MESPAN'S 2021 Spring Conference held via Zoom on 4/10/2021!

Woohoo! We did it!

MESPAN’s first virtual educational offering took place on Saturday April 10, 2021. The MESPAN Education Team (led by Julianna Hyunsuk Choi and VP Mary Will) not only assembled an excellent lineup of speakers and topics, but facilitated the entire conference as we presented via Zoom. While we miss seeing you all and connecting with you at our live conferences, we believe that education in ANY format will have to suffice until we can gather again with our peers and colleagues from across the state.

The program began at 0800 with a brief introduction and welcome by Deb Roy, MESPAN President; followed by an ABPANC update on the benefits of national certification from Shelly Rinfret, our component certification coach and Government Affairs liaison. Despite a few technical glitches at the very start of the program, things ran smoothly and attendees were able to enjoy the educational content, raffle prizes, and sidebar conversations with colleagues through the chat box. Our speakers included MESPAN favorite Terry Clifford RN MSN CPAN CAPA FASPAN with PeriAnesthesia Nursing: Our Journey and What You Need to Know: Vaping and CBD Use. Stephen Harden MD presented Hemodynamic Challenges During Recovery. Paul Evans PA discussed Total Joints: Then and Now, and Caroline Foust-Wright MD made us all cross our legs with Uterovaginal Prolapse and Urinary Incontinence: In the Office and in the OR.

Three conference rewards members attended at no cost (Carol Johnson, Nicole Perrin, and Cindy Lynch-McNett). Four $50 raffle prizes were drawn (Katie Friends, Susan Smith, Denise Cloutier, and Angela Harding).  The raffle winner of the nursing bag filled with certification study materials was Sungjun Park. This first virtual conference was our trial run, so thank you to all attendees for their patience and senses of humor when things occasionally went a little off course. The silver lining of online events is that travel is not a limitation, so we’re hoping some MESPAN and ASPAN programs may prove even more accessible to MESPAN nurses. An additional benefit is the lack of a dress code…… we’re hearing that many attendees enjoyed the conference in PJs on the couch while sipping coffee, or in shorts and T-shirts on their decks sipping another type of adult beverage! We finished a bit early and attendees were able to enjoy the rest of the lovely spring day. (Of course, it had to be our first Maine day in the 70’s!)

Please enjoy the spring weather and we hope to see you in person soon. Many thanks to those of you who attended on Saturday…. we hope you enjoyed yourselves. Consider joining us for the Zoom certification review class scheduled for September 11, 2021…… FREE for MESPAN members!!