Chapter Reports
CA Southern chapter
Our chapter continues to see growing attendance at our quarterly
meetings. The success, I believe, is because our meeting location
changes each quarter. This has allowed the cluster of members in a
variety of geographic locations the opportunity to attend meetings.
Members have been more than happy to host a meeting at their facility. They arrange for a meeting room, breakfast, parking, etc. After the meeting we tour the Employee Health office and get to see how our colleagues set up practice.
September 20, 2007 – Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina, CA
# of attendees – 24 meeting fees $15 members, $20 non-members
Education and 2 CEUs were offered
· New California Workers’ Compensation Utilization Review Standard and Regulatory Compliance.
· 2007 Influenza vaccine program – are you ready?
President’s Report
· National Conference preparation/questions for National board
· Membership renewals
· Chapter board opportunities
December 7, 2007 – Hoag Memorial Hospital, Newport Beach, CA
# of attendees – 23 meeting fees $15 members, $20 non-members
Education and 1 CEU offered
· Quantiferon TB Gold now FDA approved – representative presented latest process
· “Graying of the American Workforce”
President’s Report
· Summary of the Congress of President’s from the National conference in Savannah and conference highlights
· Recognition for board members and Secretary Anita Ashby who concluded her board obligation as of December 2007.
· Board openings include Vice President & Secretary – ballots to be sent out by December 30, 2007
The meeting ended with a $15 gift exchange and raffle followed by a tour of the Employee Health Department
By Chapter President Vicky McGavack RN COHN-S
Florida Chapter
We had a meeting in October post conference. We had 8 persons in attendance.
This was our first time offering the conference line call-in. Although we
had promises we received no calls. A few people reported being extremely
busy with the administration of the influenza vaccine and were unable to
call in.
We met in December and had 13 members in attendance at our end of year luncheon. We made $35 in a silent auction. This was our first and we hope to do it again in the future to raise funds for the local chapter.
We
have 2 newly elected officers: Vice President ,
cathycullochatenethealth.com
and Secretary Kathy Davis,
KathyDavis@brch.com.
We will meet the 1st Thursday in February for our meeting on MRSA. We are offering 1 CEU and plan to charge $5 and offer the conference call-in number. We will also do the silent auction.
Chris Stephenson has agreed to stay on as Treasurer until her term ends. She will be attending the meetings via teleconference.
Each committee member will call members on the updated list to encourage attendance at the educational meetings.
By Chapter President Audrey Sadler, ARNP, MSN, CEAS
Heart of America –
Kansas City Chapter
This was a banner year for us. 2007 was the year when the Greater Kansas
City Area Association of Hospital Employee Health Nurses became the Heart of
America – Kansas City chapter of AOHP!
We began as a small group of 10 nurses and have been meeting once a month since 1983. As we began having good speakers and professional education, the group has grown and matured. Only 12 of us were AOHP members when we began chapter discussions and now we have 53 AOHP members in our chapter! We are delighted with this growth and are so proud to be a chapter of our professional organization. We have developed an area discussion email list for questions and information, and were even highlighted in the Kansas City Nursing Newspaper, September 2007 edition. Members have stepped up to offices and everyone is excited by our new possibilities and scope.
In
the last year, we have heard excellent presentations on:
v
3M Air-Mate PAPRs
v
FluMist
v
Resource and Recovery Act
compliance
v
Flu Pandemic planning
v
One hospital’s response to
a mumps outbreak
v
Kansas
state requirements for healthcare workers
v
Infectious Disease update
– MRSA, CMV, C. diff
v
Safe Patient Moving
We had a fun-filled and delicious holiday luncheon in December. There was much excitement and planning for the coming year. Deb Rivera, chapter vice president, and I are making plans to begin the development of evidence-based Occupational Health (in Healthcare) standards for our area, to assist nurses in our chapter and to provide a professional benchmark for practice. This will be a lot of work, but should offer a real benefit to all of us. We’ll be looking forward to national AOHP to help us set some recommendations for a ratio of OHNs and other office staff per number of employees, along with salary ranges.
Thanks again for the opportunity to become a chapter of AOHP. We have active, experienced nurses who are looking forward to contributing to the organization. You will be seeing more of us!
By Chapter President Jan Wesselmann, RNBS, PNP
Illinois Chapter
Our next meeting is February 27, 2008, in Springfield, IL. at 9:30am, at St.
John's Hospital. Our topic has not yet been decided.
If interested in attending, please email Mary Bliss at mbliss@mmci.org. She will soon have the details of the program to be presented.
By Chapter President Mary Bliss, RN, COHN
Michigan Chapter
The AOHP Michigan Chapter met for its bi-monthly meeting on November 8,
2007, at the University of
Michigan Health Systems MWorks/MFit Corporate
Office in
Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
This was our second in a series of “rotating” meeting sites and attendance
was over 20 for this meeting. Conference calls are available to anyone
unable to attend the meeting for a $15 fee and are arranged through the
national office.
Our speaker was Dr. Anna Lok, a specialist with the University of Michigan Hospital, who presented a very valuable and informative program on Hepatitis C. After her presentation, she answered many questions from members. CEUs were provided through AOHP.
New officers for two offices were installed: Peggy Anderson of Oakwood Southshore Medical Center as Vice President and Karen Karwowski of Henry Ford Hospital as Governmental Affairs Officer.
Maintaining an active membership and ideas for raising funds were among topics for discussion. As always, at the close of the meeting, individuals shared challenging situations from their practices and members helped with providing potential solutions.
By Chapter President Liane Jensen, RN, BSN, COHN-S
North Carolina Chapter
The North Carolina Chapter held its summer meeting, August 17, 2007, at
Lexington Memorial Hospital with Melisa Buchanan as our host. Barbara
McCarthy, RN, BSN, COHN, presented “Wellness in the Workplace”. Barbara gave
all participants a “healthy” goody bag and great ideas during her
presentation as to how we can all make our workplace a much healthier place
and make it fun at the same time. Our next speaker was Scott Bailey with
sanofi pasteur. Scott discussed the Tetanus Diphtheria and Acellular
Pertussis (Tdap) vaccine and reasons for implementing throughout hospitals.
He also provided lunch for the group, which was great!
During the business meeting, we announced our new officers for 2007-2009. Debbie Grieneisen from Carolinas Healthcare System is our new Vice President and Sue Hampton from Moses Cone Health System is our Treasurer for a second term.
Our AOHP-NC fall meeting was held November 2, 2007, at Halifax Regional Medical Center hosted by Ellen Glover. Our first speaker was Dr. Marion Fiorilli (Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Employee Health for Halifax) who spoke on “Welcome Back Gram Positives, Bye Bye Gram Negatives.” It was a very informative and timely lecture. Ron Jeffery from EZ Way presented “Lift the EZ Way” and provided us with lunch. Brenda Hudson RN, BSN and Laura Ellis BS, Health Educator (both from Halifax County Health Department) presented “Health Travel Plans and Immunizations.” This was an excellent presentation that gave us all valuable information for our employees and to help guide them in the case of travel.
Congratulations to Debbie Grieneisen for receiving her COHN-S. We are all proud of you Debbie! Our winter meeting will be held at the UNC-Chapel Hill on February 15, 2008 and will be hosted by Stephanie Consoli.
By Chapter President Pam Kemp RN, BSN
PA
Central Chapter
AOHP-CPC held its quarterly meeting on November 16, 2007. Our speaker was
Dr. William Rowan, Director of the
Counseling
Center at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center,
Pottsville, PA, who
spoke on Substance Abuse in the Workplace. I know we all came away with some
new insight on what to look for and be aware of in our employees.
We are currently planning our annual State Conference. It will be held at the Wildwood Conference Center on the campus of the Harrisburg Area Community College on April 18, 2008. For all the Pennsylvania members and those in neighboring states, please put the date on your calendar and plan to attend. More information will be coming.
By Chapter President Gail Opperman, RN, BS
PA Southwest Chapter
PA Southwest Chapter met on November 13, 2007, at the Western Pennsylvania
Hospital. MaryAnn Gruden, RN, CRNP, MSN, COHN-S/CM NP-C and Linda Wylie, RN,
BSN, COHN-S presented information on National Conference topics. The group
met for a Christmas luncheon at the Grand Concourse, Station Square on
December 11, 2007. An officers meeting will be held in January 2008 to
prepare for the New Year. The next regular meeting will be on March 11,
2008.
By Chapter President Mary Beth Baker, RN, BSN, COHN-S
2008 AOHP NATIONAL CONFERENCE - SILENT AUCTION CHAPTER CHALLENGE
Support AOHP and be
recognized by your peers as a creative, fun and enthusiastic chapter! All
chapters are invited to join the Silent Auction Chapter Challenge at the
2008 AOHP Annual National Conference in Denver, Colorado. Donate a theme
"basket" and watch the fun begin. The more creative the item, the higher
the bids will be. The Chapter whose auction “basket” receives the highest
bid wins the Silent Auction Chapter Challenge. The winning chapter will
receive verbal recognition at the Annual Business Luncheon Meeting and
acknowledgement in the AOHP Journal.
Tips:
v
Choose a theme, be
creative - have a chapter brainstorming session at one of your meetings
v
Fill a "basket,"
actually any container will do (UPS will be a very helpful partner for the
winner)
v
Encourage all chapter
members to donate pieces and parts related to your theme
v
Transport the "basket"
and its contents to the conference by having all attending members bring
items
v
Make it an event and
have all your members gather to assemble, then go out for cocktails
Shirley P Rosien, RN, BSN, COHN-S
AOHP 2008 Conference Committee Member
