Advocacy: Amplifying Voices to Improve Healthcare

Billy Rosa, PhD, MBE, NP-BC, FAANP, FAAN

What bridges the gap of where you are and where you want to be? That mechanism is advocacy. Join Dr. Rosa as he uses his personal experiences, partnerships, and the evidence to share how advocacy can allow nurses to amplify the voices of patients, families, colleagues, institutions, and multidisciplinary stakeholders to make measurable and tangible improvements in health outcomes.

A Multidisciplinary Transitional Care Team’s Aim to Bridge the Care Chasm

Dianne Cirillo, MS, RN-BC; Tiffany Hoffman, MS, APRN, ANP-C

In a value-based care environment, successful outcome measures include improved quality of care while limiting costs. This session will discuss a transitional care program implemented to support post-discharge follow-up. Discussion will include development of the program and how it has resulted in improved care coordination, appropriate next site of care, and decreased readmissions.

Rapid-Fire Telehealth Sessions

In these short rapid-fire presentations, multiple speakers will highlight approaches to managing issues related to telehealth in the practice environment.

Nothing of the Sort: Creation of an Ambulatory Care Telephone Triage Clinical Educator

Mari Ann Lewis, BSN, RN, AMB-BC, NPD-BC; Amber Hearron, BSN, RN; Calli Wood, MSN Ed, RN, NPD-BC

This session will address the development of the telephone triage clinical educator role to address gaps in knowledge for ambulatory care nurses when addressing symptom-based calls.

Video Technology to Improve Chronic Disease Patient Outcomes

Kathleen Craig, BSN, RN; Andrea Kossoudji, MS, MBA, RN, AMB-BC

This session will discuss nurse recruitment, leadership engagement, and implementation of a national program to improve blood pressure control. Learn how nurses can successfully engage in chronic disease management though the use of video technology to improve patient outcomes.

Leadership Special Interest Group (SIG) Session: Adding Value: Measuring Nurse Productivity

Heather Bogrett, MSN, RN-BC; Diane Woods, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; Dedria Tuck, MSN Ed, RN, AMB-BC, CPN

There is a lack in measurable benchmarks for nurse expectations for the volume of answered messages, and it can be cumbersome to measure the productivity of nursing staff within EMRs while still providing nursing value with asynchronous patient care. This interactive session will discuss the importance of measuring ambulatory care message productivity as well as a productivity metrics. We will discuss which metrics have the biggest impact and efficiency and ways these concepts can be applied in practice.

Sponsored by the John H. Reck Memorial Grant

A Quality Improvement Project: Expedited Workforce Development Utilizing Shadow Opportunity

Monica Mount, DNP, MSN, BA

This session will highlight a quality improvement project that expedited staffing of a multi-specialty ambulatory care practice with nurse vacancies through the use of shadow opportunities to observe workflow, trial commute, and experience care environment.

Call Us First: Nurse Care Manager Triage for Complex Care

Victoria Zhu, MSN, RN

Seeking the right level of care at the right time can help prevent delay in care and unnecessary cost. Different modes to seek care have been developed to meet the complex needs of patients, but patients may not be able to track the resources available to them. We will share how "Call Us First" (CUF) was created to help patients access the right level of care at the right time.

Pediatric Nursing Special Interest Group (SIG) Session (no contact hours awarded)

Meet members of the Pediatrics SIG, which serves as the voice for pediatric nursing in AAACN. If your practice involves caring for infants and children, join us and network with other AAACN members who are interested in this area.

Legislative Advocacy: What I Need to Know and How to Prepare?

Tracy Gosselin, PhD, RN, AOCN, NEA-BC, FAAN; Edtrina Moss, PhD, RN-AMB, NE-BC, CLSSGB; Jessica Varghese, PhD, RN; Diane Woods, MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Nursing advocacy is essential to the profession and nursing care spans broad topics related to scope of practice, education, and licensure as well as care delivery and treatment. This session will help nurses prepare to advocate at the local, state, and/or national level, addressing opportunities for advocacy as well as what skills and knowledge they will need to do so. Practical steps to engage in political advocacy and current areas that require nursing advocacy will be discussed. Presenters will discuss their own journey and the impact and role of nursing associations and societies will be highlighted.

Rapid-Fire Behavioral Health Sessions

In these short rapid-fire presentations, multiple speakers will highlight approaches to managing issues related to behavioral health in the practice environment.

Harm Reduction, Reducing Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorder Stigma

Sherrie Cisneros, MSN, RN-BC; Jennifer Curlowicz, MSN, RN

Stigma for mental health and substance use disorder patients is prevalent in health care. As the overdose rate continues to rise, proven strategies are needed to improve outcomes for these vulnerable populations. Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach to preventing negative outcomes for people who use drugs. This session will outline project efforts to reduce the stigma for patients with mental health and substance use disorders by educating staff on harm reduction practices.

Evidence of the Contribution of the Nurse in Addictions Care

Jean Bernhardt, PhD, NEA-BC, CNP

This session will address the role and experience of office-based addiction treatment (OBAT) nurses. Focus will include the impact OBAT nurses provided in working with interprofessional providers in primary practice across three key areas: presence of nurse sensitive indictors, stabilization time in patients taking buprenorphine, and influence of nursing on time to recovery.

Virtual Nurse Visits for Treatment of Opioid Withdrawal

Jody Leise, MS, APRN, CNS, CWCN; Lisa Ruehmann, BSN, RN; Rachel, Trewhella, MSN, RN

This session will address the role of the nurse in treatment pathways for opioid withdrawal during telehealth nurse visits.

Nursing Quality Indicator Dashboard for Ambulatory Care Leads to Magnet™ Designation for Large Multi-Specialty Practice

Ray Snider, DNP, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; Curlissa Mapp, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC; Laura Jones

We will share how our organization selected ambulatory care quality measures, identified internal data sources and benchmarks, and presented the results in dashboards for up to 150 ambulatory care departments.

NSI Industry Report

Rachel Start, MSN, NEA-BC, RN, FAAN Rebecca DelleFave, MS, BSN, RN; Teresa Anderson, EdD, MSN, RN, NE-BC; Nora Warshawksy, PhD, RN, FAAN; Mary Blankson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, FAAN

Members of the AAACN NSI Task Force will share findings from the Ambulatory Care Nurse-Sensitive Indicator Industry Report and planned next steps.

Veterans Affairs Special Interest Group (SIG) Session (no contact hours awarded)

Attend this session to network and collaborate with your VA ambulatory care nursing colleagues while you discuss current issues, share solutions and creative programs, and keep in touch across the country.