YOU’RE SPONSORED: SACSNA KINDLY SPONSORED EIGHT OF US TO ATTEND THE 2017 DALLAS NSNA CONVENTION. THEY PAID FOR OUR HOTEL ROOMS AND THE NSNA CONVENTION ATTENDANCE FEE.
Nursing Advancement Resources: We spoke with school representatives from across the nation about their undergraduate (RN-BSN) and postgraduate (MSN, NP) programs. Some schools were offering substantial discounts to attend their program and even free room and board! There were demonstrations of various NCLEX platforms (UWorld and Hurst among some of the most popular). School and Hospital representatives spoke about nursing residency programs for new grads. There were also great organizations like International Service Learning, which provide opportunities to travel to different countries and provide medical or educational services to people in need.
Support your peers: Our very own SAC Nursing graduate, Paola Molina, ran for a NSNA Board position as Director West and won! She gave a beautiful three-minute speech and garnered more applause than any other candidate for any position. It was also a wonderful experience to hear the speeches (stories/experiences) of students in various states and their contributions related to the position they were running for. Some candidates served in the army, were cheerleaders for the Atlanta Falcons, or visited every school in their state to see what improvements they needed in their nursing programs!
Guest Speakers: There were seminars on test taking strategies, legal aspects of nursing and more. The legal aspects of nursing seminar was interesting because it showed how things like needle safety became a national practice. Karen Daley, an experienced ED nurse, contracted HIV and Hepatitis C by a needle (with no safety mechanism) that was protruding out of a sharps container. All she was trying to do was be a responsible nurse and discard the needle she used on her patient and she contracted two deadly diseases. Nurse Daley is the one that paved the way for safer needle legislation, which began as a grassroots battle in her home state and then became a national concern when it landed in our nation’s capital. My favorite guest speaker was Earl young as he discussed his diagnosis, battle and cure of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. It brought tears to my eyes to hear his recount of being told he had a few months to live and then meeting his match/donor for his much needed bone marrow transplant that cured him.
Miscellaneous activities: A couple of us attended an American Red Cross Disaster Health and Shelter Course, which was a great experience to know what to do in such a traumatic situation. We received a certification of completion that we put in our Student Portfolio! There was also a Johnson & Johnson Care run to raise funds for the NSNA undergraduate scholarship program. What a great reason to become an NSNA member!
Free Stuff: I must admit, I felt like a giddy kid when I received free items: pens, notebooks, stickers, cups, penlights, NCLEX trials, medical magazine subscriptions and more.