2023 WNA Summit & Convention - Nursing the Wyoming Way

All times listed in Mountain Time (US & Canada).
Download event agenda (PDF)

Thursday, September 28, 2023

• 12:00pm - 1:00pm

  Registration Opens

  Registration will be held outside the Grand Ballroom.

• 1:00pm - 1:15pm

  Welcome and Opening Remarks

  WNA President - Abby Bremer, RN, MSN, HACP

  Join us as Abby opens the 2023 WNA Summit and Convention.

• 1:15pm - 2:15pm

  Opening Key Note - Meet Your New ED - Setting the Course for the Future

  Kara Beech, BSBA, SHRM-CP, CTA
  1.0 CE Credit

  Setting the course for the future of WNA requires capitalizing on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the membership. In this session, Kara will highlight resources for professional development through discussing her personal journey and how these tools have assisted her in her success. This session will provide the participant with the opportunity for self reflection to evaluate personal resiliency and evaluate networking skills to enhance professional fulfillment in nursing.

• 2:15pm - 3:15pm

  Future of Nursing from the Viewpoint of the Wyoming State Board of Nursing

  Rachael Settles, MSN, RN, PMH-BC, Executive Director
  1.0 CE Credit

  Nursing the Wyoming Way from the NEW Executive Director of the Wyoming Board of Nursing. You won't want to miss out on this opportunity to hear first hand about nursing practice in Wyoming and an introduction to WSBN's Practice & Education Consultant and Healthcare Compliance Investigator.

• 3:15pm - 3:30pm

  Break

• 3:30pm - 5:00pm

  Social Determinants of Health - The Heart of Nursing

  Faith M Jones, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
  1.5 CE Credits

  Screening for, assessing, diagnosing, and addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) will soon be a required element in our workflows. This should be exciting news for nursing as this is OUR work. I will present a brief overview of SDoH screening and share an inspirational documentary of a nurse who dedicates her practice to fighting for equity and making a difference.
  The film - Who Cares - A Nurse's Fight for Equity - features Whitney Fear. Ms Fear is a Nurse Practitioner who grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, one of the poorest areas in the US. On her reservation, her family and other members of her Oglala Lakota Nation stuggle to survive. Limited resources contribute to the lowest life expectancy nationwide. But it was her community that Whitney found the care and support she needed to discover a new path. A path to become a nurse. Now, Whitney fights to help others find their path, to health.
  Following the film, I will facilitate small group discussions with the following foci:
  - Reshaping the narrative of Nursing
  - Inspiring the next generation of Nurses
  - Compassionate care beyond the bedside
  - Health Equity

• 6:00pm - 8:00pm

  Nurses Night Out

  Various

  Join us for an evening of networking in the Sinclair Room.

Friday, September 29, 2023

• 7:30am - 8:30am

  Registration and Breakfast with Vendors

  Join us for breakfast with the vendors in the Grand Ballroom.

• 8:25am - 8:30am

  Welcome and Opening Remarks

  Kara Beech, BSBA, SHRM-CP, CTA

  Join us as Kara opens the 2023 WNA Summit and Convention.

• 8:30am - 9:30am

  Saddle Up: Recreating Your Professional Journey

  Leslie Hagenstein, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
  1.0 CE Credit

  Saddle up and join Leslie Hagenstein, a third generation ranch kid from Wyoming, as she describes her adventures from a novice nurse to the proprietor of an international locum tenens business. Relax and enjoy her tales of traveling and how her inquisitiveness and creativity took her to every continent on planet earth.

• 9:30am - 10:30am

  Beyond the Bedside: Exploring Non-Bedside Careers

  Brenna Kirsch, DNP, Faith M Jones, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Candice Frude MSN, RN, and Wanda Webb, MHA, RN
  1.0 CE Credit

  Join us for this panel discussion as these nurses describe how they have grew their nursing career from bedside nursing to a variety of roles that still rely on their nursing license, their understanding of the nursing process and critical thinking skills. These nurses will share their stories of how they built their nursing careers by utilizing their knowledge skills and ability, always focusing on the foundation of nursing.

• 10:30am - 11:00am

  Break with Vendors

  Meet with the vendors and find out what they have to offer.

• 11:00am - 12:00pm

  The Ins and Outs of the Legislative Process and How to Have an Impact

  Toni Decklever, MA, RN
  1.0 CE Credit

  WNA serves as the voice of nursing on important issues and policies that impact the nursing community. WNA is at the table with local, state, and federal officials advocating for the profession.
  #1 Strategy: Legislative Committee to meet prior to the Legislative session to identify WNA's legislative priorities.
  #2 Strategy: Legislative Committee to develop communications and grassroots efforts to support WNA legislative priorities.
  #3 Strategy: Lead in legislation and health policy by recommending positions on current legislative issues to the Board while keeping members informed.

• 12:00pm - 1:30pm

  2023 Wyoming Nursing Awards Luncheon and Membership Meeting

  Various

  Join us as we celebrate YOU! Award recipients will be recongized. We will also provide the Official WNA membership meeting. Then Shelley Evans will present the Nursing Color Guard Ceremony.

• 1:30pm - 2:30pm

  Encouraging Nurses to Continue to Grow in the Profession

  Karen Gorton, PhD, RN, FNP, MS, Associate Professor, Associate Dean, University of Wyoming, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing
  1.0 CE Credit

  This presentation will focus on opportunities for Wyoming nurses to not only further their formal education, but also present other opportunities for growth that will be beneficial for nurses moving along their professional development ladder. Specifically, academic educational opportunities at higher education facilities will be presented as well as professional growth and development materials from various professional organizations will be presented.

• 2:30pm - 3:00pm

  Break with Vendors

  Meet with the vendors and find out what they have to offer.

• 3:00pm - 4:00pm

  Researching Change in the Emergency Department - Responses to Mental Illness, Substance Abuse and Suicidality

  Emily Quarterman-Genoff, MPA
  1.0 CE Credit

  Researchers world-wide are examining the on-going crisis resulting from a growing number of people in emergency rooms whose primary treatment needs are related to mental illness, substance abuse and suicidality. The recommendations made in published works have the potential to benefit and also frustrateeducators, hospitals and nursing staff who have limited resources for new training and curriculum adoption, FTE expansion, and evidence-based practice implementation.

• 4:00pm - 4:30pm

  Closing Remarks

  Special Guest

  Join us as a special gues closes out the convention.

• 4:30pm - 5:00pm

  New Board Member Welcome

  Abby Bremer, RN, MSN, HACP

  Opportunity for new board members to obtain WNA onboarding materials and networking.