National ED conference in town

Nurses from around the country are in Tauranga for a national conference described as 'chicken soup for the emergency department soul”.

The 23rd Annual Conference of the College of Emergency Nurses is taking place at Trinity Warf Hotel today and tomorrow.

The 23rd Annual Conference of the College of Emergency Nurses organising committee, from left: registered nurses Rick Forster and Jean Hini, associate clinical nurse manager Joanne Baird, admin support Kellie Mankletow, and registered nurse Robyn Attwood. Photo: Supplied.

Formed by emergency nurses, the college is part of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

Emergency Departments (EDs) around the country compete to host the conference and it has been a decade since it was last held in Tauranga.

This year's organising committee are ED nurses Jean Hini, Rick Forster and Robyn Attwood, admin support Kellie Manktelow and associate clinical nursing manager Joanne ‘Jo' Baird.

The theme for this year's conference is ‘Our People, Our Place - Healthy Thriving Communities'.

'This theme aligns with both the Bay of Plenty DHB's vision and the Tauranga City Council's motto,” says Jo.

'They fit well in the emergency setting where we care for people in our community. We also think of ourselves as a little internal community as well.”

With 102 registrations, the number of attendees has exceeded the expectations of the organising committee.

Keynote speaker Nigel Latta is one of 26 to speak at the conference – a line-up which also includes Tauranga author Tommy Kapai and Professor of Emergency Medicine Dr Michael Ardagh.

Jean says the benefits of the conference include information sharing, networking and problem solving.

The conference also looks at how ED staff take care of themselves and after a busy winter period, and Tauranga is the perfect place for the country's nurses to recharge their batteries.

'There is lot of learning which individuals then take back to their own departments,” Jean adds.

'Often there's discussions about nationally shared problems and you not only discover solutions but discover that you are not alone as well.”

This sharing of knowledge ultimately helps EDs become more efficient and improves the patient journey and their quality of care.

Kellie says preparations went extremely well and the conference is 'looking good - everything's on track”.

Jo says organising the conference has been a mammoth task but the Tauranga ED wants to show the rest of the country what it has accomplished.

'For the size of our department we do pretty well and sometimes we feel like we punch above our weight,” she says.

'We're not like the big cities, we're doing some really creative stuff with what we have here.”

For more information about the 23rd Annual Conference of the College of Emergency Nurses visit: www.cennz2014.co.nz

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