support anangemenrs that are so piv­otal to a successful conference. Notforgetting the careful folding of allthose shins! Once all the boxes wereunpacked and the 'Team" was installedin what had now become a veritable"command post," the supplies for theregistration bags were suddenly veryprominent on the table signaling "allhands"! As always everybody pitchedin, Our President and Board memberswere amongst those circling aroundand around although I think eventuallyDarnell decided that her talents lie inthe unzipping and zipping depanment!(Could it have been the possibility ofsitting down was the motivation?) Any­way d,e long task was done eventuallyand the attractive bright green bags,kindly donated by Abbot Laboratories,were stacked and ready. It was a tiredcrowd that went to dinner and bedthat night.

As on previous occasions at thishotel, the staff were ever-present andattentive to our needs, up to and includ­ing a lane now and again! Tuesday sawthe registration booth take shape, roomsigns posted, audio-visual needs con­firmed and d,e all-imponant fooel deci­sions made. Balloons and NAVANtanoos seemed to be everywhere!

.........OILNAVAN Conference_ember 4-1. 2002san Diego. GalifOmia

In Monday, September 2nd, theTown and Country hotel in SanDiego was once again d1e scene

of great organization as the NAVANadministration team (aka the LorylTonya/Betty team) went into actionpreparing for our 16th Annual Confer­ence! Not far distant were Mary LeaNations, NAVAN Executive Director,and Josie Stone, Conference Chairper­son, checking all the room, food, and

8 .JVAD W n t e r 2002

2002·2003BOARDOFDIRECTORS

Gail Sansivero, MS, ANP. AOCN

President

Marcia Ryder. PhDc. MS, RN

President-Elect

Karen Hawkins, CRNA. eRNI

TreasurerSharon Armes. ,"

SecretarySue Masoortl. RN

Director-at-Large

Darnell Roth, RN. CRNI. LNC

Past President

Winter 2002 .JVAD

Ann Zonderman, BSN,jO,CRNlt.HRH

Director-at-Large

Lory SchantzOffice Administrator

Josie Stone, RN. CPNf'. CRNI

Director-at-LargeAnn Wllliams. RN. eRNI

Direetor-at-Large

Mary Lea NationsExecutive Director

Betty RozierDirector-at-Large

By late afternoon on Tuesday wewere ready for the first regis­Irdnts. How much fun that is, as

old and new friends and colleaguesalike are greeted with much "catchingup." Weather was beautiful and the"year-round-perfeet-temperarure" city ofSan Diego was living up to its name.

10 ,JVAD W n t e r 2 0 0 2

Wednesday came all too soon,and with a flurry of gettingpeople to the "right place" we

were off and running with our pro­gmm schedule. NAVAN's President,Darnell Roth, greeted and welcomedthe assembly with a special mention toall first-time anendees, who proved bya show of hands to be considemblynumerous, and it seemed no time sincewe had met similarly in Alexandria justnine months before. Our first speakerand Keynote was Dr. Beverley Peter­son and she provided an insightful andsobering look at "Who Will Care ForHealthcare" as the nursing shortagebecomes more and more acute. I thinkwe could all identify with the reasonsthat many nurses find their roles toodemanding and unfulfilling. As anorganization, our goal has always beento improve dle status of the health pro­fessional by encouraging and providingeducation and networking opportuni­ties in a multidisciplinary environmentand we were even more committedafter this lecture.

,.

0 follow were exceptional talksthat highlighted the primaryareas impacting successful infu­

sion practice and new trends in both.The first was Dr. Anne Robelts, radiol­ogist, who gave an animated talk onthe role played by her depanmem inthe management of all long-term vas­cular lines. Many commented theycould have listened all day'

Not yet done with the day, a briefbreak followed and then wereconvened for another genemJ

session. Kathy Kokotis, RN and consul­lam, looked at performance issues asthey relate to IV therapy.

,.he second presentation also proved apopular onc as Karcn Flares PharmD.looked at current pharmacological

inrerventions for VAD managemem. somethingInOSI practitioners and our industrial memhers

have ddll1ildy more than a pas.."'iing interest in.A b'ief break for lunch, and we were back

with the velY popular breakout and exhibitor[heater sessions. Ther~ waS a huge choice andsomething for everyhody. Specially topicsincluded nconatal VAD's, PICC dmahascs, legal issues, hepatitis C, micro­puncture techniques, thrombolytics and VAD reflux. Many comment'iincluded ti,e words "so hard to choose!" -I1,ese sessio were repe1ted sothere was time to catch up with two.

As has been the case in the pastnobody "sleeps" in her presenta­tions and in fact she rejuvenated

the attendees to head straight to theWelcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall.A nice touch here was to have theNAVAN President honor our Platinumand Gold Corporate Sponsors at theentrance before a ceremortial cuning ofthe ribbon by the 1000th member, LisaDuncan from Highland California.

W nter 2002 .JVAD 11

Ever popular, the exhibit hallproved to be a busy place andthe time passed so quickly

before it was off to the ballroom forthe very first Suzanne LaVere HerbstAward dinner.

Iur recipient and guest DeniseMacldin was enthusiasticallyintroduced and received the

Award from Suzanne herself, followedby a short overview of her researchwork. This is a prestigious award andone that is available to anyone whoexemplifies NAVAN ideals and are rec­ommended by their peers for theircontribution to vascular access princi­

ples and practice.

lIlT

•

elcomed by an early continental breakfast our second day beganwith a very special session, and a NAVAN Conference first, in theform of an international panel. moderated by Jirn Lacy.

This was great fun and velY instructional as we heard four speakers out­line their CQUl1tIy's practice in the area of vascular access. Not so different

from our own was the consensus, but certainly funded differendy! 111e sec­ond session was a treat for us aII too as the world-renowned Donna wrong,PhD, gave us some major tips into making our practice more "pain free;'including many practical techniques. Donna speaks internationally on painmanagement and we were honored to have her with LIS.

The manufacturer roundwbles were next. As in the past, these opportunities[0 interact directly with the manufacturers were vety popular.

12 .JVAD W n t e r 20 0 2

It was now time to once more visit the exhibits and view the posters. The lat­ter to be considered for CE credit for the first time. The exhibit hall was busythe whole time and one could see that it was due to more than some very

nice box lunches!

W nter 2002 "VAC 13

14 "'VAC W n t e r 2 0 0 2

Next we were again deciding which ofule breakout sessions to attend and thechoice ranged from pedialfic issues,

nutritionai support from the patient perspec­tive, hemodialysis, legal issues, stem celllfans­plant, home inolfopic therapy, valved PICCtechnology, lnfliximab infusion therapy anduse of uitrasound. We couid have used morehours but the promise of the famous NAVANparty proved too appealing!

Sponsored by BD Medical Systems andunder the direction of the wonderful CherylFox, we enjoyed a very pleasant dinner andentertainment from a local singing group(our conference chair will do anything toensure a great show!) and the memorableBD Bingo! Cheryl Fox and Jirn Lacy have adefinite future in the world of Bingo callingand this should offer some definite job secu­rity after retirement for them!

Friday began with the traditionalnetwork breakfast, and was verywell attended. Nancy Bagnall as

Network Chair unfortunately could notbe present so Betty Rozier, Board Liai­son, stepped in to host the meeting thatwas sponsored by Pall Life Sciences.Networks had the opportuniry to pre­sent past achievements and new chap­ters were actively recruited. Our firstgeneral session was a very prestigiouspanel of experts from our clinical prac­tice and research committee, looking at"Clinical Dilemmas: Applied Research inClinical Practice." This proved to be aninvaluable piece as we saw howresearch data can be used at the grassroots level to offer many advantages inour practice. Then it was time for a real­ity check as Jim Muerer led us throughthe "Changing Environment of SharpsSafety," perhaps one of the most press­ing issues of today's clinical practiceand certainly not one to be ignored.

Our final day of exhibits and the hallwas as busy as ever, with people

catching up with all the new technolo­gies and the opportunity to chat withcompanies whose products are alreadyin their inventory. Posters were viewedfor the last time and given a rating forthe most popular, "Viewer's ChoiceAward" by attendees, as well as beingjudged for other awards the follOWingday. Some took the opportunity to visitthe NAVAN shop to catch up on pur­chases or just to chat with the wonder­ful staff there who are an invaluableasset to our Conference year after year.

There was time for one more generalsession, and then off for the "Free After­noon." Nobody left early as the speakerwas Dr. Robert Schelper who hasgraced our meetings before. An abso­lute gentleman with enormous humor,he is able to make the subject of veinsand IVs fascinating! One never fails tolearn from his droll advice and astuteknowledge base. Now the halls androoms cleared as the lure of time awayin San Diego finally came! Somereturned to rooms to regroup, others

headed for attractions, others to swimand some met with manufacturers forspecial focus groups. A well deservedrest regardless of inclination and pursuit.

On the last day, we are tired but stillfinding it a great experience. We havemet new friends, learned a lot, beenentertained, considered joining a com­mittee, bought fun things with ourNAVAN "bucks" and discovered thatgreat little train close to the hotel, aswell as that wonderful Mission ValleyMall! However we are not done andthis last morning stallS with the generalbusiness meeting breakfast when onebids farewell to the old Board and wel­comes the new. Darnell Roth gave ashort address, followed by a warmwelcome to Gail Sansivero, this year'sPresident. This is an opportunity to seeour organization in action and to famil­iarize with the goals and aspirations forthe new NAVAN year and the allimportant budget process. This is alsothe time when a very hard working,behind the scenes staff is recognized.

Paster Awardswere presemedby Lynn Manly,

Education Chair.

W nter 2002 .JVAD 15

Once this meeting came to a close,we hurned to one of the favoritesessions of the whole NAVAN

Conference, namely, the clinic-alroundtables. This year the.re were 17tables with enormous speaker expertiseand topic variety. To acconunodate allauendees, we also offered two concur­rent sessions with Jim Lacy and his"Controversial Issues in VAD Manage­ment," followed by Tim Royer and hisprotocol for the nurse-based team hehas set up to read PICC placement X­rays. All were enthusiastic-ally received.

16 "'VAC W n t e r 2 0 0 2

No exhibits today, so lunch onone's own to catch up withfriends or to attend the conunit­

tee luncheons. Then followed a lastgeneral session with a very popularspeaker, and welcome retumee {Q

NAVAN, Dr. Dennis Maki. His very top­ical presentation "The Promise ofNovel Technology for the Preventionof !VD related BSI" was outstandingand as always, very thought-provokingand full of challenge.

Adjournment and closing remarkswere at best a rushed "Good Bye" andwhile nothing was different this time,the invitation for Atlanta in September2003 was clearly heard!

For some attendees the follOWingday is the their "last day" as two postconferences were scheduled and wethank Darnell Roth, Sue Masoorli andNancy Moureau for their commiunentas well as their ongoing support forthese educational offerings.

PLATINUM MEMBERBD Medical Systems

•

PLATINUM MEMBERGenentech, Inc.

Winter 2002 .JVAD 17

SILVER MEMBER3M Health Care

I8 .JVAD Win t e r 2 0 0 2

SILVER MEMBERBard Access S stems

SILVER MEMBERBaxter Healthcare

Winter 2002 "'VAC 19