CONFERENCE 2007 HIGHLIGHTS FROM CHARLESTON

The 4th annual meeting and conference in Charleston was superb! Nurses from around the country came together to share ideas, listen and learn with wonderful speakers, and be inspired and motivated by our special guest, Richard Simmons.
(Note: You can find info about our upcoming 2008 conference here!)

Highlights:
Some of the highlights of the conference were an opening reception and networking opportunity for all attendees in the Ballroom. This was followed during the next two days by many outstanding speakers. Joe Nadglowski spoke on Improving Access to Care through Patient Advocacy. Marylou Muir’s subject was Safe Patient Handling and Colleen Cook’s topic was Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery.


Development of Best Practices
NABN members had been appointed earlier in the year to three task forces and assigned the task of developing best practice recommendations for three specific areas of patient care. They were skin care, safety, and psychosocial care. The results of the task forces’ work, including the literature searches and the recommendations, were presented and discussed with conference attendees. They also will be published in a future issue of the Journal of Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care.

Breakout Sessions:
There were several simultaneous breakout sessions so attendees could take their choice. Topics included Centers of Excellence, How to Write for Publication, Long Term Patient Management/Avoiding Disasters and Nutritional Updates for the Bariatric Patient.

And our special guest…….Richard Simmons:
Richard Simmons was a huge “highlight”. He came into the conference Ballroom with his customary enthusiasm. He personally greeted every person coming through the doors. We couldn’t begin the actual presentation on time because so many people wanted to have their pictures taken with him….and he accommodated everyone.

Once we got going he talked for a little while and then had everyone on their feet for a little aerobic exercise! Following our “workout”, he talked with us about his own fight with obesity and how he came to be so impassioned about the importance of a good diet and a lot of exercise. He talked about the many blessings that we are given and asked many people in the audience to tell what blessings they had received. We actually moved from laughing and dancing in the exercise session to choking back tears as our colleagues talked about their own blessings…and challenges. He ended with a prayer. By the time we finished the vendors had joined us for the session and people had gone back to the hotel to get their spouses, babies, and children so that they could meet him. More pictures and then he was gone. Below are some of our colleagues with him.