I know a lot of my friends don't believe this because I travel so much, but I do have a job. I am a full time Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Transplant Nurse.
APHON stands for Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses.
In the field of nursing I am in, APHON is like the nursing equivalent of attending the Oscars. It attracts the cream off the crop. You meet nurses making positive changes and huge strides in the field. I had attended the local chapter (Scaphon) conference a few times in the past. If we are still relating this to award shows, Scaphon is like the MTV Awards or Teen Choice Awards. It is a total drink fest, and it is the best way to see how crazy nurses really are.
The conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since I had never been to Pennsylvania I decided to attend my first APHON conference. I had arrived two days early so I had some extra time to check out the city.
Walking distance from the convention center was the Heinz History Center which was a museum that focused more on Pittsburgh History. I thought it was a beautifully done museum, and reminded me of a mini Smithsonian. Only after visiting did I discover they were affiliated with the Smithsonian.
They had two displays that were a perfect representation of the attendees of the APHON Conference. To the left it portrays the power of a group of nurses creating change in a tough field. To the right, an old school nursing uniform just showing how much change nursing has overcome. Thank goodness we don't have to wear outfits like that anymore!
After the museum, I walked along the main road from the Convention Center to Point State Park. That evening I went to dinner with one of my co-workers and one of her old colleagues from Florida. Her friend was SHOCKED that I had walked around Pittsburgh on my own. I then proceeded to tell her all the other places I have traveled on my own and her eyes almost bugged out of her sockets in shock. I guess she doesn't know very many independent women in her life.
We enjoyed so much yummy food while in Pittsburgh with most of the best food coming from restaurants in the Strip District. We ate in the area three times during our stay.
My wound was still healing from my cancer surgery, so I was with the best group of people that would understand my little cancer predicament. The conference was filled with inspiring and informative lectures, and in between lectures we headed to the "swag" area to talk to drug, medical supply, and organization reps. In the other end of the exhibit hall were posters filled of research and evidence based practices. My friend, Lani, had created one to represent our hospital. The exhibit hall was always filled with food, drinks, and prize giveaways. The conference is also a great place to network, and I even saw some of my old Los Angeles co-workers and preceptors, and a nurse I had met when taking my cancer patients on a trip.
As you can imagine, the group was predominately women, so in order to accommodate our bathroom needs we took over this place.....
The men's bathroom became a women's bathroom, and yes I am quite aware I took a random photo of urinals!
It was a great conference, and I learned so much from it. I have already implemented change in one of our practices after getting advice from nurses working in other institutions.
Date Accomplished: October 16th, 2012
2 comments:
Those urinals are pretty clean! Glad you had a good time. Great move arriving early so you can take in some sight seeing too. Yeah, it does make me laugh when people are surprised that you can do things on your own, you don't always have to be with others!xx
It is mind boggling to me that I know people that can't even eat lunch at work on there own! It is 2013 ladies!
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