The GI Kaleidoscope 2012 was held in

Alexandria MN on October 12th-14th at the

Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center.

There were over 200 attendees. We

enjoyed beautiful fall weather.

Our Friday evening event sponsored by

Cook Medical & US Endoscopy was well

attended. Food and beverages were provided as

well as education offerings. Upper GI Bleeding Emergencies by Dr. Carr Locke, sponsored by Cook Medical (video presentation). Foreign Body/Food Bolus, by Peggy Fowler, BSN RNCGRN, sponsored by US Endoscopy.

Saturday speakers were: Dr. Michael

Epstein, “Helicobacter Pylori; Importance

of Appropriate Testing & Management”;

Beverly Paul, RN, “Stoma Therapy”; Dr.

Scott Keeley, “Ulcerative Colitis; A Review

and What’s New”; Dr. Paul Yakshe, “The

Fundamentals of ERCP; Dr. Billie Glade,

Bariatric Surgery”; Dr. Paul Yakshe,

“Advanced ERCP and Interventional

Endoscopy”; Dr. Gary Paulson, “Ph Moni-

toring”; Dr. Hernando Gonzalez, “EGD

Updates”.

GI KALEIDOSCOPE 2012 Held in Alexandria, Minnesota

MN SGNA NEWS

GI KALEIDOSCOPE 2012 Held

in Alexandria, MN

Meet your 2012 Board

Members & Fall Conference

Planning Committee.

Message from MnSGNA

President

Election of New Board

Members.

Board Member Retirement

MN SGNA

NEWSLETTER

December 2012

Page 1

Sharon Yorde

Fall Course

Coordinator

Sunday speakers were: Dr. John

Emblom, “Barrett’s Esophagus”; Dr. Aaron

Brosam, “Sedation for Gastrointestinal

Endoscopy”; Dr. Alexander Khoruts,

“Clostridium Difficile Infections and Treat-

ment Options”; Dr. Isaac Felemovicius,

“Colonoscopy “Tricks of the Trade”.

Nurses attending this conference had the

opportunity to earn 13.5 Contact Hours

(11.5 Hours were GI Specific).

Many vendors came to our

conference to show us the

latest GI products.

We want to say a special thank

you to the following vendors

who gave financially to support

this annual MnSGNA education-

al event: Surgical Repair Technologies, J&J Health Care Systems Inc., Max Med Inc., Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Janssen, Normed Inc. Sandhill Scientific – PHS West - G.I.Supply), Boston Scientific, Otsuka, Cook Medical, Medivators, ERBE, Cygnus, Ferring Pharma-ceutica, Custom Ultrasonics, ConMed, Olympus, US Endoscopy.

GI KALEIDOSCOPE 2012 (continued)

Page 2

Fall Conference 2012— Some of the Gift Basket & Prize Winners

Vendors

Thank you to the Endo Centers, Vendors, Arrow-

wood Conference Center & Carlos Creek

Winery for their generous prize donations.

Have you ever wondered

how these conferences

come together?

The MnSGNA Board

Members & Volunteer

Planning Committee mem-

bers get together monthly

starting early in the year to

begin the process.

If you would like to

become more involved,

contact any board

member by e-mail.

E-mail addresses can be

found on the website.

www.mnsgna.com or

www.mnsgna.org or

Facebook—MnSGNA

We can answer any

questions & would

welcome your involve-

ment. Becoming a

Planning Committee

Member is an easy way to

gently begin & is an

opportunity to make

friends with a great group

of GI nurses.

MnSGNA 2012 Fall Conference Board Members & Planning Committee

Debra Kjeldahl RN, BS, CGRN

Treasurer

North Memorial Medical Center

& Fairview Ambulatory Surgery

Endoscopy Center –Maple Grove

Eva Packowski RN

Director at Large

MNGI

Susan Clark RN, CGRN

Director at Large

Allina Mercy

Hospital

Georgia Schumacher LPN,

CGRN - Director at Large

University of Minnesota

Physicians

Sharon Yorde RN, BSN,CGRN

President-Elect

Fall Course Coordinator

Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital

Mindy Nelson, RN Carol Ponsolle, RN Jean Schmitz, RN

Kathleen Arnell RN, CGRN

Secretary

Hennepin County Medical

Center

Planning Committee:

Theresa Hollarmann, RN Carrie Johnson, RN Jean Nelson, RN

Lynn Mueller, RN, BSN

Past-President

North Memorial Medical

Center

Jill Bendiske-Minor RN,BA,CGRN

President

North Memorial Medical

Center

Page 3

Free One Year

Renewal SGNA

Membership:

Nancy Richards

MNGI

Free Tuition

Fall

Conference:

Pat Holman

North

Free Tuition

Fall

Conference :

Sharon Filler

Mankato

SGNA Annual

Course 2013

$1000 Tuition

Reimbursement:

Sarah Ludwig MNGII

Free New

SGNA

Membership:

Terry Meister

Regions Hospital

2012

MnSGNA

Member Fall

Conference

Prize

Winners

One of the great benefits of MnSGNA Membership is

eligibility for prizes such as these won by members

at our fall conference. If you have thought about

joining go to the SGNA website for details.

www.sgna.org/MemberCenter/HowtoJoin.aspx

Thank you to all the MnSGNA Board & Planning Committee members for their

hard work behind the scenes. A special thank-you goes to the Alexandria

area nurses who were a great help with the conference.

GI KALEIDOSCOPE 2012 - “All work & no play is not good for the soul.”

Page 4

On Saturday evening many attendees enjoyed an evening of wine tasting with hors d’oeuvres, tour of the winery and live music at the Carlos Creek Winery. Buses transported those attending for the short ride to and from the

winery to the Arrowwood Resort. It was a beautiful fall evening!

Later on Saturday evening attendees had the opportunity to join in for a bonfire with s’mores,

on the deck of Arrowwood Resort.

Newly Elected

MnSGNA Board

Members

For 2013

Eva Paczkowski RN

President-Elect MNGI

Laura Danner RN

Director at Large North Memorial

Medical Center

Page 5

Upcoming Events

Carl Schmidt RN, BSN, MPH

Director at Large Park Nicollet Clinic

We are updating

our website:

mnsgna.com or

mnsgna.org

If you are unable to

access the website,

you may contact us

with your questions

through our

Facebook site:

MnSGNA or E-mail us at:

mnsgna@gmail.com

The speakers provid-

ed a wide variety of

topics. Some of it was

new and some was a

review, which helped

to keep me from going

into information

overload. Thank you to

all who attended.

I want to wish

you a very joyous

Holiday season. May

you have a healthy &

prosperous new year.

Jill Bendiske-Minor

President MnSGNA

WOW!! I cannot

believe that 2012 is

already coming to an

end.

I want to take this

time to thank the

MnSGNA Board

Members for every-

thing they do to make

MnSGNA such a great

Regional group.

Message from MN

SGNA President

Jill Bendiske-Minor

Please join us for the 2013 Twin

Cities Get Your Rear in Gear 5K

Run/Walk.

Date: Sunday, April 21

Registration: 7 a.m.

Opening Ceremony: 8 a.m.

Kids Fun Run: 8:30 a.m.

5K Timed Run: 9 a.m.

5k Walk: 9:05 a.m.

Closing Ceremony: 10:30 a.m.

Location: Southdale Center,

Edina

www.getyourrearingear.com

Location: Harriet Island

Date: June 9, 2013

Check-in and Festival Start: 4:00 PM

Walk Start: 5:00 PM

www.cctakesteps.org

Special thanks to our

retiring board members

who have each put in

many years of service.

Lynn just

completed

three years in

the President

roles as well as

other roles in

years past.

Georgia has

served in the

director role for

many years.

She organized the

vendors at many

fall conferences.

Best wishes

to both of you!!

You will be missed!

Lynn

Mueller

Georgia

Schumacher

A very special

thank you goes to

Georgia Schumacher

and Lynn Mueller

as they leave the

MnSGNA Board and a

big welcome to new

Board members

Laura Danner and

Carl Schmidt.

The Fall Conference

was attended by more

then 220 people in

Alexandria, MN. I think

everyone will agree

that the setting was a

perfect place to enjoy

a beautiful fall

weekend.

Save the Date MnSGNA Fall Conference 2013

October 11-13th Minneapolis Marriott Northwest

(Formerly Northland Inn)