AstroLogic*Gal

BOS: Weekend Immersion in Nursing Informatics Day 1

Didn't get in until just before Midnight yesterday and was up at 6am for breakfast. I hadn't slept well since I was fretting about the folder of documents that I left behind at my work desk, documents about the conference and where it was being held. I was frantically Blackberry-ing contacts to find out the location and had not heard back from anyone by the time I was up and at the hotel lobby. Fortunately I ran into the organizers as soon as I got off of the elevator and they were able to direct me. I also met a couple of nurses at breakfast to walk over with me who were able to show me exactly where we needed to be.

The day went by quickly and much of what was discussed was old hat in that this was to a a crash course on what would be on the Informatics Certification Exam. I've been an Informaticist for 6 years now, so it's good that I had a bead on what was going on. The group projects were interesting to do and I immediately used some of what I learned at the Columbia Informatics Certification to help complete the requirement, like swim lanes. Swim lanes are a great way to clearly visualize all the stakeholders in a project as well as time line and responsibilities on deliverables.
I used some instant magick, or the good juju as I call it, to scare up some technology. I realized that I might need to review everything that was being discussed for the later certification exam but the talk was not going to be audio recorded despite all the high tech hoo ha's at the VA Technology Center. Not certain how it all works, but I put out my intention and requirement for a digital recorder along with a grumpy complaint about never getting around to typing up notes from the dictation from past audio taped lectures. At the first morning break, I took a walk into the neighborhood and right next to a liquor shop was an electronics store stocked with different recorder options including one with Dragon Dictate that will automatically transcribe the audio into a printed document. Voilà! Can't ask for more, can you?

After class, I did a little shopping at a South American free trade shop. Great stuff. Seriously. So $300 later, I had a small shopping back of lovely handmade artisan jewelry. Happy me. I haven't purchased much of anything but school items since the beginning of the year, and these were fun purchases now that the semester has ended.
A large group of attendees and organizers met for dinner, about 17 of us. When the chat died down during dinner, I asked everyone for their memorable career stories and we traded some howlers with each other. These stories would make an amazing book. None will likely ever be heard outside of us talking amongst each other because of confidentiality concerns. It was heartening to be amongst my peers, sharing with each other- a nice change from the daily grind.

posted by theShizzKnit @ 9:57 PM