I love the buzz of a nursing conference… I am attending this one: http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/620317/RCN-2015-research-Book-of-Abstracts.pdf

These days – a prerequisite to getting the most out of conference attendance is making sure you have a Twitter handle – here is mine @rhondawilsonmhn You need one of these so you can follow the Twitter concurrent Twitter conversation which extends the discussions a great deal. Conferences usually have a hashtag to follow… this one is #research2015. Putting the hashtag in the twitter search engine and saving it allows you to visit and participate in the conversation. I think I got about 25 new followers yesterday alone by doing this – that extends my professional network and puts me in touch with nursing colleagues around the world. Meeting people #IRL (In Real Life) is then made easier – because you already have had an introduction connection. Here are the social media analytics for yesterday!

2,074,580  Impressions
1,860  Tweets
307  Participants
78  Avg Tweets/Hour
6  Avg Tweets/Participant

My twitter network started to expand at breakfast yesterday with meeting Dr Camille Cronin from Essex –@CamilleCronin – sharing some ideas about nursing scholarship.

Then – at registration, caught up with a colleague that I first met on Twitter a couple of years ago (in Perth Australia!)… We follow each other on Twitter… a mental health nurse academic @AustynSnowden from Scotland.

My own Colleagues from Australia turned up next… (we Australians have a radar to find each other in a crowd!) @KimUsher3 , @debraejackson , @LizHalcomb , and Prof Lesley Wilkes… all great to see.

Then the snowballing commenced! So many interesting people to meet over coffee and so many mints to collect in exhibition area.

Day one (yesterday) 20 April, 2015 was a buzz! Here are my highlights from the sessions:

The big theme shining though: The essential and most valued work of nursing are the invisible interventions, actions, the caring, the listening, the being with and sitting with, the provision of kindness and comfort, being engaged and present… those are the nursing attributes that matter to our patients. Nursing is not limited to bunch of skills: how well we can write our notes, administer a pill, insert a tube… it is about how we engage when we are doing the technical work… Very motivational.

• Prof Jill Maben spoke about the soulless factories of healthcare… and called for a humanising of health care for patients and nurses…a refreshing reminder to value the listening and being with our patients – to engage, connect and care. My tweet:

 Love the idea of applying #wabisabi #imperfectly #beautiful to #nursing #bringbackcaring #bringbacksoul #Maben #research2015

• Aussie Nurse, Elizabeth McCall – presented her research findings about brief interventions to address alcohol harms in a rural A&E department… she urged ED nurses to take the opportunity to ensure that they deliver appropriate brief interventions in A&E. A good qualitative study by a research active practitioner. My Tweet:

McCall says #electronicmedicalrecord doesn’t support #ED #Nurses 2 conduct #briefinterventions adequately:system needs reform #research2015

• Then – off to hear Dr Paul Gill (Cardiff) give a great presentation encouraging Nurse PhD success. My tweet:

#research2015 Packed audience hear about how to do a #nursing#PhD such strong interest in nursing scholarship -bodes well #keepitup#Gill

• Jill Taylor (somewhere in Scotland) gave a impassioned presentation of her PhD about the work of Health Visitor nursing and the emotional labour involved – the stories in her data were compelling listening. My Tweet:

#Taylor research: #clinicalsupervision designed to support systems rather than assist #nurses to build #emotional resilience #research2015

• Prof Lesley Wilkes (Australia) gave a fascinating report of her research about the experience of Refugee Health Nurses working in NSW, Australia. Loved this one… and really made me think… I wondered how it might be if the Refugee Health Nurses of the future had their own lived experiences of asylum seeking…
• John McKinnon (Lincoln, UK,) spoke about empathy… my pick of the day… I was glued to the whole presentation – the ways that nurses use empathy as a vital nursing intervention is a critical nursing experience… I heard a rumour he has a book coming out…. I will be lining up to buy it!
• Austyn Snowden gave a terrific presentation about the challenges of achieving ethics approvals – very impressive presentation: View it here

The bar has been set high… Day two is about to start… I am inspired by my colleagues and the company I am in here…

…. no Robin Hood sightings yet…