Now that the weather has thoughts of spring, conference centers are creaking to life.
It is conference season.
Read this and heed some of the advice.
The first point is that conferences are exhausting. This is a marathon, not only for the planners who have been working since last year’s conference to present an exciting program. It is also a marathon for participants. There may be little to no time between events and the rooms that the sessions are in might be a conference center mile away. If you don’t know how far that is… it’s a lot. Most conference centers span multiple city blocks.
At the end of a conference day, which run from 0700-1800 you have to make a choice. Do you go back to the hotel room and think about what you’ve learned? Kind of a brain dump to prepare for the next day’s learning and go to sleep early in an unfamiliar bed. Or do you go out with old friends and new friends that you just met and catch up. There is a bar out there somewhere. Probably very close because a conference loves the booze. And what happens at conference, stays at conference.
Caffeine will be your friend. And whatever sleep you can snatch between partying with your friends and the conference itself, embrace it.
The second point is that conferences are exciting. You get to see people you haven’t seen in, well, a year. Ideas and gossip will be exchanged in equal measure. There is always a new to you session to explore and, in the case of the AORN expo, there will be product demos galore. As well as schools and universities vying for your attention and your tuition dollar.
The third point is that conferences are a marathon. This goes hand in hand with the point that conferences are exhausting. There are multiple educations sessions every hour. Be aware that the 2 sessions that you are most excited about will happen at the same time. Bring a coin to flip. And hope that the conference organizers put the content of the other online so you can live vicariously through PowerPoint slides.
The fourth point is that conferences are not fashion shows. You can always spot the participants who are first timers. They are wearing wildly inappropriate clothing for the sessions and the weather. And you feel for them tottering back to the hotel in the kitten heels that made way more sense at 0700 and less at 1800. The more experienced conference participant knows that, like the OR, comfortable shoes are a must.
Point number 5- Conferences are hard on your feet. There is standing, and walking, and standing, and walking. Your next session of interest might be at the other end of the convention center (see point 1). After standing and working on concrete floors that are covered with convention center carpet with no padding, your feet will likely be swollen and hurt far before the end of the day (see point 4). Hopefully you brought along your significant other for a foot rub at the end of the conference day. Or, at the very least, packed some pain medicine.
The last point is that is not your job to hoard the knowledge that you gained from the conference. Use the information to spark conversations with your coworkers, bring product ideas to your boss. Don’t forget to plan with your hospital nurse scientist any research that you want to do. This also goes for Process Improvement (PI) projects.
Who knows… maybe you can present a podium presentation or explain your poster at the next conference.
Because all the energy you have gained from being with like minded nurses who UNDERSTAND you when you speak has to go somewhere.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 