Winter Volume 10 No. 1 CONTENTS

Transcription

1 Volume 10 No. 1 Winter 2014 CONTENTS Legislative Day Dance Marathon Community Health Breakthrough to Nursing NSNA Mid Year Nursing in Eleutrha The Perfect 5K Moving Day Atlanta Greetings GANS! As 2013 came to a close and a new year began, I hope you had the chance to reflect on your recent accomplishments and focus on new goals for In my time on the GANS Board, I've been consistently impressed with the accomplishments of nursing students across Georgia and I have confidence that this new year will only continue that tradition of excellence. As you read through this issue of the EKG, you'll find information on some of the last year's accomplishments for Georgia nursing students as well as opportunities to take advantage of in It is my hope for the new year that this issue inspires you to get involved in one of the opportunities within this issue. If you're interested in being involved in legislation that will affect the governance of our future profession or how healthcare will be available to our future patients, I encourage you to be a participant in Legislative Day. If you'd prefer to support children battling cancer, dance the night away at the Dance Marathon. If you're looking for more information on diseases and healthcare, request a topic from the CDC and the GANS Board will share it with the rest of the state. In fact, involvement can be as easy as writing a letter or going for a jog. As you start marking off your list of accomplishments in the new year, share them when the GANS Board (and don't forget to submit them to NSNA for recognition!). We look forward to hearing about how you're changing the future of nursing. Best, Lauren Cedor

2 Legislative Day, organized by The Georgia Nurse s Association, will be held January 30 th at 8:30 AM at The State Capitol. This exciting opportunity allows for nurses, nursing students, and GNA members throughout Georgia gather, learn from each other, and influence stage legislators. Attendees will have the chance to meet GNA leaders, state senators and representatives during the House/Senate session. This is an event you do not want to miss as you prepare for your career in the growing nursing field. Come join us and let your voice be heard with fellow nursing students! Written By: Bethany Yost, Legislative Director At the 2013 GANS Annual Convention, seven new resolutions were adopted. The first resolution that was passed, written by the GANS Board, was in support of hospitals adopting established policy and procedure for human trafficking patients. Human Trafficking is a $32 billion dollar a year business that is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise and that creates a large number of physical and mental health problems for a significant population of men, women, and children. Even still, human trafficking is invisible to most Americans and many of our evidence-based practices are irrelevant for trafficked people because they are not in control of their own bodies, time, or resources. For this reason, it is up to those who are likely to identify them to go beyond helping them escape to helping them heal. Nurses and other health professionals are among the first who are likely to find themselves in a position to help, yet in the absence of policy and protocols, how and what to do is unclear. As future nurses, GANS is taking action now to educate nurses beyond simple awareness to actions that can make a difference. GANS would like to thank Mary De Chesney, author of Sex Trafficking: A Clinical Guide for Nurses, for her guidance support for this GANS resolution. The GANS Board encourages you to come to Legislative Day and fight for legislation that will fur ther our future profession and make resolutions like the one above heard. Also, look in future EKG issues to learn more about the other important resolutions passed by Georgia nursing stu dents. To learn more about how to write and pass resolutions for legislation that is important to you, contact Bethany Yost, the GANS Legislative Director. Bring your School ID Bring Another Form of Identification Wear You Lab Coat Things to Remember for Legislative Day: Dress Attire is Business Casual Plan Accordingly as Traffic Will Be Heavy

3 Georgia Tech's annual Dance Marathon "For the Kids" will be held on March 1, 2014 from 10 am - 10 pm. The purpose of the Dance Marathon is to support Children's Miracle Network at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Donations received provide research and training, purchasing equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of the Children's Miracle Network mission to increase funds and awareness for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Join us by participating in the Dance Marathon. This is a fun and exciting opportunity for nursing students all over Georgia to come together as one. If you would like to participate, you can join the GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF NURSING STUDENTS team and help us work towards exceeding our goal of raising $1,000! If you are unable to walk, you can still donate and encourage others to do the same! Follow the link provided below to register for the walk: onordrive.team&teamid=21574 To learn more about For the Kids at Georgia Tech and Dance Marathon, visit: We hope to see all of the Georgia nursing students at the For the Kids at Georgia Tech's Dance Marathon on March 1st! Contact Maggie Callahan, the GANS Community Health Director, with any questions: gans.community@gmail.com. Thanks!" Written By: Maggie Callahan, Community Health Director

4 Community Health Wants To Hear From You! GANS has partnered with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to further educate Georgia nursing students about topics that are important for the care of our current and future patients. The CDC has offered to find scientists and other healthcare professionals to collaborate on conference calls or webinars and weigh in on specific topics. This is an exciting opportunity for GANS to work with the CDC and benefit nursing students across the state. We would like this event to be an ongoing monthly event. Please Maggie Callahan, GANS Community Health Director, at for more information or follow the link below to suggest a topic you would like to know more about. Written By: Maggie Callahan, Community Health Director Are you NIMS Certified? NIMS stands for National Incident Management System, and it is a comprehensive, nationwide, systematic approach to Incident Management. Becoming NIMS certified means you would be educated and ready to help local communities in case emergency incidents were to occur. In order to become certified, you must complete an online program through FEMA. The flexibility of the free programs allows you to complete courses in intervals, totaling about three hours. Once certified, you may be called by FEMA when needed in the local community. The work of a nurse doesn t just occur in a healthcare setting, it extends beyond that. A nurse should always be prepared in case a disaster strikes! For more information, visit Written By: Radhika Kadakia, Publications Director NIMS CERTIFIED

5 Human Trafficking Update In support of the 2013 GANS Resolution regarding Sex Trafficking, the GANS Board has decided to continue their partnership with the Governor's Coalition. As future nurses it is important to remember that part of the nurses role is to be advocates for their patients. In a continued effort to raise awareness on anti-human trafficking, the members of GANS urges their fellow nursing students to take advantage of the free training that is being offered by the Governor s Office for Children and Families. The Governors Office is sponsoring twelve Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) General Audience Training statewide between January and June If you are interested in registering for one of these trainings, please visit UPCOMING EVENTS January 31 Complete Street Grace Academy Course - Columbus (January 2014) February 1 Complete Street Grace Academy Course - Columbus (January 2014) February 7 Street Grace Academy - Complete Course, Roswell, GA Children s Healthcare of Atlanta is also offering training FREE webinars on human trafficking. Visit Pen Pal Program Members of GANS have been working on ways to reach out to our Future Nurses. GANS is excited to announce that a new Pen Pal program is not only in the works, but almost ready to launch. Nursing students, we want your help! If you are interested in becoming a member of the program and becoming a mentor to a high school student, please contact GANS at gans.btn@gmail.com.

6 GANS IS #1!! NSNA Mid Year Convention in Louisville, Kentucky this past November was a great success! Not only did the GANS board have a great time, we came back well informed and educated to make sure the Georgia Association of Nursing Students continues to grow and be the best that it can possibly be. Aside from attending focus sessions and panels, networking, and touring the city, the GANS board brought Penny Wars to the fundraising table. Though the Penny Wars only lasted three days, the competition remained heated from beginning to end. Having representation fro mostly every state and surrounding territories, $ were collected. From the beginning we, announced that we would split the pot straight down the middle with the winning team, which motivated students and faculty to drop more change and even dollars as time passed! The game continued intensely until the final minute as Alabama and Florida were in an intense battle! In the end, both teams were defeated by Tennessee which came as a surprise to all of us! There hard work definitely paid off in the end! Penny Wars at Mid Year were just a glimpse at what competition will be like in April, as thousands of students will gather at NSNA Annual Convention. During our last day in Louisville, we were given the opportunity to meet with board members and directors from different states who held similar positions to ours. Meeting with them and sharing ideas was enlightening and enriching, and we cannot wait to show you everything we gained from our experiences from our week in Louisville! We hope to see you all at NSNA Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee!

7 Nursing In Eleuthra Nursing Students across the state participated in a variety of study abroad opportunities in We would love to hear your stories! This issue, we have highlighted the following trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas by GANS Committee member Ida Curtis. The infrastructure of Eleuthra clinicals are not very well developed. Each clinic has a small pharmacy, a waiting room, and some have a triage room. The clinics run on a weekly schedule that include a doctor day, a well-child day, a prenatal day, and so forth. A majority, if not all, of the brunt work in the clinics is done by the nurses. These responsibilities included patient assessments, evaluations, and the prescription of medications. I found that nurses took on most of the leadership roles in the running of the clinics. At one of the busiest clinics, Rock Sound, one nurse commented that "I am the janitor, the HR manager, the nurse, the pharmacist, I personally extremely enjoyed the book keeper, the home visit nurse, and the nurse on call". working alongside these brilliant It was obvious that these nurses poured their hearts out in nurses who made me appreciate whatever they did and the community respect they earned the little things that I as a nurse only verified that. have access to, that a nurse in a rural island otherwise does not. Our priority goal for the trip was to provide education. Through working with the health education programs at seven different schools, we were able to engage a total of 581 students. Lesson plans included topics such as healthy eating, nutrition, sleep, hygiene, drug and alcohol abuse, and phsyical activity. Teaching these children was such a pleasure. They were very sharp and interactive and remained fully engaged throughout our lessons. In some of the topics, a post-evaluation was performed to determine whether the students were understanding and retaining the material and to our pleasant surprise, the students were able to prove that they had retained most of what we taught. In the clinical settings, our group was able to perform patient assessments, obtain vital signs, provide basic healthcare services (such as wound care), and provide family planning and prenatal care to patients in eight seperate clinics. We were also able to help in the pharmacy settings and participate in home visits with the local nurses. Overall, I found that access to care was not an major issue in Eleuthera thanks to the many clinics and dedicated nurses. However, one of the major issues we noticed in the community was a lack of medication adherence - especially for those patients who had major chronic illnesses such as hypertension or diabetes. In response to this issue, I observed how the nurses focused on their role as an educator and explained the repercussions of non-adherence. I took a lot away from this experience and definitely learned a lot from the people of Eleuthera!

8 Great Job Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing!!

9 The Perfect 5K for Your Busy Schedule! In an joint effort to further fundraising and to support Abby's Angels, we would like to announce the first annual GANS Virtual 5K! Can t find a 5K to fit your busy schedule? Check this out! The virtual 5k allows people to compete in events without having to be at a specific location. The participants decide on their own race path and do it at a time that fits their schedule. This 5k will take place during the month of March and registration will begin in February. (the goal is the 15th). Everyone will get a race bid and be able to post pictures of them racing along with their race time. The three schools with the most participants, the five fast runners, and the most creative picture posted with the race number will be recognized. 25% of the proceeds will go to Abby s Angels Closet. This will be a source of free school supplies for a school in the Atlanta area. What inspired this great idea? On December 22, 2013, little Abby Bacho and her family were struck by a truck driver who sped through a red life. Nine-year-old Abby was flown to an Atlanta hospital where she was put on life support after slipping into a coma. Christmas Day, Abby was taken off of light support and her organs were donated. After receiving unbelievable support from the community, Abby s family wanted to give back to the community to show their appreciation. Knowing Abby s desire to grow up to become a teacher and love for new school supplies, her family decided to start a foundation to help children who couldn t afford new school supplies. Soon, the idea of Abby s Closet arose to become a supply space located in schools for new supplies for students who couldn t buy their own. Teachers and contacts will oversee the supply and ensure that supplies are always available and ready for students to use. Funds are always helpful as the Bacho family continues to help others in need as they feel very strongly about this Abby;s Angels Closet as it helps them feel closer to Abby. For more information or to donate, visit 3sisters@abbysangelsfoundation.org for more information. Written By: Radhika Kadakia and Dana Timar

10 On November 9, 2013, almost 100 nursing students from all over Georgia participated in Moving Day Atlanta, a fundraising walking for the National Parkinson's Foundation. This walk took place on Georgia Tech s campus. To create a team full of nursing students was the idea of Emory University s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing School senior, Tigest W. Teshome. After attending the GANS leadership conference last summer,teshome wanted nursing students to come together to create a multi college service event for a greater cause. Students from several Metro Atlanta nursing schools gather for the walk and raise over $1800. What a wonderful opportunity to raise money for a disease that so many know so little about!you can raise money and awareness for Parkinson s too! Getting yourself involved in the community is a great way to keep yourself and others around you informed and well aware of what s happening around you!

11 Congratulations graduates! On behalf of the GANS board, we wish you the best in all of your future endeavors. We cannot wait to see your wonderful achievements with your new degrees! Lady Mendez, previous GANS Breakthrough to Nursing Director Megan McGee, GANS South District Director