For immediate release March 2, 2011 |
Contact: Sandy Summers 410-323-1100 or 443-253-3738 ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org conference details |
Truth About Nursing Sets First Conference for Big Easy
The Truth About Nursing will hold its first conference in the lively and historic city of New Orleans on April 15-17, 2011. Empowering Nurses and Improving Care Through Better Understanding of Nursing will help nursing leaders develop and focus their skills in interacting with others in ways that enhance respect for the profession.
See the conference overview or the full agenda.
Conference speakers include leading voices in nursing empowerment, such as Donna Cardillo and Kathleen Bartholomew, as well as a representative from Rutgers University's 2012 Project, which aims to increase women's involvement in politics at all levels.
"A stronger nursing profession depends on robust funding for nursing education, research, residencies and clinical practice, as well as the removal of unnecessary barriers to nursing's full participation in health care work," said Truth executive director Sandy Summers, who will also speak at the conference. "But nursing's ability to fulfill its destiny hinges on how much respect decision-makers have for the profession."
Summers said that much work remains to be done in educating decision-makers about the life-saving value of nursing, noting that the National Institute of Nursing Research still receives less than half of 1% of the National Institutes of Health budget. Too often, she said, nursing is omitted from serious discussions of health care, from the bedside to the highest levels in health care institutions and government bodies.
Public health research shows that the media has a powerful effect on health care views and actions--and that there remains a huge gulf between what the public thinks nurses do and what they really do to improve patient outcomes. "Closing that gap is what our conference is all about," said Summers.
Those who attend the Truth's April conference can bring back to their workplaces many cutting-edge strategies for conveying the importance of nursing to those who really need to understand it better, from their local communities to the state and national levels. The conference will be an opportunity to share ideas not just with the Truth's speakers, but with nursing colleagues from around the nation.
"In order to improve health care and strengthen nursing, decision-makers must understand the true value of the profession," said Summers. "Please join us and learn how together, we can change how the world thinks and acts toward nursing!"
For more information about the conference, please follow this link: http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/conferences/2011/
The Truth About Nursing, pursuing a mission established in 2001, is a 501(c)(3) international non-profit organization based in Baltimore that seeks to increase public understanding of the central, front-line role nurses play in modern health care. The focus of the Truth is to promote more accurate, balanced and frequent media portrayals of nurses and increase the media's use of nurses as expert sources.
See the Truth's about us pages.
For more information, please contact:
Sandy Summers, MSN, MPH, RN
Executive Director
The Truth About Nursing
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21212-2937
office 1-410-323-1100
fax 1-410-510-1790
cell 1-443-253-3738
ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org
www.truthaboutnursing.org