Officers continuing on to fulfill their elected roles, as follows:

• PRESIDENT: Akiko Kubo
  
• TREASURER: Bradley Strecker
  
• EDUCATION CO-CHAIRS: Caryl Goodyear-Bruch & Heather Nelson
  
• COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR: Jennifer McNiel
  

New Officers voted in for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.  Many are Elect positions who will continue on to serve in the Chair capacity in 2013-2014:

• PRESIDENT-ELECT: Janell Huskey RN, BSN, CCRN [Clinical Educator, Progressive Care, North Kansas City Hospital]
  
• TREASURER-ELECT: Tammy Carroll, NP-C, CNS, BSN, MSN [Neuro  Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, The University of Kansas Hospital]
  
• SECRETARY: Courtney Hodges, RN, BSN [Quality Assurance Coordinator, Shawnee Mission Medical Center]
  
• MEMBERSHIP CHAIR: Cheryl Rader, BSN, CCRN-CSC [Cardiothoracic ICU, St. Luke’s Hospital]
  
• EDUCATION CO-CHAIR ELECT: Stacia Peters, RN, BSN [Clinical Nurse Educator, Cardiothoracic PCU, The University of Kansas Hospital]
  
• EDUCATION CO-CHAIR ELECT: Cher Brownback, RN, BSN, CCRN [Staff Nurse, Medical ICU, The University of Kansas Hospital, Clinical Adjunct Faculty for KU School of Nursing]
  
• COMMUNICATIONS CO-CHAIR ELECT: Mindy Stites, RN, BSN, CCRN [Nurse Educator, Telemetry/Stepdown, Truman Medical Centers Hospital Hill]
  
• COMMUNICATIONS CO-CHAIR ELECT: Amanda Gartner, RN, MSN, CCRN-CMC [Quality Outcomes Coordinator – Critical Care
  
• Sepsis Coordinator, The University of Kansas Hospital]
  
• HISTORIAN: Angie Foster, RN, MSN, MBA [Staff Nurse, Charge Nurse, ICU, Kansas City VA Hospital, Adjunct Faculty for St. Luke’s College of Nursing]
  
• SCHOLARSHIP COORDINATOR: Nancy Haynes, RN, PhD, CCRN [Professor, St. Luke’s College of Nursing]

On March 8th and 9th, 134 critical care nurses gathered at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park for the 25th Annual Visions Symposium.  This conference opened with a keynote address by AACN National President Mary Stahl presenting her theme Together, Stronger, Bolder. Other speaker highlights included Barb McLean discussing her experiences in Haiti after their disaster and our local stroke expert Debbie Summers on Stroke Management. This conference had something for everyone whether you work in ICU, Progressive Care or Pediatric Critical Care.

We were honored to have 12 critical care nurses from Joplin Missouri who shared with us their journey since May 2011 when an F5 tornado hit their hospital. I was awed with their stories of courage and heroism although they humbly say that they just did what was needed.

Once again we had a good group of vendors on Friday that gave us the opportunity to shop during our breaks. You could purchase anything from candles to purses and then some. The silent auction provided entertainment as well as funding for the scholarships that Greater Kansas City Chapter of AACN provides each year.

Please plan to join us next year for the 26th Annual Visions Symposium on February 28th and March 1st, 2013.  We plan to continue to grow and improve and would like you to join us in this journey.

Mechanical Ventilation: Basics and Beyond was a Huge Success!


This year, your Greater Kansas City AACN Education Chairs developed an initiative to host three continuing nursing education offerings for critical care and progressive care nurses.  Results from the GKC AACN Chapter Needs Assessment survey guided the topics of focus for these sessions.  Our first education offering, Mechanical Ventilation: Basics and Beyond with Lynelle Pierce, RN, MSN, CCRN was held on January 24, 2012 at St. Joseph Medical Center.  The course qualified for 3.5 contact hours, Synergy CERP category A.  

Based on your feedback, we are excited to offer you a change to our presentation method for the certification review courses.  The future classes will be more like a study session generating audience participation and feedback.  A facilitator will guide participants through presentations from a current CD, taught by nationally known certification speakers such as Suzi Burns, Mary Kay Bader, and Bobbi Leaper, stopping to go through case studies and review test questions.   Although we still need to iron out the details, the class will probably be 18 – 24 hours of content facilitation and review.  Information about these classes will be forthcoming.  Please follow us on our website for updates about these classes.

The Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has previously announced the “Show Me…We Care” campaign to recognize the efforts of Joplin nurses during and after their devastating tornado on May 22, 2011. 

 The Chapter supported 12 Joplin nurses to attend the Chapter’s annual Visions Conference located at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park, Kansas on March 8 and 9, 2012.  On Friday March 9, four of these nurses shared their stories of courage and strength in supporting their hospitalized patients and needs of their community during and after the devastating tornado on May 22, 2011.   Everyone in attendance was awed by their stories of bravery and was amazed by the capability of these nurses to continue to care for patients while their own homes and families were affected by this disaster.