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INSGNA Newsletter:
IN The Scope of Things
April 2008 Volume 1 Issue 1
President’s Message-Dianna Burns
Happy Spring! What a long winter!! I would like to welcome everyone to the first electronic INSGNA newsletter. As we announced at our last two INSGNA educational courses-we are finally moving into the 21st century. There will no longer be a mailing of the newsletter. The INSGNA Board of Directors has decided to send the electronic version to all INSGNA/SGNA members at this time. Once the INSGNA website becomes more functional the newsletter will then be available to anyone logging on to the website. The website will inform you of upcoming educational courses and give you access to scholarship applications.
The month of March was a month filled with celebrations:
Certified Nurses Day March 19th
GI Nurses and Associates Day March 26th
Colo-Rectal Cancer Awareness Month Month of March
Do not forget to sign up for the SGNA Annual Course in Salt Lake City, Utah. You have missed the “early bird” registration but it is not too late to make plans to attend. For details visit www.sgna.org. This is a great learning and networking opportunity AND an opportunity to obtain large numbers of contact hours.
The INSGNA Board is looking forward to an exciting year of serving our members. We are always looking for ways to improve our services and meet your needs and expectations as members. Please contact any of the INSGNA Board members to share your ideas.
INSGNA WEBSITE UPDATE-Lea Anne Myers
Coming soon...updated and usable website! Many of you have noticed that our website, INSGNA.org has been outdated and not very functional. We are working diligently to correct. Check out the website over the next month and you will see updated information. Getting the calendar and board member information updated is our first priority. In the near future, we plan to have scholarship applications on line for members ease as well as up-coming conference information. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the website please let me know at drmfwin@msn.com. Thank YOU!
COLO-RECTAL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
During the spring INSGNA educational course President, Dianna Burns, requested comments from attendees as to how they would be celebrating Colo-Rectal Cancer Awareness Month. The following celebrations were shared:
De Kalb Memorial Hospital– Focus on Health-extension, Thursday, April 17,2008 from 0800-1030 sponsored by De Kalb Memorial Hospital. A display will focus on the new Surgery/Endoscopy addition expanding from 12,000 to 40,000 feet. The display will be at the Heimach Senior Citizen Center in Auburn, IN and will feature a display named “Colonoscopy Ins and Outs”: need for colonoscopy and what is done. The Heart Center Medical Group of Fort Wayne will be supporting the event with a display and handouts.
IU Hospital in Indianapolis: Banners re: colo-rectal cancer awareness will be displayed throughout the hospital. The Endoscopy unit will be providing 20 free flexible sigmoidoscopy screenings for the American Cancer Society.
Fort Wayne Endoscopy Center: Ran an ad in the local newspaper promoting colo-rectal cancer awareness and a donation to the American Cancer Society for every patient calling the “Open Access” number in the month of March to schedule their screening colonoscopy. Upon arrival at the facility each patient was given a postcard size informational card to give to a family member to encourage screening along with the “blue star” pin approved in 2004 by the American cancer Society as a symbol for hope for a colon cancer cure. We also included a pen with the facility name and contact information and “Colon Cancer-Preventable”.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT: Debbie Saltzman, Chair
The INSGNA Spring Conference was held Saturday, March the 8th at the Don Hall Guest House in Fort Wayne, IN. Cassie Swartz from The Heart Center Medical Group was the hostess. 110 registrants and 28 vendors attended the conference. Topics included such things as N.O.T.E.S., Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgeries and G.I. Bleeds. Big thanks for a job well done!!
The fall INSGNA conference will be hosted by St. Mary’s Medical Center in Evansville on September 20, 2008. Hostesses will be Suzanne Buchanan and Jackie Crawford. Lea Rae Herron-Rice and her group at the IU Medical Center will host the spring 2009 conference. Ann Kikkert from Valparaiso, IN will host the fall 2009 conference.
We are looking for host facilities for 2010. It will be a special year for INSGNA. We will have been chartered by SGNA for 25 years. If interested please contact me at dsaltzman@evansvillegi.com.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS: Vicki Meadows, Chair
INSGNA currently has 188 members including 13 new members for 2008. The new members are:
Gina Bell-Muncie Terri Lazzell-Indianapolis
Linda Chastain-Muncie Lynda Najar-Seymour
Jeffery Conley– Fort Wayne Deborah Nesbitt-Noblesville
Toni Craney– Indianapolis Margaret Schreiber-Angola
Theresa Garman– Elwood Vivian Stinson-Ossian
Joan Hunt– Plymouth
Roberta Kite– Alexandria
EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT: LeaRae Herron-Rice
Your 2008 INSGNA Education Committee is anxious to get started working on furthering the professional growth of our members. This year the chairs of the Scholarship and Education Committees decided to share committee members. The 2008-committee members are Christine Milne CGRN, Michelle Symms-Juan CGRN, and Nancy Wolford CGRN.
At the Spring INSGNA conference the Education Committee issued a survey asking the INSGNA members what they would like from the Education Committee. One of the projects the committee would like to create is opportunities for members to speak at the meetings. The committee is willing to offer mentoring sessions to new speakers and assist them through the application process. Another item is to have a poster board fair at the next meeting. So many of you are doing some great work and the poster board fair would be an excellent way of sharing with your peers.
If you have any questions, suggestions or are willing to work as a committee member please contact me at:
Lea Rae Herron-Rice RN, CGRN
317-274-2625 or lherron2@clarian.org
Scholarship Committee Report: Donita Scott
The Scholarship Committee offers information and applications for funding to attend state, and regional courses. The 50/50 raffle was a success at the spring conference. Thanks to all who participated in the fundraiser. The committee is looking for a new scholarship fundraiser for the fall conference. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I can be reached at:
dscott@clarian.org
Scholarship Deadlines;
August 15th-Fall and Multi-regional conferences
December 15th– certification and re-certification reimbursement after successfully passing the exam
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Suzanne Buchanan-Historian
As Immediate Past-President, I also serve as the Historian for the INSGNA. Many of you may not know, but when you take on a new role in our organization, you are the guardian for the many boxes of paperwork that were generated by the previous office holders over the years. It was no different with the job of Historian. As I looked through these boxes, I realized that our organization would be celebrating the 25th anniversary of receiving our first charter in 2010. As a tribute to the early founders of our INSGNA, I will attempt to contact these dedicated and forward thinking Gastroenterology Nurses and find out what they are doing now.
The first person I contacted was Terry Karwowski. She was instrumental in the formation of our organization. In April of 1979 she and other nurses in the Indianapolis area were asked to meet with Rick Anderson, an Olympus Rep. During that meeting the Indiana Gastrointestinal Assistants Organization was born. The first educational program was held in September of 1979 for the newly organized IGIA. In 1982, the group held their first election of officers with Terry serving as the first elected President. By-laws were written, a logo with a covered bridge was created, and the first newsletter was sent out. Indiana received their first charter in 1985 from the SGA. Our name was changed to the Indiana Society of Gastrointestinal Assistants (ISGA), and again changed in 1990 to the Indiana Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (ISGNA). Another change to the name took place in 1992 when the acronym changed to INSGNA to differentiate from the other “I” states.
Terry said that the highlight of her years during office of president was “getting things off the ground” to get the organization started. She helped write the original by-laws and helped with organizing the educational programs for the first 2-3 years. She stated that when she first started working in GI, the doctors wrote the policies for the units. As the nurses became more educated through the programs provided through the SGNA and INSGNA they were able to take over that role and they were responsible for the policy making. As the technology increased, the GI units were removed as a secondary service provided in surgery, or emergency rooms, to their own separate endoscopy units.
Terry worked in endoscopy for 20 years and was certified for 15 of those years. She said that she was in the first group to sit for the certification exam, had to retest to re-certify after 5 years, and then was able re-certify by contact hours. She began her nursing career with an associate’s degree and earned her bachelors degree while working in GI. She was also active at the national level of our organization. She presented as a speaker and was on a couple of committees with membership being one of them. She was honored to receive the first charter given to Indiana at the Annual Course in 1985. At the regional level she also held the office of Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. She is now working in the Cardiac Cath Lab at St. Francis Hospital. She has 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and has been married for 36 years. Her hobbies include traveling, being with her grandchildren and doing crafts. She and her husband just returned from a trip to Greece.
When asked if she had any other comments to make she said, “Keep up the good work!”
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