I just returned from a work/vacation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is where they held the National AORN Convention, the professional organization I belong to. Intermountain paid for me to go and I was gone for a whole week. It’s a long time to be away from home but I have to say that this is probably one of the best conventions I have been too. Part of that was all of the history there and the things there were to see. We (my director, Pat, co-worker, Chris, and me) left on March 18 and returned home March 24 – at 11:30 at night. We operated on little sleep and a lot of calories. We stayed in a very nice hotel, ate at some fabulous and famous restaurants (including Pat’s, Gino’s, Soho’s, Hard Rock Café, and Barclay Prime), and filled our minds with endless information – both educational and historical!

I presented a poster at the convention this year and although I didn’t receive any awards, I learned many things about developing posters and topics worthy of poster development! So many of the topics presented are things we already do. They are part of our culture so we don’t see them as extraordinary or exceptional. We really need to tout our everyday successes! (I also learned that I need my own thumbtacks and flyer holders.) The conference days were full of ceaseless classes that were informational, educational, and motivational. We listened to Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker speak of their experience with the diagnosis of breast cancer and Lee Woodruff spoke of her husband’s and family’s experiences with his near fatal injury in Afghanistan. Another speaker spoke of the future of nursing and wow…its incredible! I gained several ideas that I hope we will be able to implement and benefit my practice as well as those I work with. More than that, I left re-energized and with a full bucket. My director inspires me to want to be more involved and dedicated to my career and profession – to not get lost in the mundane everyday activities but to see beyond that into the magnitude and importance of nursing. Attendance at this conference is not something I would have been able to do without the financial support of Intermountain and I’m so grateful to work for a company that sees the value of being involved in our professional organization and supports nursing.

We visited several famous sites: the Betsy Ross House, The Constitution Center, the Visitor’s Center, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (under construction), Chinatown, the Italian Village, and the Mutter Museum. We took a trolley tour where we drove by several hot spots such as the Unite States Mint, the Rocky Stairs and Statue, the Penitentiary where Al Capone was held, the famous Four Seasons hotel, the Ritz Carlton, The Franklin Institute (where they have a heart that you can walk through), The Rodin Museum where the sculpture of the “The Thinker” rests outside of its doors, the Academy of Fine Art , Penn’s Landing (two ships are housed here – the USS Olympia, and The Spirit of Philadelphia), Christ’s Church, LOVE Square, the Kimmel Center, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Logan Circle (which we drove around). I had a great week, the kids did well and Mike did well with the kids.

Above are collages of pictures from the trip. There were too many to add them in individually and there is probably a story with every picture. I would have been blogging for days! Just click on the collage, then click on it again to enlarge the photos.