President - Kim McNary

The four strategic goals of SGNA were evident at the 34th annual course in Baltimore Maryland. The entire course supported education, best practices, partnerships / alliances, and culture. I was truly inspired. The Baltimore Convention Center was so beautiful and spacious that it didn't seem like over 2,000 participants were in attendance. It was great meeting members of other regions, catching up with old friends and making new ones. I had the pleasure of being introduced to so many members of our own Region 45. The concurrent, plenary, e-sig, poster abstracts and vendor sessions, were so informative. One of my favorite topics was titled "Endoscopy 2020" by Dr. Peter Cotton of Charleston South Carolina. His British accent and hilarious videos span the 1960's through the not to distant future. Judge Dana Levitz spoke on " Medical Malpractice in Endoscopy: The View From The Bench." The Judge did a good job of making a difficult topic interesting and pertinent. There were many more advanced practice topics as well as pediatric sessions. There seemed to be something for everyone. Shirley Flowers and I attended the Friday session of the House of Delegates were all the resolutions were discussed in pro and con terms. Anyone can attend this session to ask questions and make comments. What a learning experience. The results are printed in this Newsletter in another article.

The future of SGNA is changing. The SGNA bylaw change was voted on and passed. Members will continue to nominate and vote for the National Board. The officers, also known as the Executive Committee, President elect, Treasurer and Secretary, will be elected by the National Board. This is considered best practices in volunteer association governance.

Our next educational opportunity is the Multi-state Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 20-21, 2007. This conference mirrors the SGNA annual course, with many nationally known presenters. Shirley Flowers and Val Karlosky are our region representatives. Planning for our regional educational conference for March 2008 is underway. I am very excited because in 2008, Region 45 will be in existence for 30 years. Our celebration plan includes every member. Please encourage your peers to join our worthwhile organization.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer, and I hope to see many of you in Kalamazoo in October. Kim McNary OSGNA President o

Kim McNary, BSN, RN, CGRN

Education

In September I attended “Nursing 2015: Racing toward the Future” a meeting that resulted from three distinct Ohio organizations coming together and collaborating on objectives and directions to enhance the profession of nursing in Ohio. Representatives of the Ohio Nurses’ Association, Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Organization of Nurse Executives, began collaborating over a year ago. The meeting was a collaborative effort by those representatives to plan for the future and come up with directions to achieve the goals of professional nursing in Ohio. Check out the Midwestern edition of the November issue of Nursing Spectrum for more information on the “Statement of Professional Nursing - 2015” and the four directions for reaching those nursing goals.

The Multi-Regioinal Education conference held Louisville, Kentucky this year was great. Everything cooperated including the weather. There were over 222 pre-registered participants, as well as on-site participant registrations on Friday and Saturday, luckily the Kentucky contingent had selected a facility that could accommodate everyone including vendors, comfortably. Next year’s meeting is already in the planning stage and will be in Michigan, part of the planning will as in the past, include a test site for the CBGNA certification exam.

The next OSGNA meeting will be held in Columbus, on Saturday, March 24, 2007. Val and I along with the planning committee are fillling the agenda with what we think (from your suggestions at last year’s meeting) will be interesting and timely topics and great speakers. Kim and I attende the SGNA leadership conference in Chigago recently. It was a well planned and informative session as well as a great chance to network. Be sure to check what scholarships or educational grants are available to you as SGNA members. SGNA awarded over $59,000 in scholarship money so far this past year.

Shirley Flowers,
BSN, RN, CGRN
Last Updated 7/6/2007