The note reads ‘poly letters after your name, is it worth it?’.

I know what this is referring to. Especially after going to an international conference and meeting people with what seems like an alphabet after their names. Letters of all kinds-CNS, CNOR, DNP, and CNE. And the letters are followed by more letters.

And going to a conference and paying attention to all of the letters is surreal. Before they were just part of the landscape. Oh, you have letters, me too.

But I know what those letters mean. The most memorable is the education letters.

There are the PhD nurses. This one is self explanatory. I will be going back to school again to earn these letters so I can write textbooks. Teaching has not been ruled out as well. Maybe online.

DNP is a doctorate of nursing practice. This is a degree that can be obtained in a variety of specialties, including leadership. This can be used to teach or to lead.

The MSN which means there is a masters in the mix. This can be any one of three tracks: education, leadership, informatics. There are probably more.

The MBA which means there is a business administration masters. Some leaders get these to establish their bona fides as leaders. And also to be able to steer the ship that is a hospital system.

There are the CNE. This means you are a certified nurse educator. I have to look at getting one of these. Especially if I want to teach at a collegiate level.

CNS means clinical nurse specialist. That you know everything there is to know about the specialty. I admit I did explore this one. But my system already has several. I did not want to crowd the market. And this would not lead to my ultimate retirement goal which is to write textbooks.

Certification is important. It means that you took the time to learn more about the topic you are certified in. I will tout this importance until I can’t any more.

I know, I know. I have a bit of an alphabet after my own name. MSN, RN, CNOR. The most important one is RN.

Because all the letters mean nothing if you do not keep up your RN. This means that we are able and licensed to take care of patients. And they are at the heart of it all.

About a year ago I stumbled across a free CEU place that was sterile processing focused. I thought to myself that sterile processing does not get the focus it deserves. And I clicked on my first Beyond Clean seminar. And I learned so much. Water purity, and piping, and timing. Sterile processing is more than making the instruments sterile.

And that was only the beginning.

I soon learned that the seminars draw an international audience. And I have begun including it on my yearly free CEUs list I make for my hospital system every year.

CCI, which is the credentialing company for the CNOR or certified nurse operating room, allows the CEUs earned to count for the CNOR recertification. And I am due to renew in 2024. When I say that it means that I have to have all 135 CEUs completed and turned in by December 31, 2023.

Why? I don’t know.

But I earned 75 CEUs last year just from the two nursing conferences I went to. And I anticipate earning at least 50 for the AORN conference I just completed.

I am unsure if these CEUs are allowed in the AST recertification for scrub techs. This is still valuable information.

When asked about what I do in my new free time. I do CEUs and I learn things.

It never hurts to be too prepared. Or too educated. The technology and education is changing very quickly in the OR. It always been this way.

SPD is the gears that allow surgery to continue. They wash the instruments, inspect the instruments, sterilize the instruments, and put away the instruments.

Be nice to your SPD technician.

Goodness knows they get enough crap from the OR nurses and techs themselves.

And learn a bit about how they work. Not just the instruments, but the cleaning and sterilization that allows the OR to work.

Comfort month continues.

But I am not in North Carolina to bake. I have been at AORN in New Orleans since last Friday. And then we drove home through the night to not spend another night in the hotel bed. No offense to the hotel bed but it is not our bed. It’s at times too hard and too soft. Weird, right?

We arrived home and I finally got to sleep at 0500. No cookie baking to be done by me today.

Luckily, knowing I was not going to be able to make the cookies today I called in a pinch hitter.

My mom. She is working as a travel nurse in my hospital and agreed to make cookies. Allowing me to relax and SLEEP before I go in tonight.

She and I spoke about the theme for the month being oatmeal cookies. I spoke about the probably inability to bake on the road, as we were originally prepared to return today. And also the planned cookie. I had planned to make oatmeal raisin, one of most requested cookies.

She offered to make the cookies. And, instead of raisins, she was going to add dried cranberries. This is a call back to my childhood. Well, young adult hood. Mom always puts craisins in the oatmeal cookies.

I hope there is some when I get in tonight.

Sometimes you need an assist.

I have packed in a lot of education, face time, and networking here in NOLA.

The best thing about conferences is the renewed sense of belonging you get from your fellow nurses. And the actual meeting of people you’ve only met through the computer screen for 2 years.

The ten-day excitement is only half over. Today is the last in-person day. But there is still much to do.

All the sessions that I could not get to have been recorded and must be watched and CEUs retrieved by June. But that is not why the excitement won’t end until Sunday.

I have the drive home to look forward to.

And I’m back on shift on Thursday night at 2100

And Friday I have an all-day webinar around sterile processing. I’ve been deep diving into their education and honestly, for a 20-year OR veteran I have learned a lot. But wait, there’s more. I have a Broadway show to look forward to with my sister.

Saturday will be my husband’s first day back at work from vacation. He will be going to the office. And I will be doing more education; half the day on OR stuff (still stuff to learn) and the rest of the day on corporate education that must be completed by month’s end.

I’m still early by my reckoning.

Monday was a cocktail party. I’m not one for drinking, or very loud music. You know what happens when you have nurses let their collective hair down? Dancing, drinking, laughing, general hullaballoo.

Tuesday night I got calls and texts about the tornado that devastated part of New Orleans. The worst thing that happened to us was the flickering of lights and the on and off problem with the internet. Traveling in Spring is like a box of chocolate; to quote Forrest Gump, you never know what you are going to get.

The worst thing about conferences is the strange bed. And the next worse thing is the distinct lack of cats in the room. Time to pack the car at 1100 for checkout. And back to the conference for the final delegate meeting.

I will be writing up my conference report on Friday. My goal is to submit it by end of month.

Lots of things

First the drive home.

And then, things to learn.

We are in New Orleans at a nursing conference. This is a treat long denied as the conference had to be virtual for 2 years. Alas, I don’t have any PI project to present that I haven’t already done a poster on or any traction on my current project.

I did participate as a panel presenter and spoke about shared governance and its importance for the hospital as a whole. I highlighted some things our council has done, including the covid car.

There are prominent signs everywhere to wear a mask. It is posted at our hotel. It was included in the paperwork from AORN. But virtually no one is masked. At the opening event, less than 30 of us were masked.

I know that these people were just excited to be mask free, especially since the mask mandates in places have started falling. But there are some of us who are not convinced.

It is very difficult to get current data. Any sort of current data. Some states stopped collecting it. Some states stopped submitting it. Some states only submit once a week, which is a different day every week.

I don’t want to be right that this is lull. However, I feel that I am. After all society is staring down at 1 million dead. As of right now the United States is only 34,000 away.

I think the US will hit this very grim marker sooner than later. But we won’t know, will we?

The post-it reads ‘why is their first thing to accuse? Be it pressure sores, falls, CLABSIs?’

Point of knowledge- a CLABSI is a central line associated blood stream infection. There was a central line that went into one of the big veins that lead straight into the heart. And an infection that could have gone straight to the heart. That’s what makes them dangerous. This is what is commonly referred to a healthcare acquired infection or HAI. We put the hole into the skin that round the bout led straight to the heart. There are many reasons for this line, all of them dire.

Hello.

You’ve lived through one of the worst periods in the history of nursing.

But we have notes to how you could have handled it better.

Yes, yes, it was a terrible time.

But if you could go back in time and learn from the mistakes that you made while trying to save the life of your patients.

In the midst of people dying, and not taking the time to learn how to protect themselves. Or refusing that knowledge because it infringes on their ‘freedom’.

But it is nursing’s fault.

Of course.

They want to blame the nurses.

Do nurses care that you have a nasty, possibly life limiting infection? Yes, yes we do. And we learn from each infection. Maybe the skin was cleaned in a counterclockwise not clockwise manner. Maybe that is why.

Maybe don’t leave the banana peel in the middle of the room to lead to patient’s falling.

Maybe gown up to re-position at patient who can’t move themselves every 2 hours. Don’t forget the two masks, the face shield, and the gloves.

Gown up and take care of a patient’s needs, knowing that the other room’s call lights are going off. Or if the patient is unable to press the call light, they are next on the list for re-positioning. Rinse, repeat. Along with phone calls. And new doctor’s orders. And family to be updated. And new lab results that lead to more order changes.

All done to save the patient’s life. Or make their death more comfortable.

What, you already do?

Scandalous.

However, too often the immediate knee jerk response is to blame nursing.

We need to stop that cycle.

In the last two years nursing has been stretched to the breaking point. And beyond. To care for patients who are there for life saving care.

Because of a pandemic.

Cool it on blame the nurse.

We just want to survive and let our patients survive and thrive.

And to say that is has been difficult is asking Mrs. Lincoln about the play.

Yesterday should have been day 1 but we were delayed by a crazy storm 3 hours into the day. Atlanta weather does not play.

This led to me missing the eChapter meet and greet from 1730-1830. We got into town at 1900.

And pickup stopped at 1700. Okay, I can pick up in the morning.

Today is a different day.

I was able to get my packet just in time for the session that I really wanted to go to. The session was about self-care. The importance of it and how you should engage in it. The best take home words from that session was ‘reconciliation takes two people but forgiveness only takes 1.’

This is a powerful sentiment.

And then a session on IRB. Institutional Review Board. Or the there is no risk to the participants of the study. Or there is risk and these are the steps taken to review and mitigate them. This is terrifying. This means that I must do it. I’ll look into joining the committee when I get back to work.

There is another session momentarily.

And then lunch.

And the welcome and keynote speaker at 1500

I wonder if I have time for a nap.

I am convinced there is a hive mind that directs our stomachs.

I read that every society on earth has done a fried food. And some sort of alcohol. Because if you take honey water and wait long enough, it ferments.

I am pretty sure that the same is with the cookie of the week.

I know them as fudgey cocoa no bakes.

They contain peanut butter and oatmeal and chocolate.

Other people tell me about eating them in the cafeteria in elementary school. A lunch lady special that she made if you were good.

My mother made them as well.

It is a simple no bake recipe.

Application of heat to butter, milk, sugar, cocoa and stirred to boiling. Let boil one minute, add peanut butter and oatmeal.

And portion out on waxed paper and wait impatiently for them to dry.

I’ve not tried them immediately after the no bake. (looks shiftily about). Why? What have you heard?

To many it is a good representation of our childhood.

I like to mess with a recipe. You all know this.

I’ve added unsweetened coconut to the mix. They were yummy, like a Mounds Bar.

But this month is all about comfort.

This recipe is easily in the top five of requested cookies.

Because nostalgia is real.

And if you never had them growing up, I’ll give you the recipe. Because this is a cookie that deserves to remembered kindly.

For edification purposes, Cassandra was cursed by the gods to always tell the truth. The kicker was that no one would believe her.

I recognize that the last two years have been difficult. No more so than for healthcare workers. And parents.

And the world at large.

But I am watching the new variant. In Germany, in China, in the UK.

And I am concerned.

I fear that the relief of freedom has blinded us to peril.

However, if I mention it, I am disparaged as a hysteric.

Don’t I know that covid is over? That we are safe now?

No to both of those questions.

Covid is very much out there. Replicating and morphing into yet another variant.

Which variant will be the one that morphs covid back into a killer? One that laughs at the vaccines. And infects and kills people indiscriminately.

We are not safe until everyone who is eligible is vaccinated

The vaccine works to decrease the incidence of hospitalization. Of death.

Of course, to mix Greek messages, the thing left in the box after Pandara opened it, was hope.

I am hopeful that there is a way out from Covid.

But I fear that we are moving too far. Too fast.

In case anyone is wondering, the new variate, BA.2 subvariant comprises 23.1% of cases from last week. This is according to the CDC.

AORN is in person this year.

In New Orleans!

I’d been to this one in March of 2005. My mom, two of my sisters, my niece, and I rented an 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment for a week in the French Quarter.

There is no better way to do New Orleans.

Loud with frat boys.

But up close and personal in all of the action.

I was a new nurse.

I was a new OR nurse and keen to learn all the things.

This was before I decided to start my education journey.

Through BSN, MSN, and now staring down the barrel of a PhD.

I’ve put in to do some paid focus groups.

I always enjoy those.

I haven’t heard anything yet.

I will be on a panel though.

Speaking to the nurse educators special assembly about Shared Governance.

I think the slides are due in two days.

My husband, though, has not been present for a conference yet.

This will be interesting.

I’m afraid he will be bored.

Because I have lots of things to do and my days will be jam packed.

There is a welcome party by my chapter.

There is voting to be done via forums.

There is the panel.

There is the expo.

We are going to to the kick off party on Saturday. I bought him a ticket.

So much to do.

Not all fun.

We will be shoe horn in some sight seeing.

And restaurants.

Can’t forget the food.

And, despite gas prices, we are driving.

Because my husband is not yet ready to fly with people who will not be masked.

And two plane tickets is more than the 2 tanks of gas it will cost us to go.

It will be a raucous good time.

No beads though.