Greetings Rehab peers across
the state!! The summer and fall so far have been busy. October brought us a deadline for registering to take the CRRN exam
in December. I hope you had the chance to prepare and register for this opportunity. Rehabilitation nurses gathered together
in Chicago
to attend the 32nd annual education conference aptly titled, “A Call to Action.” We spent many hours
learning from the movers and shakers in the rehab world, that’s right rehab nurses! The presentations were relevant,
informative, thought provoking, and sometimes awe inspiring. We are all challenged to answer the call to action by stepping
forward to volunteer on a local, state, regional, and national level. Our mentors instilled pride, courage, and enthusiasm
in all of us to take the step towards embracing change and turning it to our advantage and that of our patients. There was
a luncheon devoted to networking with peers from facilities and companies across the country. It was good to hear we are all
dealing with multiple issues on our plates and wearing many hats. We are not alone and there are many creative solutions to
problems we struggle with each day. These solutions come from nurses just like us. It was an honor to represent all of you
at this conference.
GNCCARN has been working diligently
through the Board and Education Council to bring a great education opportunity to you next spring. For the first time in many
years, GNCCARN and CACARN (Charlotte area chapter) are working
side by side to coordinate our Spring Education Conference. We will again be at the beach, Carolina Beach to be exact. The dates to remember
are Thursday April 12 and Friday April 13, 2007.
I can’t reveal all of the
surprises right now, what fun would that be! The theme is “Reality Check in Rehabilitation.” Some topics include Safe Patient Handling, Intricacies of FIM and Scoring FIM (for which we have a speaker
from UDS), Diversity in Rehab Nursing Volunteerism, A Success Story of Recruitment and Retention, and a rehab nurse’s
personal journey into the world of transplant. Mark your calendars and plan to join us.
Respectfully,
Kathie Fisher RN CRRN
