Summary of Board Meeting, September 13, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. at the Panera Bread Company's Community Room in the Dayton Mall. Members present for the meeting included Kim McNary, Val Karlosky, Joan Metze, Jean Bondi, Shirley Flowers, Debbie Vance, Tina Woods and Margie Lanza. Two future board members were welcomed, Tina Schaeublin and Mary Shanaberger, and were present to observe the meeting. The following points were discussed:

• Jerry Seegar has been selected to do our biannual audit for 1/07-12/08. The cost will be $300.
• The election results were announced and the 2009-2010 board members are:
• Debbie Vance, President
• Joan Metze, President-Elect
• Kim McNary, Past President
• Tina Woods, Treasurer
• Shirley Flowers, Educational Co-Chairperson
• Val Karlosky, Educational Co-Chairperson
• Tina Schaeublin, Secretary
• Mary Shanaberger, Public Relations/Historian/Newsletter
• The point was made that we need to encourage our membership to vote in our elections and at the National level to improve our chances of being selected for Region of the Year.
• The motion was made and passed to take nominations for the Genia Spaulding Award for 2009. Information about the award application will be included in the newsletter.
• A motion also passed to award G.I. scholarships to members to use at any SGNA associated event such as our Regional Conference, the Multi-Regional Conference, or the National SGNA Convention. The G.I. scholarships can only be awarded to the same recipient once every three years. An application for scholarships will be included in the newsletter.
• Planning is underway for “Nurses’ Day at the Statehouse” which we are helping sponsor. As a co-sponsor, our members will have a reduced rate. A website will be available soon and can be googled using keywords “Nurses’ Day at the Statehouse” in order to sign up. Contacts hours should be available at the events and everyone is encouraged to sign up early as the event fills up fast. Anyone who wishes to submit an issue to be presented at the event can contact Shirley Flowers.
• The Multi-Regional Conference will be held Oct. 17-19, 2008 in Peoria, IL.
• The 2009 Multi-Regional Conference which we will be hosting is possibly going to be held in Easton, near the Columbus, OH airport.
• The 49th OSGNA Regional Conference will be held at the Manor House in Cincinnati on March 14, 2009.
• Kim is working on our application for nominating OSGNA as the SGNA Region of the Year.
• The colon cancer awareness walk sponsored by OSGNA will be repeated again this year.

Summary of Board Meeting, February 29, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. at the Robert's Center. All board members were present. The following points were discussed:

• A correction was made to the previous minutes. The ABCGN test our region is sponsoring will be held on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. Contact Joan Metze for more information.
• Our current membership is 200 people
• One hundred and ninety people are registered for our 48th Regional conference. Thirty one vendors are registered. A total on 9.7 hours of CEUs will be offered at the conference over Friday and Saturday, Feb. 29 - March 1, 2008 with 7.5 of the hours being G.I. specific.
• This is an election year and a slate will be developed. Anyone interested in running for an office should contact Margie Lanza.
• The first annual Colon Cancer Awareness Walk has been organized by Joan Metze and her committee. Thank you for all your work. The event was held March 15, 2008 with an excellent attendance. The participants received a t-shirt and a goody bag as well as a delicious breakfast.
• The next Multi-Regional conference will be held in Peoria, IL Oct 17-19, 2008. It was decided that we will host the 2009 conference in Columbus, OH.

Summary of Board Meeting, January 12, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. in Max & Erma’s located in the Robert’s Center. All board members were present. The following points were discussed:

• Our current membership is 212 people
• The audit of our account has been completed and will be sent on to SGNA National headquarters
• About twenty vendors have reserved tables at our Regional Conference scheduled for February 29-March 1, 2008 at the Robert’s Center.
• The next newsletter will coming out in February. Contact Joan Metze if you wish to submit an article.
• Also, contact Joan if you would like to help with our Colon Cancer Awareness Walk planned for March 15, 2008. The location and route were not determined at the time of the meeting. We are doing it to help raise funds to fight colon cancer and bring awareness that Coco, the colossal colon, will be in our area that weekend.
• We will be sponsoring a site for the CGRN certification test in October, 2008. The location of the test will be provided by University Hospital. University Hospital is also planning to bring a certification review course to our area.
• We are sponsoring “Nurses’ Day at the Statehouse” to be held in April this year. If you have an issue you would like us to bring up please contact Shirley Flowers.
• Plans for our Annual Conference to be held at the Roberts Center are well under way. Because of the discount being given to OSGNA members who attend we will not be giving out educational grants this year. Be sure to register by the deadline (Feb. 15, 2008) in order to get the discount.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:20. The next meeting will be held at the Robert’s Center prior to the start of our Annual Regional Conference on February 29, 2008.

Submitted by Jean Bondi, OSGNA Secretary

Summary of Board Meeting, June 9, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. at the Max & Erma’s Restaurant located in the Robert’s Centre off I-71. All board members were present. The following points were discussed:

• We have 198 members presently.
• The Robert’s Center off I-71 near Wilmington will be the site of our next Regional Conference to be held on March 1, 2008
• The Education Committee will be meeting on September 8, 2007 at noon to plan the next conference. Anyone interested in helping out can contact Debbie Vance, Val Karlosky or Shirley Flowers for more information. Members from the Dayton Community are particularly encouraged to help out.
• The Multi-State Conference will be held Oct 19-21, 2007 in Kalamazoo, MI. We will be helping out with marketing. The Multi-State Conference will be held in our region in 2009.
• Members are encouraged to submit articles about their units or G.I. topics to Joan Metze for our newsletter.
• We will help sponsor Nurses’ Day at the Statehouse in March, 2008. Anyone with ideas they would like submitted to the legislature should contact Shirley Flowers.
• We discussed sponsoring a site in Cincinnati again for the Certification Test. We would not be doing this before May 2008. If you have an opinion on the topic please contact a board member.

The meeting was adjourned at noon and the next meeting will be held on Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 10 a.m. at the Roberts Center located just off I-71.

Results Of The 2007 House of Delegates Resolutions

The annual House of Delegates meeting always take place on the Friday before opening ceremonies of the SGNA National Conference. This years meeting in Baltimore was exciting and informative. There were nine resolutions that were thoroughly discussed prior to the voting process. Thank you to the fourteen OSGNA members that took the time to return the voting ballots from the last Newsletter to me. Rest assured that Ohio's vote represented it's members. Results are as follows: Resolve that:

1. SGNA will recommend end title CO2 monitoring as a standard of practice for sedated patients undergoing endoscopic procedures. FAILED
2. SGNA launch a National TV campaign encouraging people age 50 and older to be screened by their professionals. PASSED
3. SGNA develops an online course study for LPN/LVN's to acknowledge advance level practice. PASSED
4. SGNA develop a "nurse exchange" program for Regions to exchange nurses for a regional program. FAILED
5. SGNA work out a networking strategy to support mentoring of regional leaders; such as a "Big Sister Program" where a link could be placed on the SGNA web site for interested regions to seek support. FAILED
6. Nurses who provide a lecture for the SGNA Annual Course have a stipend for one night's accommodation at a hotel. FAILED
7. SGNA develop a protocol/procedure for placing specimen in formalin without contaminating instrument with fixative. FAILED
8. SGNA will collaborate with ASGE to develop guidelines in regards to the care of the patient with AICD in all Endoscopy settings, particularly when electricity may be used. PASSED
9. SGNA decrease membership fee for Associates and Techs. PASSED

Summary of Board Meeting, March 23, 2007

The meeting was called to order at the University Plaza Hotel following the optional Ohio Law Presentation of our Regional Conference on Friday evening. The following points were discussed:

• We presently have 242 members
• We have 151 registrants for the Regional Conference and 36 vendors are planning to attend.
• Genia Spaulding will be honored at the regional conference and the change of the “Nurse of the Year Award” to the “OSGNA Genia Spaulding Service Award” will be announced. Betty Wabnitz will be recognized as the first recipient of the award.
• A total of 7.2 CEU’s were awarded for the conference with 7 CEU’s being G.I. specific.
• The posting of the Regional Conference’s Brochure on the website was successful after the mailed brochures failed to arrive in a timely manner. It was suggested that we continue this practice.
• The search for a site for next year’s conference will be starting. We hope to hold it in the Dayton area. Anyone wishing to help with the planning can join the Education Committee. Contact Shirley Flowers or Val Karlosky for information.
• The multi-regional conference will be held in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 20-21, 2007
• Anyone wishing to submit articles for our newsletter can contact Joan Metze. They can be about your place of employment, funny G.I. stories or information about current practices.
• A laptop was purchased by OSGNA for the use of the president and for use at regional conferences.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:22 p.m. and the next meeting will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 10 a.m. at the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall Food Court or the Roberts Center located on I-71.

Summary of Board Meeting January, 2007

The meeting was called to order at the Hampton Inn in Jeffersonville at 10:25. New board members were introduced. Points that were discussed included:

• Minor policy changes were discussed and approved. Final changes in the bylaws were discussed and will be voted on at the Region Conference scheduled for March 24, 2007 at the Fawcett Center in Columbus.
• The plans for the Regional Conference were reviewed. It will be held from 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. An optional Ohio Law Session will be held on Friday, March 23 for those wishing to attend. Hotel reservations for the event can be made at the University Plaza Inn and Conference Center where Friday’s session will be held. Anyone wishing to help with the conference can contact Co-educational Chairpersons, Val Karlosky and Shirley Flowers.
• The next Multi-Regional Conference will be held on Oct 20-21, 2007 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The certification test to qualify as a certified gastroenterology registered nurse will be given in conjunction with the conference.
• The “Nurse of the Year Award” was discussed and Educational Grants were discussed. Decisions were made on the awards which will be announced at the Regional Conference.
• It was decided the organization would purchase a laptop computer for the president’s use and for use at Educational Seminars.
• Lastly, Dr. Mark Jonas and Dr. Amad Attar were nominated and approved as our new medical advisors.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m. and the next meeting will be held on Friday, March 23, 2007 in Columbus.

Summary of Board Meeting September, 2006

    The last meeting of the current board of directors of OSGNA was held at the home of Margie Lanza on September 16, 2006. A celebration had been planned to honor outgoing board member Genia Spaulding but, at the last minute, she was unable to attend. Genia has served on the board of directors for more years than anyone can remember and in numerous positions. Thank you Genia very much for all of your dedication! Thank you to Chris Haven also for all her work as treasurer for the past two years.

    The election results were announced for the next board term. Thank you to everyone who voted. The turnout of voters was up. The results are:

    The next regional OSGNA conference was discussed. It is planned for March, 2007 in Columbus. The exact location and date have not yet been set. Anyone interested in helping with the planning can contact Val or Shirley, our Educational Co-Chairpersons. OSGNA is also planning to help sponsor the "Nurses' Day at the Statehouse" in March, 2007. This will allow our members to attend the event at half price.

    IMS has withdrawn their support of publishing a hardcopy version of our newsletter. Our options were discussed and it was decided we would return to publishing it ourselves rather than going to an online newsletter.

    Lastly, Margie is planning to submit an application to nominate us for the "Region of the Year" award in SGNA.

Summary of Board Meeting June, 2006

    Five members of our Board of Directors were able to attend the National SGNA Conventions held in May. Congratulations to them and everyone else involved in helping us win the SGNA Regional Night Award. Also, congratulations to Margie for being elected as the Vice-Speakers of the House of Delegates.

    The education co-chairs reported on the success of our Regional Conference. New CEU certificates were mailed to attendees to correct the error of the year on the original certificate. If you did not receive the correct certificate please contact Shirley Flowers. The Multi-State Conference will be held October 20-22 in Louisville, Kentucky. Kim is working on the marketing for the event. Unlike past years, the CBGNA certifying exam will be offered the week following the Multi-State due to scheduling conflicts. Our next Regional Conference will be held in March, 2007 in Columbus. The date and location are being worked on now and anyone wishing to serve on the planning committee can contact Shirley or Val to volunteer.

    The slate for the new Board of directors for 2007-2009 was presented and approved. Ballots will be going out. The bylaws were reviewed and two minor changes were suggested which will be voted on by the general membership at our March 2007 Regional Meeting. An organizational calendar was developed to facilitate the running of our chapter. Chris, our treasurer, reported the routine audit of our books is currently taking place. Dates were set for the quarterly publication of our newsletter. All members are welcome to contribute articles. The deadlines for the submission of articles are presently the 15th of the months of January, March, June, and October. Submit articles to Debbie Vance. After much work being accomplished the meeting was adjourned. The meeting will take place at 10:00 on September 16, 2006 in Columbus, Ohio at a location to be determined.

Summary of Board Meeting, January 7, 2006

    The meeting was called to order at the home of Kim McNary after a wonderful breakfast provided by our host. Thank you Kim. The educational committee reported that the final touches are being made on our Regional Conference scheduled on Saturday, March 4, 2006 at the Manor House in Mason. Vendors are submitting table fees and the CEU’s will be applied for shortly. Wilson Cook and Wyeth have both donated over $1000 in speaker fees. The cost is the same as last year at $55 for members and $80 for non-members with a $10 increase after the deadline of 2/24/06.

    The treasurer reported we have not received the updated membership list reflecting those members who renewed or new members for 2006. We will arrange for an audit of our books every other year in January. We are looking into investing some of our funds in better-paying banking options.

    Everyone is reminded that this is an election year. Anyone interested in running for an office should contact Genia Spaulding.

    We will not be awarding a Nurse of the Year, this year but candidates for next year will be solicited by a nomination form that will be placed in our Regional conference’s syllabus binder. Information about OSGNA scholarships will be in our newsletter.

    Shirley Flowers reported that Ohio has decided not to go forward with legislation that would make us a Compact State (one of a group of states that will share nursing licensure) because of differences in the various state laws.

    The revised “Reimbursement Guidelines for OSGNA Directors” was approved. We will be reviewing our bylaws this summer.

    Anyone attending the National SGNA convention this year can volunteer to help out on Regional Night by contacting Margie Lanza. Everyone is reminded that Colon Cancer Awareness and G.I. Nurses Day is this March.

    The next meeting of the board will be held on Friday, March 3, 2006.

Summary of OSGNA Board Meeting, November, 2006

    The meeting was held on November 2, 2006 at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Dayton, OH. Margie and Kim recently returned from attending the SGNA Leadership Conference in Chicago and shared what they had learned about ways to improve our organization. Consideration was given to holding a business meeting prior to the start of our Regional Conference in order to keep our membership more informed about the function of OSGNA. Feedback regarding this matter from the general membership would be appreciated. Kim is continuing to work on updating our policies. It was decided to revise the “travel by car policy” wording so that we will follow the current rates set by the IRS for reimbursement for auto travel. This will save us from having to revise the policy with continually changing gas rates.

    The Education Committee shared that the Multi-Regional Conference was a success with about 200 people in attendance. Next year it will be held at the Galt House in Louisville, KY., the third weekend of October. Plans for our regional conference are coming together. It will be held at the Manor House near Mason, OH on Saturday, March 4, 2006. A Belgium waffle breakfast will be served prior to the start of the conference from 7-8a.m. The speakers are being lined up and we hope to have several G.I. specific contact hours. The vendors will be charge $300 for a table in the exhibit hall and Genia Spaulding (513-794-5680) is handling all the vendors’ questions and offers for sponsorship.

    Next quarterly newsletter will be coming out soon. We discussed adding columns such as highlighting various endo units, funny things that happen in the G.I. lab and having a question and answer column. Anyone interested in contributing can contact Debbie Vance at 937-427-2078x229. The treasurer’s report was given and we currently have 181 members.

    New business included the topic to develop a strategic plan for our organization. The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 p.m. and the next meeting will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at 10 a.m. We will try to get the Manor House, the site of our March Regional Conference, for the location.

OSGNA Board Meeting Summary - June 2005

    The two hour meeting was held at the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall on June 26. Among the topics covered was a discussion of the National SGNA convention, Regional Night at the convention and the House of Delegates meeting. The House of Delegates voted down the proposal to change the way officers of the National board are elected. The Multi State Conference which will be held in October was also discussed.

    We are in charge of arranging the CEU’s for the conference. Work is beginning on our Regional Conference which will be held in Cincinnati in March, 2006. We are looking for a location for the conference which can accommodate 250 people and also provide space for the vendor’s exhibits. If anyone has any suggestions or is interested in serving on the committee, please contact Val Karlosky at 513-531-8457.

    The evaluations of 2005’s Regional Coarse were reviewed and overall we had very positive results. It will be a challenge to top them in 2006. An updated version of policies was voted upon successfully which included mileage reimbursement correction and grammar corrections.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on November 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall Food Court.

OSGNA Board Meeting Summary - March 2005

    A meeting was held of the OSGNA board on March 11, 2005 prior to the start of the Regional conference. Debbie Vance was welcomed, introduced and thanked for taking the place of leaving board member Debbie McCormick who had headed the Newsletter/Public Relations/Historian Committee. We’ll miss you Debbie McCormick but welcome Debbie Vance.

    The committee reports then began. The Education Committee announced that 8.3 GI CEU’s will be awarded for attendance at the March 12th Regional Conference. Additionally, 1 CEU will be awarded for attending the optional Ohio Law presentation. We had 35 vendors in attendance at the Regional Conference and 25 door prizes were given out including 3 free admissions to next year’s conference. Boston Scientific and IMS both donated $1000 to the conference and Wilson Cook donated $750. One hundred and ninety four people signed up to attend the conference. Next year’s Regional Conference will be held in Cincinnati. FYI, this year’s multi-state conference will be held in Indianapolis on October 14-16, 2005. More information will be coming.

    Other business discussed included the treasurer’s report. We now have 173 members. Kim McNary reviewed the revisions suggested for our current policies and these will be voted on at our next meeting. The Newsletter was discussed and anyone wishing to submit an article can contact Debbie Vance. The deadline for the next newsletter was March 23, 2005. Two more issues will be published this year. SGNA will hold a Regional Night again with this year’s National Convention. It will be held on May 15, 2005. Everyone attending the conference, please contact President Margie Lanza to help with our booth and, so we can show the rest of the country who the best region is at this year’s convention! Remember also to voice your opinion about this year’s HOD resolutions. Thank you to Margie also, for our wonderful new website and the recent addition of a statement from Cris Collinsworth.

The next board meeting is scheduled for June 26, 2005.