When Texas Nurses Come Together... | 2023's Annual Conference In Review

By Serena Bumpus, DNP, RN, NEA-BC

Excitement, energy, enthusiasm, engagement, inspiration, and hope: all words I would use to describe TNA’s sold-out crowd at the Annual Conference in Houston last week. With more than 250 nurses in attendance, you could feel all of this when you entered the room. If you weren’t there, you missed out!

"Evolving Environments: Building supportive structures for nursing’s new normal" was the theme of this year’s event. When choosing speakers, we wanted individuals who were making an impact in nursing, and shifting the culture of the profession towards innovation and the regaining of a sense of purpose and belonging. The poster presentations represented the conference topics and were representative of the great work happening right here in Texas.

Lynda Benton, Senior Director of Global Community Impact Strategy Initiatives at Johnson & Johnson Nursing, kicked off Friday morning highlighting the work of nurses and their innovation. She started by sharing how Johnson & Johnson has supported nurses for more 125 years and has created avenues to promote the profession and allow nurses to innovate.

Benton’s message to the audience was simple; it is nurses who have the power to change the landscape of healthcare, and now more than ever it's our time to take the reins and leverage the tools to evolve and to improve the way we deliver care. (Take a look at the great resources offered to nurses by Johnson & Johnson.)

The breakout sessions…oh the breakout sessions! I heard laughter, I witnessed tears, I saw curiosity, and felt a genuine desire to forge ahead and address these very real issues in the profession. Our breakout speakers gave us so much to think about, and the tools to help make change, across the topics of virtual nursing, staffing, racism, and purpose.

Dr. Rumay Alexander helped us "Make Sense out of the Nonsense" and gave us things to think about as we approach how to address racism in the profession. She defined culture after the “great philosophers" The Temptations: it’s “the way we do the things we do.”

She led us through uncomfortable discussions to help us begin thinking about how we have personally experienced and witnessed racism in nursing. Resources such as the Foundational Report on Racism in Nursing were shared to raise awareness on the work being led by the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing .  One of the biggest takeaways of this session was a lesson from Dr. Alexander’s mother: “You can’t talk your way out of what you’ve behaved yourself into.” This statement resonated with many when put into the perspective of racism.

Dr. Katie Boston-Leary shared The Nurse Staffing Think Tank: Priority Topics and Recommendations . The Think Tank was created in response to the looming staffing crisis and the need to develop a framework for organizations to assess where their challenges lie. Organizations can leverage the Think Tank’s Gap Analysis tool to determine where they are with implementing the priority topics and recommendations. Another resource provided is the work that formed following the Think Tank: the Nurse Staffing Task Force . You can read more about their recommendations here .

Dr. Ashley VonNida discussed the growing trend of virtual nursing. She stated that this growing specialty is not going away anytime soon and that it is designed to supplement the growing shortage and lack of experience at the bedside. Virtual nursing can be used as a retention tactic to hold onto experienced nurses. When preparing to implement a virtual nursing model, organizations must have a clear and concise plan including what the role of the virtual nurse will be and how they will support the frontline nurse.

Tena Brown and Dr. Andrea Coyle’s "Compassion and Purpose Reimagined" was a popular session with multiple requests for the speakers to return next year. They highlighted the need for us to find gratitude in everything we do. Gratitude is good 'brain food.' It helps releases neurochemicals in the body to help have a positive impact on health. Attendees were encouraged to be kind to everyone and find ways to have meaningful moments. Meaningful moments matter.

The general session which prompted the most questions was our Workplace Violence Panel. The panel was moderated by George Gooch and included experts from the healthcare security industry; Kim Ogg, the Harris County District Attorney; Pete Camacho, a hospital security specialist; and Lisa Weatherwax, a nurse leader working in health IT trying to put prevention mechanisms in place. The clear message from all panelists was that workplace violence is not part of the job. We must report every incident as it occurs and not take no for an answer if told not to report it.

We also had an exciting legislative session wrap up report outlining the successes TNA experienced during the 88^th session from Director of Government Affairs, Jack Frazee; an update on Operation Nightingale from Kathy Thomas of the Board of Nursing; and a research report on nursing malpractice claims from Brenna Youngs.

Dr. Cynda Rushton closed out the two-day event bringing us all back to why we became nurses. She led us through letting go of negative emotions and reconnecting with our purpose. Attendees were asked to write down what they wanted to see restored, preserved, and released in nursing and she suggested creating a “letting go” jar. At the end, she reminded us that we can change things and move the profession of nursing forward. “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”  Overall, the 2023 Annual Conference was one that will go down in history. It was one of the best!

Don’t miss out on next year’s conference in San Antonio, May 30 – June 1. You have our commitment that next year will be twice as big. Twice as many attendees, twice as many posters, and twice as many vendors. We will also add podium presentations to the mix. Registration will open soon and the call for abstracts will go out this fall.