Tag: CRNA CME

Encore Symposium Bar Harbor 2020

COVID 19 put a halt on the Encore meeting scheduled for Bar Harbor, however, Nancy LaBrie and the Encore faculty could not be daunted. To support the educational needs of loyal CRNAs, the meeting converted to a live, online format. Here is feedback from attendees:

From B M-G
I recently attended a webinar conference, held with Zoom, presented by Encore Symposium on October 19 the 22nd 2020. The expertise of their presenters were stellar. All were CRNA\’s with their DNP. One presenter was from the NIH and gave excellant information on COVID-19\’s history, pathophysiology and management. Another was a former board member of the NBCRNA and spoke of the CPC requirements and answered all questions and clarified misunderstandings about the requirements. The Zoom meeting could not have been easier. I already had Zoom attached on my computer. The Saturday before the conference an email was sent with a link to each days\’ conference. I only had to click on the link to bring me straight to the conference presenter. Encore set it up without video of the participants, just audio. So…I enjoyed the conference without having to \”get ready\”. There was extra time at the end of each session for question and answers. I will continue to attended Encore\’s conference because of it\’s high quality presenters and killer destinations (this was suppose to be in Bar Harbor, Maine & Acadia National Park). Hoping to see old friends at next years conference in Cape Neddick, Maine @ the Cliff House.

From KG
Knowing we all have education commitments to accomplish , the Encore Anesthesia staff have been a shining star in sea of darkness. The office and the lines of communication remain open and questions are answered by a real person. Thank you for providing that service in the most tumultuous times. It is greatly appreciated.

Encore Symposium: Sedona 2019

post card 1

Meeting Date: November 4-7, 2019

Meeting location:  Hilton resort, Bell mountain, Sedona, AZ

Meeting sponsor: Encore Symposiums

Strengths of the meeting: 

Person #1  Very informative and I really liked the speakers.  Encore staff was very pleasant and helpful.  I would really recommend Encore for future CME.  Sedona was the perfect site; I really liked the outdoor activity and the perfect weather.

Person #2  Great location with lots of activities and perfect weather.  The speakers were top notch and presented a variety of topics.  The information from this meeting will help my case management and has also given me ideas for improving teamwork in our anesthesia group.

Person #3 regarding the CPC review:  I did the CPC Review and the Sedona Red Rock & Grand Canyon Program November 2-7. Sedona is an absolutely beautiful location for a fall conference. While I was there the weather was perfect….blue skies, upper 70’s. The Hilton Resort Sedona at Bell Rock is a beautiful and well kept resort. The Hilton staff were very helpful and accommodating. The meeting rooms were comfortable and spacious. Encore Symposiums provided a delicious breakfast with many choices each morning. The night before the seminars started there was a stargazing welcome reception. It was wonderful to have time to socialize with other CRNAs and their spouses. Nancy and her staff at Encore provide a professional and well run Symposium!!! The the topics were applicable and informative. The speakers were very knowledgable, friendly, approachable, interactive and presented their topics clearly. The CPC review was a well thought out review. Yes, I knew the majority of the information presented, but it never hurts to review the anesthesia information with the CPC examination happening in the next few years. I am looking forward to my next Encore Symposium Program!


Suggestions for improvement: 

Person #1  none

Person #2  I don’t have any suggestions for the meeting itself because it was excellent.  At a place like sedona I suggest offering a group hike or bike ride in the afternoon for those who are interested.

Value for the money:  

Person #1  excellent

Person #2  excellent

Encore Hilton Head 2019

 

HH post 1

Meeting Date: May 2019

Meeting location:  Hilton Head, SC

Meeting sponsor: Encore Symposiums

Strengths of the meeting:  Great speakers, timely topics and an attentive group of participants.  As always, Encore picks the best hotels and provides the best breakfast of any meeting that I have attended.


Suggestions for improvement:  None


Value for the money:  Excellent

Naples Florida 2019

Naples

Meeting Date: March 2019

Meeting location:  Naples, FL

Meeting sponsor: Encore Symposiums

Strengths of the meeting: 

Reviewed by JL:  So much useful information. Great topics to update and refresh us. All of the speakers were really good! Definitely will be doing another conference with Encore!


Suggestions for improvement:

None, great location and great speakers.


Value for the money:

Great price for the credits!

 

Meeting Review: Pennsylvania ANA State Meeting

Meeting Date:   05/03/2013

Meeting location:  Hershey PA

Meeting presented by:   PANA

Meeting strengths / interesting topics & speakers:

This meeting was an exceptional offering and probably one of the best State meetings in the country. The meeting was held at the Hershey Hotel in Hershey PA. (the sweetest city in America). The hotel was historic located on a hillside and having great gardens. The Pennsylvania Assn of Nurse Anesthetist selected top notch CRNA speakers and also had concurrent sessions with ACLS, PALS and an Ultrasound workshop. Offering 20 CEUs during a weekend State meeting exceeds expectations.

Suggested improvements:

None. You guys have it together

Overall value for the money:

Exceptional value. This was as good or better than most of the commercial meetings. If the word gets out, this could rival the AANA National meeting as the premier meeting of the year.

Clinical Topic: Learning Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia

Ultrasound guided regional anesthesia has quickly established itself as the preferred technique for placing blocks.  Several models of ultrasound devices are available and each vendor touts their product as the best.  Time for placement, success of the block and patient satisfaction all reinforce ultrasound guided placement as the method of choice for regional anesthesia.

CME meetings across the country are offering hands on workshops to teach anesthesia providers how to properly use this new technology.  Likewise, Nurse Anesthesia training programs have added ultrasound guided regional anesthesia to the curriculum.  Educators agree that mastering ultrasound technology is important but to date teaching techniques have not been evaluated.

A study by John Gasko, CRNA et al funded by the AANA Foundation and recently published in AANA Journal — August 2012 Supplement  (Effects of Using Simulation Versus CD-ROM in the Performance of Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia) compares two techniques for teaching ultrasound guided regional anesthesia to Student Nurse Anesthetists.  Students were divided into groups and were taught either by the use of CD-ROM based teaching or by simulation with human subjects.  A third group was taught using a combination of both approaches.

The authors found that there was no difference in learning between those using CD-ROM versus simulation.  However, the study found that a combination of CD-ROM and simulation was clearly more effective than either technique separately.

Click here to read the original article published in the AANA Journal

Click here to learn about how you can support CRNA research through the AANA Foundation.

Return to procrna.com and share your comments with your colleagues.

Clinical Topic: Does Anesthetic Technique Make a Difference?

The belief that the choice of anesthetic technique has little effect on long term outcome is being challenged.  New evidence is being presented in the literature suggesting that anesthetic technique, in fact, may make a difference in long term outcome.

A recent study by Kavanagh T, and Buggy DJ. (Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2012 Apr;25(2):185-98.) titled Can anaesthetic technique effect postoperative outcome? examines aspects of anesthetic management that may effect postoperative outcomes.  According to the authors, a review of the literature has revealed the following:

  • Administration of supplemental oxygen and the avoidance of perioperative hypothermia, allogeneic blood transfusion, hyperglycaemia or large swings in blood glucose levels reduces postoperative infection rates.
  • The use of regional anaesthesia techniques reduces chronic postsurgical pain.
  • The avoidance of nitrous oxide reduces the long-term risk of myocardial infarction.

The authors point out that the findings of many studies can be debated and recommend large scale studies with long term followup to gather better data.  Such studies could better identify correlations between anesthetic technique and cancer recurrence, neurotoxicity, and the development of postoperative cognitive dysfunction.

Click here to read an abstract of the original work and return to procrna.com and share your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

Clinical Topic: Fluid management in Major Surgery

Fluid management during major surgery has been a topic of discussion for decades.  The goal of evidence based practice has produces many studies related to fluid management.  Despite the number of studies that have been published, to date there is no universal protocol recommending optimal fluid management guidelines

A review by Corcoran,T et al published in Anes Analg  (2012 Mar;114(3):640-51. Epub 2012 Jan 16) titled Perioperative fluid management strategies in major surgery: a stratified meta-analysis looked at major works that have been published in an attempt to clarify whether goal directed fluid therapy had an advantage over liberal fluid replacement during major surgery.  Those in the goal directed group had fluids administered based on hemodynamic targets.

The study reviewed databases from 1950 to 2009.  Postoperative complication such as pneumonia, pulmonary edema, time to first bowel movement and length of hospitalization were all greater in the liberal fluid group.  They found no difference in wound infection/dehiscence, myocardial infarction, renal complications or mortality.

The goal directed patients received more colloid fluids during surgery and had shorter hospitalization with fewer renal complications.  The authors concluded that the goal directed group had better outcomes than the liberal fluid group.  However, they could not state that goal directed therapy is superior to liberal fluid use.

Click here to read an abstract of the original article.

Meeting Review: NWAS, Turks and Caicos

Meeting Date:  4/22/2012

Location:  Turks and Caicos

Strengths of meeting:  Interesting topics and speakers.  Beautiful location, great beaches, great for scuba and snorkeling

Suggestions:  No suggestions for improving the meeting.   The hotel was all inclusive with several dining options.  The food was not good and the service was not up to par for the price.

Overall value for the money:  Overpriced resort

From PROCRNA.COM:  If you have attended a meeting lately and want to share your experience with your colleagues, click on “meeting review” on the navigation tab and submit your review.

From the meeting sponsor:  “Northwest Anesthesia Seminars was founded in 1976 with the primary objective of offering high quality continuing education seminars for the anesthesia provider. This remains our principal objective today and our programs are designed to keep you current in the practice of anesthesiology while at the same time providing a forum for professional exchange with your colleagues from around the world. We know that your time is valuable and combining continuing education with a vacation is not only practical, but rewarding as well!

Be sure to browse our full course schedule to explore our locations with something for every traveler’s taste, budget and desire. Visit our website at www.nwas.com or call 1-800-222-6927 to learn more. There are many great reasons to attend a Northwest Anesthesia Seminar and we hope to see you soon.”   Click here to visit the NWAS web site.

Meeting Review: NWAS Philadelphia

Meeting Date:  May 24-27, 2012

Quality of Meeting:  Overall excellent.  The speakers were very good and the topics were relevant to clinical practice.   Objectives were met for each of the topics presented.  I did not attend the hand’s on ultrasound workshop but was told that it was very good also.  I especially enjoyed the topics presented by Dr. Murphy.  He was well informed and interacted with the audience

Quality of location:  Again, excellent.  The host hotel was nice and located in Central Downtown.  There were many good restaurants close to the hotel.  Philadelphia had many historic sites as well as museums.  I was pleasantly surprised at all the murals covering walls in the downtown area.  It was an easy area to keep active by walking and biking.  I especially enjoyed a bike ride along the trail by the river.

Value for the money:  Excellent.  NWAS puts on a lot of meetings and have developed a quality faculty.  They seek sites that are great getaway locations.  I will attend another NWAS meeting next year.

Meeting Review: Encore Symposium, Santa Fe, NM

Encore Symposiums, Inc. was founded in 1983 with the focus of providing continuing education to anesthesia providers in unique and exciting destinations. Each venue offers a high quality educational event that augments the expertise of the nurse anesthetist and a truly wonderful get-a-away.

Through the years we have developed a CRNA faculty that is dedicated to sharing knowledge directly pertaining to the challenges facing nurse anesthesia practice today.  Their presentations are pertinent, up-to-date and applicable to many areas of clinical anesthesia.

September in Santa Fe will include Hands-On Ultrasound Workshop & Interactive Legal Presentations.  Encore Symposiums has been providing CRNA continuing education for nearly 30 years.  September 3-6, 2012, they are offering a schedule that includes Regional Anesthesia presentations followed by a Hands-on Ultrasound Workshop.  In addition, the symposium will carry an emphasis on legal issues and include an Interactive Mock Deposition.

The symposium will be held at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, located in the heart of downtown.  Spaces are limited, register now!

Click here to visit the web page for the Sante Fe meeting.  If you have been to an Encore Symposium, use the form below to write a review.

Meeting Review: NWAS, Las Vegas

The following review was submitted by a CRNA attending the recent January 2012 Northwest Anesthesia Seminar in Las Vegas.  Procrna.com thanks you for the posting and encourages others to send reviews when they attend meetings.

Date:  1/23/12

Meeting strengths:  Interesting topics & speakers.   NWAS does a great job recruiting their speakers & provides great information on updates regarding anesthesia practice. The Las Vegas meeting is one of the most popular & it’s a great location! The speakers in January focused on ASC guidelines & updates for discharge. Current recommendation is that the patient does not need to void or drink before being discharged. The L&D and positioning portion of the lectures were week. They also shared good information on pediatric anesthesia & new information on robotic anesthesia.   Dr. DeSoto was a great speaker!

Suggested improvement:        I would like to see more information on what we as providers can do during our current drug shortages. Also, there was very limited information on difficult airway management which is always a great topic to revisit during CME conferences.

Overall value for the money:  Great value for your money if you like Las Vegas. I would not suggest it to anyone who was not interested in visiting Las Vegas. Lots of food, great shows, shopping, gambling, and people watching!

NWAS did a great job scheduling the meeting with two days starting & ending in the morning and the other 2 days starting in the afternoon & ending in early evening.
Paris hotel is in a good location to other things on the strip. The conference rooms were comfortable & the food they provided was great.

Meeting Review: Emory University New Horizons

Emory University is proud to announce two upcoming meetings

The first meeting is New Horizons in Anesthesiology in Big Sky, Montana, March 11-16, 2012.  We have been running a ski meeting for 24 years.  This particular meeting will include topics such as the effects of anesthesia on sleep, patients’ memory as well as patient awareness.  Issues pertaining to clinician efficiency and productivity as well as topics relating to staff motivation and practitioner fraud and abuse will be discussed.  This course will offer 22 CE credits for CRNA’s.

Big Sky Resort is located in southwestern Montana, just north of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  Big Sky offers instant access to some of the most diverse skiing and snowboarding amongst breathtaking vistas in the lower 48.  Beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, and gracious hospitality make Big Sky Resort Montana’s premier ski destination.

Our 2nd meeting New Horizons in Anesthesiology – Cozumel, Mexico April 15-20, 2012 in its 13th year  will cover topics such as the role of clinical pharmacology in legal cases and allergic and anaphyllactoid reactions.  Comparative opioid pharmacology and pharmacologic approaches to managing perioperative hypertension, including information on new clinical trials and discussions on the identification and treatment of the patient at risk for severe postoperative pain will be presented.  This course will offer 22 CE credits for CRNA’s.

The meeting will be held at the Presidente Intercontinental Cozumel Resort & Spa.  This beachfront hotel offers the perfect blend of accommodations, service, meeting and recreational facilities.  Jacques Cousteau declared Cozumel “one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas of the world”.   You can leave from the dock of the hotel for daily scuba diving.

Click here for information about the meeting agenda and registration

After you attend the meeting, return to www.procrna.com and leave a comment.  Let your colleagues know about your experience

Meeting Review: MUSC, Charleston, S.C.

2012 marks the 25th anniversary of this conference.  Enjoy a variety of topics (20 hourse of CE) with a fantastic speaker panel including Debbie Mailina, AANA President, Christine Zambricki AANA Deputy Executive Director, Jackie Rowles Past President talking about Pain and many more.

If you like history and good food, visiting Charleston, SC is always a treat.  We have plenty of both and the first week of May is a great time to visit and explore.

Join us in Charleston South Carolina May 4-6 for a great meeting and a memorable experience.

Click here for more information or to register on line.  After the meeting, make a comment on procrna.com and share your experience with your colleagues.

CRNA Today; Online CME for CRNAs

To enhance your CME experience, PROCRNA.com offers reviews of meeting attended by our readers.  Several readers have requested a review of online CME.  CRNA Today is an online CME offering for CRNAs.  Read the review, visit their site, and return and offer your comments to your colleagues.

As described by the owners, CRNA Today is a CRNA owned, web based CME offering committed to delivering complete online education for CRNAs in a fresh and engaging way.  The platform was created to deliver CE courses online and is centered around making continuing education easy and exciting.  Instructors and editors have decades of practical experience as seasoned CRNAs.  You can choose from multiple ways to access your course content.  We’re committed to constantly updating and adding to our course selections based upon feedback from the CRNAs we serve.

Below is a testimonial from a CRNA who has used CRNAtoday.com to obtain CME credit:

“Your course had very good speakers and informative sessions  in the comfort of my home computer. It was a godsend.  Not only was it cost effective, but the time involved without leaving my home was wonderful. I would like to thank you for your help in guiding me through the process of taking the quiz at the end of the course.  CRNAtoday is one of the best ways for crna’s with limited spare time from their families to get the credits needed every 2 years. Thank you and your staff who got this course off the ground for people like me.”

PROCRNA.com would like to hear from CRNAs who have used the CRNA Today CME program.  Write a comment and let us know how it worked for you.

Click here to view CRNAtoday.com    How does online CME work for you?

Dannemiller Nurse Anesthetist Review and Update

November 29 – December 4, 2011,  San Antonio, TX

I’ve been attending this Dannemiller offering for years and it consistently meets my continuing education needs. It’s very convenient to visit a beautiful place like San Antonio, TX for a few days and earn enough CE credits for the two year re-certification. This time they provided 32 hours of lecture (including pharmacology credit) and an optional 8 hour hands-on ultrasound guided nerve block workshop. I especially enjoyed the lectures onreactive airway management, pediatric congenital heart disease, geriatric poly-pharmacology, perioperative diabetic management, one lung ventilation, and preoperative pulmonary assessment. Our AANA President Debra Malina provided insightful information regarding current and future nurseanesthesia trends and issues including NBCRNA mandatory recertification. I highly recommend all Dannemiller education products. Check out their website.

Click here to check out their website.

Reviewed by Bill Shopp, CRNA