Are you not a member of PNWSGNA but want to be on our mailing list for upcoming conferences and classes? Click here: (mailing list).
House of Delegates Resolutions - Vote: It's time for PNWSGNA members to vote for the national resolutions. This can be done on-line by clicking on the following: ( VOTE ). You'll need to supply your name and/or membership number. Your vote will be kept confidential and is only accessible by our president, Heather Blyth-Foss. She will need your input before going to National so please vote soon.
"The Full Scope of Infection Control" ***Note Change*** - Due to the timing and the number of registered participants, the date has been changed. It is now scheduled for May 31, 2008 in Portland at Portland State University. This is a one day seminar that addresses all aspects of reprocessing rigid and flexible endoscopes. (brochure) For centers sending multiple registrants, a "Multiple Registrant" form can be downloaded to simplify registration.
2008 PNWSGNA Fall Conference: The PNWSGNA Fall Conference will be held October 18th at the Embassy Suite Bellevue. Watch the site for more information or contact: Heather Blyth-Foss (hbfkentt@comcast.net). Embassy Suites Bellevue 3225 158th Ave SE Bellevue, WA 98008 Website
A Letter From Heather Blyth-Foss:
Thanks to you all who attended the 25th Annual Fall Conference in Coeur'd Alene, Idaho. About 200 GI nurses and Associates from Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington attended. On Sunday, we had an excellent turn out of 20 members taking the ABCGNA certification exam.
We also had a record number of vendors with approximately 27 companies attending to displaying their products. As GI nurses and Associates we would like to thank all our vendors for their support of GI nursing.
A special thank you goes to Cook Medical for sponsoring the Friday night event and to Boston Scientific for the Saturday evening event.
PNWSGNA would like to thank those past presidents who attended and a very special thank you to Liz Moehrke and Pam Washington.Without your vision and hard work, we would not have PNWSGNA.
As president of PNWSGNA, I know it takes a lot of organizing and planning to put on a conference and this is only possible with a great deal of help from the planning committee and our PNWSGNA board members. I would like to give my personal thanks to each and everyone of you for your help and support.
Heather Blyth-Foss
President PNWSGNA
Pam Washington was a found member of PNWSGNA and recently retired from the University of Washington and GI Nursing. Her achievements were acknowledged at the Fall Conference. She sent the following note:
11-8-07
To all members of PNWSGNA:
I was so happy to be recognized by all of you at the 25th PNWSGNA meeting. I want to say "THANK YOU" for inviting me to come as a special guest.
I have witnessed the growth and development of our Regional Society from 10 nurses to the coordination of 4 states in the Pacific Northwest. I have loved Gastroenterology nursing from the moment I started to working 33 years, all at the UW.I just recently retired from UWMC in Seattle.
I have developed long lasting friends at all the area hospitals, as well as worked with fellows in Gastroenterology training. Most of whom are the Gastroenterologists many of you now work with in private practice.
The benefits of belonging to the professional SGNA cannot be listed in one short note from me. I have learned the most from my peers whom do the same daily GI nursing as I have done. As certification and education courses continue to advance, you as GI nurses have unlimited opportunities to become the best that you can be in Gastroenterology nursing.
Please accept my small note as an acknowledgment to all the Board members that I am so proud of how you continue to make PNWSGNA one of the finest in the country. Volunteering yourselves as officers, working, while continuing your personal lives shows your commitment to PNWSGNA. Once again, my heart continues to love GI nursing, and I am so proud of PNWSGNA!
Pam Washington RN
Notes from the recipients of the 2007 Fall Conference Scholarships:
Good Job!
The PNWSGNA conference in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho was worth every minute. Your choice of speakers were knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and addressed us in a manner that was easy to receive. I also appreciated the question and answer segment held after each presentation. Even though the topics were subjects we have heard about before their review was updated and interesting.
A suggestion, if I may, would be to hold the certification exam on Friday afternoon, prior to the beginning of the Conference. I roomed with a nurse that took her Certification exam on Sunday after the conclusion of the conference. She was exhausted! Having the exam looming over her head impeded her ability to relax and enjoy the company of fellow GI nurses from our area. I felt that was a detriment. At Nationals, we took the exam prior to the opening of the Conference to get it "over and done with".
I want to thank PNWSGNA for putting together a "quality" conference and for making scholarships available.
Sincerely,
Jenifer Alsbury CGRN Missoula, Mt.
DATELINE: PNWSGNA ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE 10/19-20/2007
Happy 25 years to PNWSGNA.
This was my first adventure with PNWSGNA… as well as my first trip to Coeur d’Alene, ID. But it will not be the last you shall see of me or most of the other150 or so participants. The Best Western Coeur d’Alene Inn and Conference Center was very comfortable and enjoyable, as well as affordable;kudos to the planning committee.
There were many educational opportunitiesas well as networking for nurses, techs, and representatives fromthe companies many of us use in our work. Olympus Medical was the main sponsor (Thanx) with great resources and treats provided. All the vendors provided information as well as trinkets to tease us to try their products. I came back to Portland, OR with new information to ponder. The new tools and ideas were presented to help us doour jobs better and more efficiently.
The speakers on Sat. 10/20/07 wereengaging as well as entertaining. Information on developments in High Risk Colon Cancer Screening,Advances in IBS,Small Bowel Enteroscopy, Microbes in the Endo Environment, and theentertaining ideas presented withLower GI Foreign Bodies; made useachrealize maybe our department isn’t so strange.:-)Each speaker had printed reference as well as time for questions and answers. Between speakers we had the opportunity to go and look at some of the equipment, devices talked about. (No,not the foreign bodies.)
Theopening presentation by Cook Endoscopy on Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis gave working knowledge of anatomy,disease process, and treatment that includesvitamins, medications, therapeutic ERCP and surgery. Liver transplant is the treatment of choice forcholangiocarcinoma. The food and beer/wine were an added bonus. (Hmm..I wonder if liver effect was a consideration?)
Boston Scientific (GO RED SOX) were not to be overshadowed in their closing presentation. The party moved to the hills around Coeur d’Alene (via bus with designated drivers) to Sharelant: A Healing Retreat, which overlooked Lake Coeur d’Alene; it was a spectacular setting. Informative but informal presentations were made, Hans and Franz served us with their buff?bodies(between workouts) and provided a good closure to this extremely energizing andenjoyable learning experience.
It was an honor to be there, meeting and socializing with GI specialists from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Unfortunately, the consensusis, no one from Alaska made it this year. Those in attendance also had the opportunity tohonor andcelebrate25 years of thePNWSGNA with many of the former presidents, including the founding lady-Pam Washington.
Thank-you to the PNWSGNA Planning Committee and all the members met for an enjoyable and memorable experience. See you in 2008 in Bellevue, WA.
Renee A. Martin PVAMC, Portland, OR
The theme of this year’s annual PNWSGNA conference, 25 Years of Growing Together, made me think of my own personnel growth. I have attended only two annual conferences in nine years. The first I attended as a new GI nurse and the second this year as a seasoned veteran.
I came to my new position in the hospital GI unit after seven years in critical care and entered my new position knowing that I could handle anything that might come along. At the time I had no idea the amount of knowledge I would have to gain to be a confident and self-assured GI nurse. The first PNWSGNA conference I attended opened my eyes to what I needed to learn and what I, as a nurse, was responsible for. I started by talking to my fellow nurses, who suggested I read the core curriculum and join SGNA to receive the monthly journal. I enjoyed the fast pace of my new field and with the example of the experienced nurses and doctors around me I gained the knowledge I needed to perform my duties.
Ten years later I find myself comfortable within the field. I do not plan on leaving GI nursing before I retire. I have tried to learn all I can, from endoscoptic ultrasound to anal rectal manometry, and everything in between. I am now a resource for the new nurses coming into the field. I set a professional example by maintaining certification in GI nursing and encouraging my peers to attend the conferences and educational offerings.
All of this would not have been possible if I did not have the resources of the PNWSGNA, SGNA, and all of the members to help me along. We as a group have come a long way and as a result we as individuals have come just as far. Thanks to all.
Laurie Lien R.N., CGRN
Scholarship recipient 2007
Overlake Hospital Medical Center
Bellevue, Washington
Betty Schulenberger Scholarship Awardees:
Jill A. Ragsdale, BSN, CGRN
Hello members of the Pacific Northwest region,
Report to PNWSGNA from the Annual SGNA Conference in Baltimore
Thank you to the Pacific Northwest Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates Board for awarding me a Bette Shulenberger Scholarship. This funding made my trip to the SGNA annual course, without any financial worries, possible.
As usual, the educational offerings were varied and interesting. The goals of the SGNA course: to present information on current and emerging diagnoses and therapeutic techniques in GI and to apply these to the art and science of nursing, were met by many wonderful courses and speakers. I especially enjoyed the sessions on endoscopic ultrasound, ERCP, and methemoglobinemia.The final general sessions were great! Cathy Dykes spoke on Chartinga Course for Future Colorectal Screening and Karyn Buxman had us rolling in the aisles with This Won’t Hurt a Bit, and Other Fractured Truths in Healthcare. You know motivational speakers are good when they have the audience crying and laughing at the same time! I came home from Baltimore stimulated intellectually and emotionally, ready to be a better nurse for my patients. In fact, Cindy, from Overlake Hospital, and I spent our whole flight home convincing our seatmate that she needed to have a colonoscopy. Her long-term rectal bleeding might not “just be hemorrhoids”, as her doctor had been telling her for years, and her insurance should indeed cover the procedure.
Along with soaking up all the information possible at the annual course, I also had two other goals. I presented a poster on Patient Safety, receiving some good feedback. Secondly, I met with several nurses from around the country who are interested in the project I am working on: an EUS Atlas for nurses. If this appeals to any of you reading this, please let me know.
Once again, I would like to thank PNWSGNA for awarding me a scholarship this year. I am honored to be a part of this hard-working organization.
Sincerely,
Jill Ragsdale
This is the first National Nursing conference I have ever attended and it was a wonderful experience.Returning to work after the conference it has been exciting to “see with new eyes” the sedation and procedure process.
At the Baltimore SGNA Conference I took an 8-hour class on Moderate Sedation taught by a nurse anesthetist, Deborah Dlugose.I would like to share with you a few of the “one liner” ideas that I learned in this course and plan to use in my own nursing practice.I hope these tiny nuggets will be ideas you can stick in your bag of tricks as well.
Valerian tea or capsules interact with Versed causes a greater sedation response.This is an herbal sleeping aid taken in capsule or tea form.
Prior to the procedure, patients often wonder which of their medications they should take and which ones to avoid. A good explanation is to tell them to always take their “tune-up” medications for your heart and lungs. That way they are in optimum shape for the procedure.
When you are questioning a patient’s lung status. Ask the question:How often do you wake up in the middle of the night and sit up to catch your breath?
Take out dentures for a colonoscopy if the dentures are loose.Soft tissue relaxes with sedation and teeth have been known to “slip on down”!
Development of good rapport between nurse and patient is essential.It helps the patient relax allowing the sedation and analgesic meds to work more efficiently and therefore requiring less medication.
Nursing Assessment is what goes on in our heads...not check marks on a form.Monitoring is a dynamic process not a series of tasks.Seek to consciously develop behaviors that enhance the dynamic process of monitoring. These include:anticipation, vigilance, allocation of attention and use of all available information that the patient and monitoring machines are giving you.
See you at the conference next year!!
Diane Gelotte RN, BSN
May 31,2007
Thank you, thank you, thank you PNWSGNA for granting me a scholarship to attend the SGNA annual course in Baltimore!From the opening ceremonies thru the Keynote speakers, nurse speakers, and vendor programs to the closing address I was continually impressed with the nurses in this profession.We are not in this alone and it was encouraging to hear problems discussed and answers given form those in the trenches.Classes on new therapies were enlightening and well presented.
Baltimore gave us her best weather and even though we were busy from 7AM to 10PM we managed to enjoy some of the wonderful history and sites of the city.
It was a fabulous 4 days and I encourage anyone who can to attend.You will be rejuvenated for Endoscopy nursing!
Linda Fortney, BSN, CGRN
PNWSGNA SCHOLARSHIP: This year PNWSGNA has 8 $100 scholarships to be given to PNWSGNA nurses and associates who are seeking assistance with the registration fees of gastroenterology-focused continuing education programs.The Continuing Education Scholarship Program will provide 2 $100 scholarships per quarter annually to be used for the expenses associated with GI meetings, workshops, courses, conferences or other activities that promote professional growth.This scholarship cannot be used to attend the SGNA Annual Course. Application for these scholarship funds requires current PNWSGNA membership for the past 2 years, current employment in the gastroenterology field, and active support the PNWSGNA mission.Following the conference, the scholarship recipient agrees to submit a short article to the PNWSGNA Newsletter Editor for publication in “The Lightsource,” describing the event they attended.
Besides the new scholarship mentioned above, PNWSGNA has several other fully funded scholarships to meet your educational needs. Applications, further details of eligibility criteria, and terms of agreement for all scholarships can be found in the "Scholarships & Grants" link on the PNWSGNA web site.
Getting ready to take that certification exam? One of the benefits of being a PNWSGNA member is that you are entitled to a 50% reimbursement of the cost for the successful completion of the certification / re-certification exam. Click on the following link for more information. Certification / Re-Certification Reimbursement Information.
SGNA Associates Program: Check out SGNA's Associates Program. Upon completion, participants receive a Certificate of Completion and a GI Technical Specialist (GTS) pin. Visit: www.sgna.org/Education/associates.cfm
ABCGN Exam and Gastroenterology Nursing: A Core Curriculum, 3rd Edition: There have been several questions directed to ABCGN and SGNA Headquarters regarding study material for the 2008 exam. The ABCGN 2008 exams (Spring and Fall) will be compiled and finalized during the first quarter of 2008. Therefore, all questions that are referenced to the Core will be referenced back to the current edition of the SGNA Gastroenterology Nursing: A Core Curriculum, 3rd edition. If you are planning to sit for the exam in 2008 you should not wait to purchase the new edition of SGNA's Gastroenterology Nursing: A Core Curriculum, 4th edition as it is the current 3rd edition that will be used as a reference for the 2008 exams. If you have any questions regarding this statement please contact ABCGN at 800-245-7462.
New Certification for Endoscope Reprocessing: The Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution (CBSPD) will begin offering certification for those who reprocess endoscope equipment. The new credential will assess the competency of those who reprocess flexible GI endoscopes and bronchoscopes.(Click here for more information)
Membership Renewal: It is once again time to renew your commitment to the profession of gastroenterology and endoscopy nursing by renewing your membership with SGNA! So, get ready to receive your 2008 DUES RENEWAL FORM in mid-October. Remember, in order to continue to receive your valuable membership benefits, you must renew your membership. Some of your SGNA membership benefits include: your bi-monthly subscriptions to SGNA News and the Gastroenterology Nursing Journal, as well as the monthly edition of e-scope; discounts on SGNA products, publications and Annual Course registration; discounts on ABCGN certification and recertification exams; and first access to the latest educational materials, standards and guidelines and position statements.
Don't forget that for every new member who lists you as their referral on their new membership application, you are entered into the SGNA SHARE THE WEALTH: MEMBER GET A MEMBER drawing. The member who recruits the most individuals will receive a $599 airfare travel voucher to anywhere in the continental US. Two first place winners will be drawn randomly to receive a complimentary SGNA Annual Course registration. Three second place winners will be drawn randomly to receive a $50 SGNA gift certificate to use towards SGNA products and publications.
Last year we had a total of 737 NEW members recruited through the SGNA SHARE THE WEALTH: MEMBER GET A MEMBER campaign. We encourage you all to share your enthusiasm with others and recruit a new member today!
Prepare to Renew - You can take the following steps to get ready and prepare to renew your SGNA membership for 2008:
1. Find your SGNA profile online at www.sgna.org. 2. Review your profile to ensure that your contact information and any other information is correct and up-to-date. a. If you need to edit any information, you can make the changes right there, online. b. If you do not remember your login, please note that your login is the same as your Member ID #. c. Please contact SGNA Headquarters if you have any difficulty accessing your information or making updates.
Renew Online - It is easier than ever to renew your SGNA Membership. We encourage you to renew your membership dues online this year. We have received positive feedback from SGNA members regarding how they enjoy renewing online. It is fast, easy and effective. If you would like any help in renewing your dues online, please feel free to call SGNA Headquarters at 800-245-7462 for assistance.
SGNA Membership Dues Scholarship Deadline: October 1st!
SGNA Membership Dues Scholarships have been established to financially assist SGNA members with their annual membership dues. Grants of $85-95 will be awarded each year to those members who meet the established criteria. The number of grants awarded will depend upon funds available.
You are eligible to apply if: 1) you have previously been a member of SGNA for two or more years; 2) you are currently employed as a caregiver in the field of gastroenterology; 3) you actively support the goals and philosophy of SGNA; 4) you can demonstrate financial need. You are ineligible if: 1) you have previously received a Membership Dues Scholarship from SGNA, or 2) you are a member of the SGNA Board of Directors.
