Attend
at least one conference a year – but be picky. This is your time and
you want to get the most out of it. Attending a nursing conference, or
a seminar, can be a very enjoyable experience, give you some time away
from work, and give you the opportunity to learn something new. But be
picky about the conferences that you are going to attend.
Make sure that they offer you more than just CEUs. Look for
solutions. What kind of solution is this conference going to offer me
that you can take back to work and use right away? Look for measurable
outcomes. Are they offering you the opportunity to be able to pass a
certification exam? Or increase retention and recruitment of nurses by
offering solutions to the problems that you face at work? Does the
conference help you to decrease complications? That would translate
into decreasing mortality. Does it offer strategies to increase
patient satisfaction?
Look for the measurable outcome that should come from that
continuing education opportunity, so that you can take it back to work
with you. Look to see if they offer methods that make it easy for you
to be able to take what you learn back to work and put it into practice
right away. These are the type of programs that will give you the most
“bang for the buck.”
Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CEN
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com