Presentation at the 2011 Canadian Neonatal Nursing Conference
By Lenora Marcellus
I was honored to recently receive funding to travel to Calgary in February (brrr) to attend this conference and present on “Neonatal mental health: Rounding up the evidence to support optimal brain development in the NICU”. I have found in my work in the fields of NICU nursing and supporting infants and children in foster care that the advances in thinking in the field of early childhood development (such as trauma informed care, awareness of the much stronger connections between experience and brain development, the influence of social determinants of health and a lifespan approach) have for the most part not been integrated into our NICU knowledge base. My goals for this presentation were to share the directions in this field, make connections to our work in the NICU, and highlight the importance of the role of nursing in contributing to optimal brain development. Interestingly there were several presentations at this conference on brain cooling to reduce the impact of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) so I was able to build on that science to emphasize the critical effects of our daily care.
Overall the conference was a great opportunity to network with my neonatal colleagues from across the country. There were 22 participants from British Columbia and UVic was well represented. In addition to myself some of our graduate students attended. Colleen Backlin, an APL Master’s student with an interest in transition of the high risk neonatal from hospital to home, had the opportunity to meet in person with Karen Lasby, creator of the innovative Calgary Neonatal Transitional program and one of our APL practicum field guides. Palvinder Tiwana, another APL Master’s student, demonstrated great leadership by bringing an impressive contingent from the Surrey Memorial Hospital NICU. Cathy Ringham, a Doctoral student, presented her two posters called “ Special delivery on the move: Women’s childbearing experiences in the face of transfer”, and “On the sugar trail: Guiding practices for management and screening of newborn hypoglycemia”. Cathy also demonstrated some great mentoring by supporting two 4th year nursing students from Vancouver Island University who have been working in the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital NICU, Libby Connor and Rebecca Stanley, in their own poster presentation on “Our journey: The road to influencing change and leadership as Employed Student Nurses”. Our future is in good hands.
In case any of you are hockey fans, you might be interested to know that we were in Calgary at the time of the NHL Heritage Classic (Canadiens versus Flames). The Montreal Canadiens and Ron McLean were staying at our hotel. The conference planning team showed great initiative by running around the hotel getting memorabilia autographed to raise money for a local infant support program. The Quebec nurses were very sad to see the signed jersey go to the highest bidders from Calgary. Next year’s conference is in Toronto and I encourage any of you with this interest to attend (and present!).
From 2011 Spring Communiqué
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