The 2024 AMSN Annual Convention convened at the Sheraton Toronto Centre for the final day of educational sessions and networking opportunities. Read a recap of Saturday’s highlights.

Empathy in Action and Staying Joyfully Engaged

The Saturday morning general session began with MSNCB President Jessica Tully, DNP, RN, CMSRN, CNML, CENP, taking the stage to share MSNCB updates and present the CMSRN of Distinction Award to Tonka Williams, MHA, MSN, RN, CMSRN. Then, AMSN President-Elect Kristi Reguin-Hartman, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, presented the Clinical Leadership Award to Bonnie Clement, DNP, MSN-ED, RN, CMSRN, CNML. Congratulations to our award winners!

Then, Michael Urton, DNP, APRN, AGCNS-BC, NEA-BC, presented “Empathy in Action — Elevating Nursing Practice in Pain Management”. Urton reminded attendees that empathy and compassion are at the heart of pain management and to consider each pain independently.

To close out convention, Donna Cardillo, The Inspiration Nurse, presented “Staying Joyfully Engaged at Every Stage of Your Career”. In this final convention session, Cardillo led with the most important part of her presentation: “Change your language, change your practice.” Cardillo reminded the audience that how we speak about ourselves, our specialty, and our practice has everything to do with how we and the public perceive medical-surgical nursing. Ways to change your language include: using clear, descriptive language; using pro-nursing language; talking about what you do; creating an elevator speech; advocating for the profession; and not disparaging.

Key Session Takeaways

Review some quick-hits from today’s sets of concurrent sessions:

• Gamification can improve nurses’ knowledge. Due to the positive response to a simulated educational board game focused on peritoneal dialysis, “Kidney Land” has replaced review classes moving forward. (Kidney Land: Renew the Review, Linda Juriga)
• The “mentoring up” theory (seeding, opening, laddering, equalizing, reframing) can teach nurses what to expect in a mentor/mentee relationship. (Mentoring Matters! The Future Is Now, Margot Hedenstrom, PhD, RN, MBA, NEA-BC)
• Simulation-based learning can boost confidence for new grads. Going through process, reviewing policies and procedures, and debrief can add to this experience. Review rapid response policies, code blue policies, and code cart and other equipment to continue building this confidence. (Building Confidence in Practice Through Simulation, Kecia Hall and Emily Moser)

Featured Poster winner Stacie Lomibao Fujimoto, MSN, RN, PCCN-K, CIC

Live From Toronto

AMSN Annual Convention participants have a lot to say about their convention experience, their medical-surgical nursing career, and more. Here are the highlights from our conversations with attendees:

• “I think the energy of this convention has been some of the best we have had. Super high energy, lots of very good engagement. Networking has been high, and I’m wildly curious to know how many folks got their first passport to come here and where that passport may take them in the future.” —AMSN President-Elect Kristi Reguin-Hartman, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC
• “At convention, I enjoy meeting people from the same organization that I work at, but in different areas, and learning about the challenges they have. It’s nice to be able to connect with other people from my same organization, across the country.” —Mindy Lawson, M.Ed., BSN, RN, CMSRN, CPHQ
• “I love everything about convention!” —Charles Westley Foster, MSN, BA, CMSRN, OCN Emeritus
• “Do not sell yourself short. If you’ve done really great work, you have to showcase it because what you do can really help other people and lift other hospitals to a level that can be better for our patients … It’s also super important to acknowledge the team. Because a lot of this work, like Mr. Rubin said, we could not have done alone. It wouldn’t be possible to have all of this wonderful information without our teams.” —Featured Poster Presenter Stacie Lomibao Fujimoto, MSN, RN, PCCN-K, CIC, on the value of research
• “The best thing is talking with everybody who is here. We’ve heard comments like ‘How do we implement that? How do we do that?’ It gave us a real sense of impacting patient care, which is what research is all about. It’s not just the research, but translational research and implementing it. And we’ve learned things from other people … It’s not just about us sharing what we did, but everybody else has shared … Everybody has been so kind, and it’s a good conference.” —Sue Schuelke, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, CCRN

Find out why Cristen Mackwell, DNP, RN CMSRN, EBP-C, GERO-BC, NPD-BC, loves the 2024 AMSN Annual Convention:

What’s Next?

Thank you for joining us in Toronto this week to celebrate the exchange of knowledge and best practices with your medical-surgical nursing community. The education and connection do not stop here. Continue engaging with the convention education in the mobile app, and look forward to the sessions on the AMSN Online Library, coming soon.

Want to contribute an inspiring takeaway, comment, or topic you learned about at #AMSN2024? Contact AMSN Content Manager Morgan Manghera at mmanghera@amsn.org for your chance to be featured on the Monitor.

Featured Poster winners Sue Schuelke, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, CCRN; and Krystal Davis, Ed.D., RN

Acknowledgements

Thank you to AMSN Board of Directors and Digital Content Committee members Mark Lee, MS, BSN, RN, CMSRN, and Marie Mullins, BSN, RN, CMSRN, and AMSN Staff members Hannah Durnas and Kelly Hunt, MN, RN, CNL, for contributing to these daily recaps as convention reporters.