Howdy from Austin, Texas, where more than 1,000 medical-surgical nurses have gathered for the 2025 AMSN Convention. With more than half of the crowd in attendance are first-time attendees, the AMSN Digital Content Committee and Podcast Subcommittee are welcoming new-to-convention nurses in the warmest way they know how. A feature on the Medical-Surgical Monitor!
Meet these first-time attendees, and if you are interested in writing for the Monitor and sharing your medical-surgical nursing story, find out how you can get involved below.
Kristin Williams.
What brought you to the convention this year?
Kristin Williams, CMSRN: I work for a great organization in central Florida, Advent Health, and they help fund us going to conferences. I am a manager of an observation unit. And where does observation really fall? There’s not very much research on it; there’s not very many articles on it. So I sat down with my boss and said, “I’d really like to go to this conference, and I’d like to take our people to it.” Our company stepped up to the plate and not only did they sponsor me, but they sponsored four of my observation nurses, a medical-surgical educator, and another ANM to make sure we got here to bring all this knowledge back to central Florida.
What did you take away from the pre-conference workshop, “Showcasing Your Scholarship: Writing for Publication”?
Kristin Williams, CMSRN: It’s inspired me to go back and figure out how we can break the boundaries and barriers of the nursing practice within observation. To be able to connect here with amazing individuals, authors, and editors will help us raise the bar for nursing.
This is your first time at AMSN! Tell us about your networking experience on day one at convention.
Hayley Sweetser: This is my first time at AMSN, and I am having the best time. I'm really looking forward to hearing both of the C. diff presentations because we're having an influx in C. diff at our organization. I met a bunch of very fun people, and I met a couple people who have applied for the PRISM award. I am very excited to touch base with them after the conference so I can get some pointers on how to apply and any tidbits that they have.
Tina Hai, Ashley McMahon, and Alexandra Roth.
I understand that you are all first-time attendees here at the AMSN Convention. Where are you from?
Tina Hai, Ashley McMahon, Alexandra Roth: Yes, we’re all first-timers. We’re from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Avera McKennan Hospital.
What made you want to come to the convention?
Tina Hai, Ashley McMahon, Alexandra Roth: We just love the collaboration of all the med-surg nurses and knowing that it is a true specialty and it's something to be proud of.
Have you gleaned any new information from any of the sessions?
Tina Hai, Ashley McMahon, Alexandra Roth: I went to a really thought-provoking session about leadership yesterday and that was a really great kickoff to the entire conference. It just got me excited to learn and do some more learning through the next two days.
Stephanie Withey and Brianna Bullock.
Hayley Sweetser met Brianna Bullock and Stephanie Withey: I had the opportunity to connect with two first-time attendees from Penn Medicine! Brianna and Stephanie were so sweet, and I loved their strategies to improve med-surg orientation for new-to-practice nurses by including hours at an infusion center. IV insertion is a skill worth investing in!
Emily and Ashley from St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky came to the convention this year because they were awarded the PRISM for their unit on 4 Southwest! They were excited to attend the AMSN Convention for the first time!
Med-Surg Moments Podcast Co-Host Maritess Quinto interviewed two first-time attendees! Watch their insights below:
Oliver
Pamela
AMSN Board of Directors member Dr. Mark Lee interviewed first-time attendees Alexis and Julie. Listen in to some of their key takeaways:
Whether you are a fellow first-time attendee or longtime AMSN Convention participant, we want to hear your story. Submit your clinical pearls of wisdom, best practices, and med-surg stories to the Monitor.