June 2010 President's Message

Dear NEC INS Chapter Members, When the Olympics were on TV I was in awe of the dedication and commitment to the sport by the participants.It reminded me of the commitment and dedication of nurses to their specialty of infusion nursing. We are the experts and must share our voice with our non-infusion colleagues. Being part of the Chapter is one way to carry out that duty. There is an open-ended invitation to be involved, connected and contribute. If you need an incentive to become involved, I have one for you. The BOD has voted to grant Chapter membership for one year to all who serve on the BOD or Chair a committee. We know that this represents a token, given your time commitment, but we believe that our growth and vibrancy depends on the membership’s involvement with the educational work of the Chapter. Please ask yourself this: is there a skill or time that I can contribute to the NECINS? We encourage your participation, and I personally look forward to working with you. We celebrated IV Nurses Day with a wonderful program sponsored by Baxter; we appreciate their generosity and thank them for supporting our Chapter. However, the new Pharma regulations that were enacted in July’09 and some facilities’ policies have prompted the BOD to take action that we need to keep us in compliance of the law. The Chapter will no longer accept monies from vendors for meals or speakers; we have instead asked for Unrestricted Educational Grants for the Chapter, with those funds we will then assume the cost of the meals and speakers from the NEC INS treasury. The BOD sees this as our way to continue providing up-to-date information for our practice, allow for needed contact hours for our license, and provide a little pleasure by enjoying a meal together. Grant writing is no small task, so we are looking to the members who have grant writing skills to work with the BOD to get grants from industry vendors and other foundations that support nursing education. If you know of anyone or are willing to help, please contact any BOD member. I would like to see us have funding for programs at least 1-2 years out. The Grant for the March meeting was provided by Maximus Medical. We thank them for the Chapter support and for our speaker Tim Royer whose talk ,Reducing CRBSI: the Infusion Nurses’ Role, was a huge success. The BOD has voted to add an additional scholarship to our current list. We will now be offering a membership to the INS. As a Chapter of the national organization, we are committed to strengthening that relationship. Although it is not necessary for members of the NECINS to be members of National, we encourage dual membership; we believe this step will enhance each member’s ability to be a part of the National organization INS. Membership in INS provides discount for meetings, subscription to the President’s Letter Journal of Infusion Nursing, and the newly developed evidence-based-standards of practice in infusion nursing, which are currently under review ( expected publication 2011). I am proud to have represented the Chapter at the INS meeting in May, 2010. There were many people there from New England and, I believe, we may have enlisted a few new members. The presentations were cutting edge, evidence-based and included timely topics. There were 2 tracks, one focused on home care, the other on how to do research. The exhibit halls were different this year in that they were participatory. I had the honor and privilege along with other members from the Chapter to participate in a cadaver lab, where we actually did the Intraosseous-IO insertion into a bone. Another opportunity I appreciated was the class presented in the halls given by Lippincott-Williams (JIN publisher) on how to navigate the INS web site and the members-only section of the online Journal. I truly appreciate technology and found this most helpful. I have posted an NEC INS group on Facebook. I hope to see many of you on June 8 at the Common Market. Through an Unrestricted Educational Grant donated by TeleFlex Medical, Nancy Moureau CEO of PICC Excellence, will speak on the topic Vein Preservation (see flyer). Looking forward to summer, Mary McCormick-Gendzel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Royer Discusses Infusion Nurse's Role in Catheter Infection Control On March 9, the New England Chapter held an Educational Dinner Meeting at Carrabbas' Restaurant in Peabody MA. The featured speaker was Mr. Timothy Royer, RN, BSN, CRNI, retired Nurse Manager of the Vascular Access Team at Seattle's VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Certified as a CRNI since 1998, Mr. Royer has long been active in both INS and AVA, including serving as Treasurer and President of the INS Puget Sound Chapter. His topic for this meeting was Reducing Catheter Related Blood Stream Infections: The Infusion Nurse's Role. Timothy Royer Presenting at March Chapter Meeting Mr. Royer focused his presentation on how to implement the most effective central line bundle in the adult population to achieve zero associated blood stream infections. His findings were based on several studies conducted totally independent of any manufacturer or commercial entity. This informative program was made possible through an educational grant provided by Maximus Medical, to whom the Chapter is most appreciative. A full copy of the presentation is provided below. Click Here for Full T. Royer Presentation Donna Murphy, Diane DiGirolamo and Nancy Delisio enjoy the networking hour at Carrabbas ---------------------------------------------------

Announcements

Evidenced Based Practice Notification  Info here... Be sure to check our updated JOB LISTINGS page! 2010 Seminar Brochure HERE!

The Common Market in Quincy was the site on June 8 for an excellent program on the Proactive Management of Vessel Health.

The key speaker was Nancy L. Moureau, BSN, RN, CRNI, CPUI, who is the founder and CEO of PICC Excellence, Inc. of Hartwell GA.
                                  
 Ms. Moureau spoke at length of her experiences in key hospital environments where concerns for Vessel Health and Preservation (VHP) have resulted in new and  more effective protocols to protect and preserve a patient's state of vessel health.

These include physician-initiated standing orders that defines the vascular access process and empowers the nursing staff, an individual evaluation of a patient at admission, and a daily assessment by nursing and medical staff to insure use of the right line for the right patient on the right day!

President Mary McCormick Gendzel with
 Teleflex Medical sponsors