send Luis back to his family and have kept in contact with him.

‘‘I hope as you walk away this evening, that you feel as empowered and as changed as I have been,’’ Solheim said.

The event raised more than $28,000, which will be used to send 10 emerging professionals to the Emergency Nursing 2015

conference in Orlando, Fla. Amy Carpenter Aquino

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SIX WHO WERE THE ONE

Robert Nabulere (left) chats with presenter Jeff Solheim about his efforts to help the impoverished in Uganda.

‘Power of One’ Event Demonstrates Just What’s Possible

Joan Eberhardt (left) and Helen Sandkuhl tell their moving story.

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A STATELY AFFAIRMore than 650 delegates from all 50 states gathered on Oct. 8 - 9 at General Assembly for the official business of ENA: discussing and voting on nine bylaws amendments and 10 resolutions, including the topics of firearms safety, reduction of prescription drug abuse, national standardization of emergency codes and support for a national trauma system.

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Film Interpretation Presession: X-Rays Are a Great Way to Start

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On Oct. 8, Emergency

Nurses Day, more than

50 eager attendees began

their 2014 Annual Conference

experience with a presession.

Laura L. Kuensting, DNP,

APRN, PCNS-BC, CPNP,

CPEN (left) presented

‘‘Chest, Abdomen and

Skeletal Plain Film Interpretation.’’ Speaking to an

audience primarily composed of advance practice nurses, Kuensting

outlined a systematic approach to radiologic interpretation.

She began by discussing the importance of collaborating with radiology

technicians and radiologists for optimal radiologic interpretation, including requesting

input from these colleagues to determine the best imaging study to order and to

document assessment findings that indicated the study.

After a review of basic radiology terminology, Kuensting presented two

mnemonics for an approach to X-ray interpretation. The BSA mnemonic is the initial

‘‘quick scan’’ of an image, looking for obvious abnormalities in the body, surface and

other abnormalities, while the A-F mnemonic is a more in-depth analysis of the image.

Kuensting emphasized that providers should be describing the images and not making

a diagnosis based on the X-ray alone.

The chest X-ray portion of the presession started with a review of basic anatomy in

common views. Kuensting presented a systematic approach which included evaluating the RIP (rotation, inspiration and

penetration) of the X-ray, with identification of the diaphragm, costophrenic angles, heart, hilar markings and lung markings.

Case presentations were given after each section.

Attendees had a great start to their 2014 Annual Conference experience and walked away much more confident in their

X-ray interpretation skills.

Alyssa M. Kelly, MSN, RN, CNS, CEN

Senior Associate, Nursing Education

Education

Education

Attendees Learn to Do CNE Programs Right . . . by Night‘P rofessional Development of CNE

Products’’ has become a mainstay

anchor of the Night Shift sessions. This

regular educational session is always

on the subject matter of continuing

nursing education, but a different spin

is presented at each annual conference.

This year, a special interactive

session targeted interprofessional

attendees who are responsible for any

major aspect of providing CNE

products, including nurse planners,

activity coordinators, speakers, content

experts and planning committee

members. The goal was to provide

learners with insight into some of the

most challenging aspects of CNE

program development, such as the

developing a gap analysis, preserving

content integrity, resolving conflict of

interest and constructing meaningful

behavioral objectives. A special ‘‘Test

Your Knowledge’’ interactive challenge

was the main feedback strategy that

facilitated critical thinking and problem

identification and solving. This session

actually provided emergency nurses

with the needed ANCC background to

move forward into the valued role of a

qualified nurse planner.

Upon completion of this Night Shift

session, learners should have been

able to return to their program

planning desktops and start

developing programs and CNE

applications that will result in the

implementation of fine quality

educational programs that will

promote professional development

with their learners.

As the speaker, I was impressed

that more than 30 attendees opted to

spend a lovely Friday night in

downtown Indianapolis to attend this

session and learn to improve, enhance

— and in some instances — create

highly regulated CNE products. I was

truly honored to have served as the

speaker for those dedicated learners.

Janet Crawford,

MSN, ACNS-BC

ANCC Lead

Nurse Planner

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T he closing statement ‘‘Fear is false

evidence appearing real’’

resonated through this educational

session, reminding us that for

centuries, infectious diseases have

ranked with wars and famine as

significant challenges to human

survival and progress. False evidence

appearing real can easily cause panic,

misinformation and chaos. Infectious

diseases should not be taken lightly or

disregarded, but rather their

emergence should provide an

opportunity to evaluate health

practices, emergency preparedness

and appropriate health education.

What better way to understand

emerging infectious disease than to

study epidemiology.

In ‘‘Something Old, Something New:

MERS and Other Emerging Infections,’’

presented by Sheri-Lynne Ann Almeida,

DrPH, MSN, Med, RN, CEN, FAEN,

Ebola became a focus topic. However,

Almeida quickly reminded attendees

that while Ebola is of great concern

now, Middle East Respiratory

Syndrome (MERS), chikungunya,

pertussis and measles are some

examples of other emerging infectious

diseases. Infectious diseases remain

one of the leadings causes of death

and disability worldwide, and against

the constant background of established

infections, epidemics of new and old

infectious diseases periodically emerge.

Almeida reviewed MERS,

chikungunya, pertussis and measles,

describing the history of each disease,

epidemiology, clinical features, case

definitions, prevention measures,

nursing interventions and infection

control recommendations. The session

served as a reminder to separate fear

from fact regarding emerging

infectious diseases.

Monica Escalante, MSN, BA, RN,

Senior Associate, Institute for Quality,

Safety and Injury Prevention

A Lesson in Removing FEAR

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LEARNING MEETS LEISUREAttendees got to experience the latest in emergency nursing products and services from approximately 200 vendors in the Exhibit Hall, where attractions such as free hand massages and the ENA Relaxation Station were only steps from educational eye-openers at the e-Learning and financial wellness booths.

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EMERGENCY NURSES OFF DUTYThe Welcome to Indy Party on Oct. 9 was an explosive celebration to formally open the ENA Annual Conference, with food, camaraderie and high-energy live music from the Endless Summer Band.

FORMAL FINISHThe ENA Annual Awards Gala ended the conference in style on Oct. 11, with Annual Award winners, 17 Lantern Award recipients and nine inductees to the Academy of Emergency Nursing all getting their time in the spotlight.

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♦ ENA ANNUAL CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULES CLIFFORD ♦

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