Advancing practice: from staff nurse to nurse consultant. Part 9: conferences

Abstract

541 T his series is designed to help you advance your nursing practice. Previous articles have explored publication, problem-solving, leadership, setting objectives, clinical supervision and the motivation to advance practice. This article explores the world of nursing conferences and their relevance to advancing nursing practice. There are two main types of nursing conference: ■ Those that cover a broad variety of nursing topics including topical subjects such as the Francis Report, pay and conditions, advancing practice, the future of nursing and many other similar issues that relate to all specialties of nursing ■ Those that focus on an area of specialty such as research, education, management, wound care, critical care, community nursing, orthopaedic nursing, mental health, children’s nursing, learning disability, renal care and many more. Whatever the speciality, there is almost certainly going to be a conference covering the topic. Conferences can also be local, national or international. You can find out more about the different conferences available by scanning the adverts in various nursing journals or typing the topic into a search engine. If you have worked in your speciality for more than 1 or 2 years, then you will probably already know which ones relate to your area of practice. The benefits of attending a conference are that it allows you to mix with, talk to and build up professional connections with other nurses who are interested in your area of practice. By attending the various talks, discussions and displays you are able to review the latest ideas and developments in your specialty. Depending on your area of practice there are normally exhibitions of equipment and various resources that you can examine and discuss with the various producers. Conferences normally last two or three days attend a conference would need to be built into your annual developmental review with objectives that relate to the development of your clinical area. If you have already attended a conference then the next step is to think about presenting an area of your speciality either as a poster presentation or as one of the optional themes or concurrent sessions. These is usually a 15-minute talk followed by 10 minutes of questions, rather nerve racking, but useful for your own development. Most nurses start with a presentation of their masters degree dissertation or the development of an unusual or new method of patient management. Think through and discuss with your colleagues an area that you could present at a conference next year. Conferences are a combination of fun and hard work. They are a tremendous way to meet and network with other people working in similar situations to yourself. They can lift you up to view your speciality from a new perspective, a view that is difficult to appreciate when you are engrossed in day-today routines. BJN John Fowler