by, Bree Fallon, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM
Bree and Lisa Miller!
When I was a baby nurse at the beginning of my career, we ran high dose oxytocin at my institution. On occasion a patient would not reach an adequate contraction pattern despite the high titration of the medication. Nurses would say, the patient’s oxytocin receptors were saturated, turn the medication off, and let them rest.
Since arriving at Convention, the steady stream of information has completely saturated my brain.
This morning, as Convention winds down, I sip my coffee and reflect on the last couple of days. I love to-do lists so to organize my over saturated mind I made a list of thoughts.
- Evidence. Read it, challenge the way we’ve always done it, and evolve practice to reflect the evidence.
- I would venture to say if there was a Lisa Miller fan club, I would be in it. As I waited for a session to begin yesterday, Lisa Miller took the seat in front of me. I looked around amazed that I was afforded the opportunity to visit with her again. I basically confessed my love for her and asked for a selfie. She laughed and was so genuinely kind.
- I will aspire to get published. Although I probably will not be submitting a manuscript this summer, within the next two years is a reasonable goal.
- I want to submit an abstract for a poster next year. Walking through and examining all of the posters reassured me of the many initiatives we have embraced, and gave me some great ideas on new initiatives to implement at Shawnee Mission back in Kansas City. Perhaps next year I may be able to share my own ideas with others!
- I need to go back to school. All week the thought just has not left my mind. Education is a vehicle to transform your own development. I have SO much more to learn and I am excited to start that journey, I am just not sure where to begin. I have wrestled with whether I should get my Masters in Education or if I should work toward my CNS. Maybe I should go to midwifery school to learn as much about obstetrics as possible?
Leaving the hotel last night to meet a colleague for dinner, I noticed Kathleen Rice Simpson waiting in the lobby. I walked over and thanked her for a really amazing session on Safe Cesarean Birth. As I began to converse with the goddess of obstetrics about the day and different opportunities for my own unit, she offered some insight, offering a tour of her unit if we wanted to gain some ideas from their triage model. While we visited, I told Mrs. Simpson I aspire to go back to school. I don’t want to return to school just to earn new letters behind my name, I want to truly learn and grow. Kathleen Rice Simpson then gave me her email and told me to get in touch with her if I wanted to further discuss going back to school, what would be right for me. It was as if the clouds parted and the sky opened up and cherubs began to sing.
I can’t make this stuff up, are you kidding? How amazing. What a day!
Bree Fallon is a Clinical Educator for Perinatal Services at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, the busiest delivering hospital in Kansas City. She graduated from nursing school in 2004 and started her career in a tertiary care facility, providing high risk intrapartum and antepartum care. In 2010, she moved to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City who was looking for experienced L&D nurses to help open the their new Fetal Health Center.
Stay connected during Convention by following AWHONN on Twitter.