News Archives: GPRC and Partners host Rural Emergency Nursing Conference
Monday, May 13th, 2013
GPRC welcomes emergency room nurses from throughout the region to a one-day conference on Saturday May 11 at the Grande Prairie campus. The conference is designed for nurses working in rural emergency departments and will provideparticipants with education about emergent care situations seen in this setting. 68 registrants are on campus to attend a selection of workshops and plenary sessions, and to hear the keynote address from Dianne Dyer, President of CARNA, the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta, who is speaking on behalf of the Canadian Nurses Association.
The concept grew out of a conversation between Nursing instructors Bonnie Braun and Vanessa Sheane as they were making plans to attend a conference in Calgary. “We started talking about how good it would be to have a conference right here in our region,” explains Sheane. Both Braun and Sheane have backgrounds in emergency room nursing prior to becoming College instructors, so they were especially interested in a conference for nurses in that field.
“We took the idea to the STARS educator, who was enthusiastic, and we got the same reaction from the trauma coordinator at the QEII Hospital, so we began making plans!” They assembled a planning team of 10 RNs, discussed suitable topics, secured the speakers, and began preparations to host their colleagues from throughout northern Alberta and the BC Peace region.
The presence of keynote speaker Dianne Dyer is a significant marker of the professional status of this conference. Dianne Dyer’s 35-year career has included emergency nursing, public health nursing, primary health care, nursing management and nursing education. Dyer received her bachelor of nursing in 1976, and her masters of nursing in 1993, both from the University of Calgary. Her interest and passion for quality trauma care led to a leadership role with Alberta’s Provincial Trauma System. She has led projects focused on quality improvement, health promotion and injury prevention, andpatient safety. Her most recent role has been as a practice consultant withAlberta Health Services, where she led provincial projects addressing clinical, management and patient safety challenges. Dianne is strongly committed to her profession and to advocacy for safe, quality care and services within the health-care system. An active member of the Trauma Association of Canada (TAC), Dyer has served as a national trauma system accreditor, as a trauma researcher and as co-chair of the TAC International Issues/Disaster Committee.
The topics of the workshop sessions are specifically chosen in recognition of the type of situation nurses must be prepared to meet in rural settings when a doctor may not be present. Topics range from triage to documentation and legalities. The GPRC simulation lab will be utilized in some sessions, and the STARS mobile unit will be onsite to support others. Workshops are designed for RNs, LPNs, and Nursing students, but other disciplines are welcomed. Organizers are exceptionally pleased with the enthusiastic response to this first conference originating in our region, and looking forward to an informativeprofessional development day with colleagues.
“This conference is a taste of what is to come in our region,” says Susan Bansgrove, Vice-President Academics and Research at GPRC. “We are very proud of the initiative taken by our Nursing faculty, and gratified by the enthusiastic support of our healthcare partners. These relationships are increasingly important as we move forward together to develop new training opportunities for healthcare workers in our region, preparing for the opening of the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital in 2017.”