LA President's reports 2022
August 2022
President's reportIn May, after many COVID related delays, VPNG were finally able to host our highly sought after course, Introduction to Perioperative Nursing. Thank you to Bendigo Health for hosting this two-day event. I would like to congratulate the VPNG Events subcommittee for working tirelessly to ensure this event’s success. The VPNG has had a busy few months planning our Virtual Professional Development Day which is being held on Saturday 27th August. Hosting an online event is something VPNG has become accustomed to and we are excited to bring this event to you from wherever you choose to be. Virtual events remove accessibility issues and provide the opportunity for continuing professional development from the comfort of your own home. They also allow registrants to attend sessions which they are most interested in.
VPNG will be holding their Annual General Meeting virtually on 13th August 2022. And our next Introductory to Perioperative Nursing course is planned for September. Updates will be sent out via emails, posted to our social media and available on our website. Please take care Elyse Coffey
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PO Box 593 |
The keynote speaker, Nikki Langman, is an award-winning thought leader in the areas of resilience and mental health and an expert media commentator who has gained global recognition as a keynote presenter and facilitator. She empowers and inspires audiences with her engaging core message that, no matter what your starting point is or what you believe your obstacles are, you can become your most powerful self and a highly influential and effective leader with the right amount of daily ‘badassery’. Following Nikki’s presentation, you can look forward to a wonderful and diverse program covering many topics related to perioperative nursing.
July 2022
President's reportHello ACORN QLD Members The preparations for the association’s 50th anniversary celebrations on the 15th October are well underway. We hope you have saved this date in your calendars and are looking at accommodation on the Sunshine Coast. We have engaged a graphic designer to assist us with developing a special 50th Anniversary logo and we will be launching this in the next month. The event will include:
Our association’s history The librarians at the Queensland State Library have been assisting us, the committee and Carollyn, our editor, to find documents and records containing information about the organisation’s beginnings. They located numerous documents in the Royal Australian Nursing Federation (Qld Branch) reviews and Annual Reports. Very few of these records from the 60s and 70s are available electronically; therefore, it required one of us to go to the library and find the information. In the past few weeks, I have visited the library and spent many hours searching for documentation of the association’s origins, and in recent weeks two logos have been identified – the Queensland Theatre Nurses Section (of the RANF), or ‘factOR’, logo and the Final count logo.
At this time, we know the Final count logo was used on a conference brochure in August 1974 and the ‘factOR’ logo for a newsletter and letterheads in the 80s. Our historian, Carollyn is keen to hear from anyone with more information about the meaning behind the ‘factOR’ logo. Please contact me with any information you may have about the background of these logos. We have also been in touch with previous association presidents, councillors and executive members to assist with providing historical knowledge and reflections on their time serving the association. All ACORN QLD members have FREE access to the virtual/online education sessions being hosted by ACORN. To sign up for the remaining sessions please contact ACORN to request access. Approximately 100 ACORN QLD members logged in on 21st May for Day 3 of ACORN’s Virtual Conference Series about quality and safety. Please ensure you plan for and take advantage of the next sessions:
As always, any queries or questions please contact me at President@acornqld.org.au Warmest regards Joy Jensen President ACORN Queensland |
GPO Box 2518 |
June 2022
President's reportHello ACORN QLD members
All ACORN QLD members have FREE access to the virtual/online education sessions being hosted by ACORN. To sign up for the remaining sessions please contact ACORN to request access. Approximately 100 ACORN QLD members logged in on 21st May for Day 3 of ACORN’s Virtual Conference Series about quality and safety. Please ensure you plan for and take advantage of the next sessions:
SAVE THE DATE – 15th October 2022 – ACORN QLD – 50 years jubilee celebration! ACORN QLD will celebrate 50 years as a perioperative nursing organisation later this year. On Saturday 15th October we are hosting a 50 year (jubilee) celebration at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital Auditorium. The event will include:
Can you help? We are seeking information about the early history of the association from 1972 to 1990. If anyone has contact with retired or current perioperative members, we are keen to locate a document entitled the History and Development of Queensland Theatre Nurses compiled in about 1985. Similarly, information about the original logo and the meaning behind ‘factOR’.
Similarly, if members or past members have access to historical documents or photos from the early years of the association, please contact our archive guru and editor Carollyn at Editor2022@acornqld.org,au As always, any queries or questions please contact me at President@acornqld.org.au Joy Jensen President ACORN Queensland |
GPO Box 2518 |
The ACORN Annual General Meeting (AGM), on 21st May, marked another significant milestone in ACORN QLD history as we said farewell and thank you to Donna Stevens for her service and commitment on the ACORN Board for the past four years. Donna has served for the past two terms, 2018–2020 and 2020–2022, the ACORN QLD director. ACORN QLD members and Management Committee extend our heartfelt thanks to Donna and appreciate that the role of director in the past four years has been a challenging one while the ACORN board embedded change from a functioning working committee to one of policy governance. The incoming ACORN QLD director is Justine Vost, and we wish her every success as she formally commences her role.
May 2022
President's reportHello ACORN Queensland members In the past two months the ACORN QLD Management Committee have been actively working towards deciding how best to serve our members in 2022. Especially in this current COVID-19 climate where we are experiencing a significant increase in staff and family sickness caused from the recent COVID-19 variant virus. There is some exciting news I can share. Firstly, the ACORN QLD Management Committee have negotiated with ACORN for financial ACORN QLD members to have free access to ALL the ACORN 2022 Virtual Conference Education days. Members will receive an email outlining how to access this benefit. Follow the link in the email to organise free access to the ACORN Virtual Education Days which are on
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GPO Box 2518 |
Secondly, ACORN Queensland (formerly Perioperative Nurses Association of Queensland or PNAQ and Queensland Operating Room Nurses or QORN) is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022. The association or group was originally formed in 1972 with a few members and Queensland was one of the state perioperative associations that was involved in organising the national conference in 1977 out of which the Australian College of Perioperative Nurses (ACORN) was born. To mark this important milestone the ACORN QLD Management Committee has sought the assistance of a fellow perioperative nurse to draw together the history of our association and acknowledge the work of its many dedicated office bearers, presidents, branch members and all members via a special commemorative journal to be available to members in 2023.
Finally, save this date in your calendar! On 15 October 2022 ACORN QLD will celebrate our 50th anniversary with a one-day, special anniversary event (location and venue to be confirmed soon). The celebration is shaping up to include
- presentations from special guests and past-presidents
- the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- an award ceremony for
- 2022 Excellence in Perioperative Nursing
- 2022 Outstanding achievement by Novice Perioperative Nurse
- 2022 Outstanding achievement Perioperative Teamwork
- a big, celebratory afternoon tea for current and past members
- the opportunity to welcome back many of our trade partners and exhibitors.
As more planning and information comes to hand, we will be using our website and social pages to communicate updates. As always, any queries or questions please contact me at President@acornqld.org.au
Warmest regards
Joy Jensen
MEd, BN, PGDipEd, RN, Periop Cert, Honorary Life Member ACORN QLD Inc, FACORN
President ACORN Queensland
President's reportThe Victorian Perioperative Nurses Group (VPNG) recently hosted their first face-to-face event since 2019 – the Country Conference, Navigating the Future was held at the RACV Torquay resort on Saturday 2 April and was a sold-out event. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the delegates who attended, the RACV resort for their incredibly helpful staff and, finally, a huge thank you to the VPNG Committee. The committee worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth-running conference. I would like to give you a brief summary of the day alongside some of the many highlights. The RACV resort Torquay provided a wonderful view out of the windows in the Great Ocean Road Ballroom. While the sun wasn’t shining, the 150 delegates, 40 trade exhibitors and 14 speakers certainly all brought their sunny attitudes. The conference commenced with our plenary speaker, Anthony Laye. Anthony describes himself as a ‘mentalist and behaviour expert’ and discussed ‘Mind power, people power – conscious communication’. Anthony left us all with some strategies for reading body language and using this ability to our advantage. The day also saw VPNG Awards of Merit presented to Kerry Schroder and Sandra de Rome. Kerry has been a previous VPNG Committee member for ten years holding executive positions and critically shaping VPNG for the future. We thank Kerry enormously. Sandra de Rome is well known to a great many of the VPNG members through her various roles in perioperative education. Sandra has been responsible for supporting and shaping perioperative careers across the state and I’m sure will continue to do so. Over the lunch break several of our exhibitors provided trade workshops that were well attended. Our trade partners really value the opportunity to inform you of new innovations in equipment and devices. Finally, we heard from Professor Catherine Bennett, Chair of Epidemiology at Deakin University, who was the word of reason for many of us during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was refreshing to learn that all our efforts during the lockdowns made a significant difference in protecting the Victorian community. Catherine made us aware that continuing to use some public health measures alongside strong vaccination rates will ensure we keep COVID-19 numbers low and manageable. Hearing Catherine speak made me reflect on the moment, over two years ago now, when VPNG had to make the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the 2020 Country Conference. Many of our speakers have had the conference in their calendars for well over two years! It was wonderful to finally see everyone able to network and spend time focusing on their professional development as well as be inspired by the many presenters. VPNG will be holding their Annual General Meeting virtually on 13 August 2022. Our next exciting event is our Virtual Professional Development Day on Saturday 27 August. Updates will be sent out via emails, posted to our social media and available on our website. Please take care Elyse Coffey
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PO Box 593 |
February 2022
President's reportHappy New Year! Welcome to 2022 – no doubt this year will bring similar if not more challenges to the world of perioperative nursing, our communities and families. Many of you at this time may have noticed a significant drop in elective patient surgeries and fast track learning in caring for COVID-19 patients who require emergency or urgent operations. Similarly, some of you, like myself, husband and two sons, may have tested positive for the Omicron COVID-19 variant virus and have needed to isolate and care for yourself and family. Thankfully we all experienced mild symptoms and have now returned to work. Considering the current wave of Omicron COVID-19, the ACORN Qld Management Committee is recommending our members take advantage of the ACORN 2022 Virtual Conference Series. The five single-day conference events on a virtual platform will facilitate delivery of plenary and concurrent sessions, as well as an exhibition hall and a meeting hub for networking. Lock these dates into your diaries and go to the ACORN website to register.
Other on-line professional development opportunities include Johnson & Johnson Institute launch of their new JJI Educational platform which includes on-demand and tailored learning for nurses. Also hot off the press, is the ACORN Perioperative Mentorship Program – applications open on 2 February 2022. It is unlikely in the first six months of 2022 that ACORN Qld will be offering any face-to-face study days to our members; however, we would invite our members to apply for funding to assist with perioperative postgraduate studies and professional development expenses. Visit our website for more information and to download the application form. Please save 15 October 2022 for the ACORN Qld Annual General Meeting. The Committee is envisaging hosting a mini-conference on the Gold Coast at this time. More information to follow in the next few months. Any queries or questions please contact me at President@acornqld.org.au. Warmest regards Joy Jensen President ACORN Queensland |
GPO Box 2518 |
Joy
President's report
Happy new year! Although it has not been the summer we hoped for, with an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases and the state-wide ‘code brown’ call in Victoria, I do hope that you had the opportunity for a break over the Christmas and new year period and the chance to regenerate after an exhausting 2021. We all need to maintain our energies as we commence what is likely be to another year of uncertainty and change. While 2021 wasn’t the year we had hoped for, on reflection, we did manage to achieve a lot. As we all have become more technologically savvy, we embraced many online education opportunities. As a profession, we all showed our commitment and adaptability as clinicians by rising to the challenges that have come our way. I’m sure when you look back on 2021 you will recall some achievements you are proud of. No doubt 2022 will bring about further changes, but I believe we will be better prepared for whatever may eventuate. This year VPNG is committed to providing Victorian perioperative nurses with educational opportunities, connecting via social media and our Snippets newsletter as well as providing scholarships and grants for postgraduate education and continuing professional development. Applications for the scholarships and grants close on 31 March so apply now. And don’t forget the VPNG Country Conference ‘Navigating the Future’ to be held on 2 April at the RACV Resort Torquay. Registration is currently open. Please go to the VPNG website for the latest information on all our events. You can also keep up to date with current via our Facebook Page. Just search for Victorian Perioperative Nurses Group. We are very much looking forward to another big year of educational opportunities, scholarships and grants and engaging with you all during 2022. I wish everyone all the very best for the year to come. Elyse Coffey
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PO Box 593 |
