FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital's emergency department will host the fifth annual ER Update 2005: Current Challenges in Emergency Nursing on January 28, 2005, from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in HMFW's Robb Rutledge Education Center.
The seminar, designed specifically for nurses and nursing students, will address issues ranging from efficiently moving patients from the emergency department to the comfort of an inpatient unit, to medical dilemmas with childhood obesity, injuries sustained from high-speed race car accidents at Texas Motor Speedway, the treatment of rabies, and nursing implications for appropriately addressing grieving families, to name a few.
"ER nurses and emergency medical personnel must be a jack of all trades," said Gloria Harris, RN, BS, MA, an emergency department nurse at HMFW and a seminar committee member. "We treat a wide variety of ages, illnesses and injuries and must be prepared to provide care in any given situation, which is why a seminar addressing the wide variety of competencies required in emergency nursing is so important."
The featured guest speaker, Carolyn Santora, RN, MS, from Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, New York, will present an operations model for proactively improving the efficiency of moving patients from the emergency department to an inpatient unit and decreasing wait times. Santora will discuss the recent practices implemented in Stony Brook's emergency room to improve its operations.
"We have been proactive in implementing solutions for improving the efficiency of the patient's journey through the ER, and have had a lot of success in streamlining that journey," said Barbara VanWart, RN, an emergency department manager at HMFW and seminar chairperson. "Hearing the details about how Stony Brook University Hospital improved its journey from the ER to the inpatient unit will give us yet another best practice to consider implementing at Harris, and is sure to do the same for the emergency nurses in attendance from other local and regional hospitals."
In addition, attendees will hear from a local emergency medicine physician who also serves as the medical director for the Texas Motor Speedway and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and can provide insight on treating injuries sustained in high-speed race car accidents. Like any sport, car racing presents its own set of injury possibilities. Because injuries sustained at over 200 miles per hour with restraint mechanisms and protective gear can be different from those sustained in typical motor vehicle accidents, Robert Genzel, M.D., an emergency department physician on the medical staff at HMFW, will discuss trauma related to high-speed race car accidents. In addition, a NASCAR and IRL race car will be on campus during the seminar for attendees to get an up close view of the restraint mechanisms and protective gear used in race cars.
"ER Update is designed specifically for ER nurses so that they can improve their practice," VanWart says. "Expert speakers were chosen to highlight tactics with practical applications nurses face each day."
Participants will have the opportunity to tour the emergency department at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, as well as obtain 7.6 continuing education units (CEUs) for attending the event. Lunch will be provided.
To receive a discounted enrollment fee, register before the day of the event. Nursing students and Texas Health Resources employees receive discounted rates for registration.
Registration Fees: Pre-Registration $60 THR employee (pre-registration) $50 Nursing students $25 At the door $75
To register for the event, or for more information, please call 817-882-3334.
Harris Methodist Fort Worth HospitalCONTACT: Ashley Wesson of Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital,+1-817-882-2152, or pager, +1-817-930-2515, or ashleywesson@texashealth.org
