I hope everyone who got to I attend National had a great time. The programs were super. The first speaker of the Course was exceptional. He did some fantastic paintings of Bono, Einstein and Lincoln. They were later raffled off. I don't know how people got them home. The main sessions were varied and gave you an opportunity to learn about new procedures and how to do better-with the old ones. The special interest groups were very good. The vendor displays were crowded but interesting. It was great to run into people 1 had met before, as well as make some new friends. Regional night was fun. The D.J. was great. He played some fantastic tunes. The displays from the various regions were very interesting. They all featured what they were doing with GI in their areas. We had a display showing our newsletter, highlighting our Fall Conference and our Fundamental Course. Arizona won the Best Regional Award. This years GI Quiz Bowl was • entertaining as well as a learning experience. New England won that-contest. This years' Posters were exceptional as well. It's very interesting to go through and read how other places do the same thing you do but maybe a little different. Giving you ideas on how-to change your practice for the better.

Salt Lake City was lovely. The weather was upper 80's to 106 on Monday. It snowed on Tues. night. The Tabernacle Area was ablaze with color. The flowers were gorgeous. We got to hear an organ recital in the old tabernacle building. The acoustics were unbelievable. The Great Salt Lake was big, salty and smelly.

Next years' Conference is in St. Louis. Start making plans to go. May 15-20, 2009. There will be scholarships available and consider doing your certification test then if not here this fall

Welcome to the Park Nicole Methodist Hospital Digestive and Endoscopy Center that includes the Outpatient Clinic and Endoscopy Unit. We are located in the Heart Vascular Center attached to Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, MN.

Like many Endoscopy Departments, our unit started in the Emergency Room. Then we moved to a small department next to the Emergency Room. Later on we out grew that space and now have a brand new department that opened in February 2007. Our new Endoscopy department is divided into three pods. Each pod contains seven procedure ' rooms and six recovery rooms. Our scope/ cleaning/supply rooms are, centrally located within the pods. In our busiest pod, we have two fluoroscopy rooms, one for bronchoscopies and one for ERCP. We are also able to do general anesthesia in these rooms.

On any given day we can perform 60 to over 100 procedures. The services we provide are Colonoscopy, EGD, ERCP's, Manometry, Bravo ph Monitoring, M2A Small Bowel Capsule and Bronchoscopy with Endoscopic Ultrasound. We utilize the LEAN process to facilitate the flow of all these patients through our department in an orderly, organized, and unhurried manner, providing excellent patient care.

The Endoscopy staff consists of 15 Gastroenterologists/Colori Rectal Surgeons, nine Pulmonologists, 38 Registered Nurses, (12 CGRN's), ten Technicians, five Health Unit . Coordinators, one Nurse Manager and one Associate Nurse Manager.

Our Clinic staff consists of two Nurse Practitioners, (one seeing inpatients and one seeing clinic patients), five pre-assessment Registered Nurses, six phone triage/clinic Registered Nurses, five schedulers, four front line staff and one Nurse Manager. The clinic sees approximately 30 patients per day. The nursing staff follows a primary nursing model. Each nurse is assigned to work with two or three physicians, and assist with the management of chronic ill patients.

The Digestive and Endoscopy Center is involved with GI Outcomes regarding Screening Colonoscopies. We are collecting data related to pre-procedure pain and anxiety, intra-procedural pain, post procedural pain, and physician insertion/ withdrawal time. A patient satisfaction survey is also sent home with the patient..

Several of our department staff have been actively involved with Minnesota SGNA. They include: Donna Stockstead - Past President, Jane Bugbee - Treasurer, and Planning Committee members --Sharon Yorde and Dorene Nflrgren.

Our department follows the Park Nicollet Mission Statement, which is to care for and support the health; healing and learning of those we serve.

Respectfully submitted, Jane Bugbee, CGRN and Sharon Yorder, CGRN

SGNA National Experience

Right from the opening speaker, this was an exciting learning experience! My "take away" included hands-on scope reprocessing tips and techniques, infection controls principles, a new understanding of eosinophilic esophagitis from a pediatric and adult perspective, new approaches in the treatment of Crohn's colitis, care of patients with IBS and the unlimited opportunities of networking with other professionals from everywhere! We were able to, help a nurse from Singapore who had questions about scope reprocessing - who would have thought! I am also very excited about putting into practice what I learned from the session I attended on research. I wrote my first letter to begin a project today!!

I can't thank MNSGNA enough for the scholarship that made this all possible! It was awesome! My only dissappointment... I didn't win anything at the vendor give away!

Thanks Again!

Joanne Reinhart, CGRN, St. Cloud Hospital

SGNA Thank You

June 9, 2008

Dear Minnesota SGNA Board Members,
I would like to thank you for granting me the scholarship for the national SGNA conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was my first time attending the national SGNA conference, and it was a very valuable learning experience. I wouldn't have , been able to attend without your scholarship.

I really enjoyed the specialty classes and found the general session classes to be excellent also. I was able to attend talks pertaining to the pancreas, RCP, several GI conditions, and the talk on NOTES. I found the classes to be very helpful as I strive to learn as much about GI nursing as , I can prior to the certification exam this fall. The vendor programs I attended were excellent. It was also helpful to be able to visit the vendor exhibits to see all of the latest GI products available.

Being among so many GI nurses, I was able to meet and talk to some nurses who are involved in some very interesting activities in this field. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me and I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given by the Minnesota SGNA.

Thank You,

Shari Menkveld, University of Minnesota-Fairview

National SGNA Conference

Georgia

I am not going to need any of the scholarship money awarded to me. I found out a few weeks after receiving the scholarship that my employer was willing to help with my expenses for the conference. I just got the check from them and it covered the majority my expenses. Therefore, I am not taking any money from the MnSGNA and hope this enables an additional person to benefit next year to experience the fun and get the educational opportunity of attending the national SGNA conference. I am sending the board a letter as well.

Thank You!

P.S. It was a really fun time and I learned some new things that will be helpful

Pat Konkler, Allina Unity Hospital, Fridley

Dear MnSGNA Board Members

Thank you for the scholarship gift. This gave me the opportunity to attend the national SGNA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. 1 gained new knowledge attending classes on NOTES procedure, Manometry, Infection Control and many other classes. I enjoyed meeting fellow GI nurses from Wisconsin and Missouri. I also visited with many vendors at the exhibit hall learning about new equipment and products. To all the MnSGNA members, I encourage you to use the financial assistance that is being offered by the MnSGNA Board and hopefully attend a future regional or national conference.

Thank You!

Sharon Yorde, park Nicollet-Methodist Hospital, St. Louis Park

It has been my goal this year to enhance the Gastroenterology and endoscopy experience for my patients, My coworkers and myself, to that end I would like to thank the MnSGNA for the scholarship to the national convention in Utah this year. Having never attended an entire convention before, I found there to be a myriad of learning opportunities. A class on how to make in-services for GI specific contact hours will benefit my unit as we continue to encourage GI certification of our staff. Especially interesting was the information on NOTES and the potential for expansion in the field of Gastroenterology. As the future of Gastroenterology grows so do the opportunities for education to , shape the experience for our patients and ourselves: Attending to convention has provided me the education to continue to enhance the GI experience for those I work with.

Thank You!

Tracy Stamboldjiev, St Paul Regions

The Endoscopy Unit at Immanuel St. Joseph's - Mayo Health System focuses primarily on adults and geriatric patients in need of endoscopic diagnostic, therapeutic, and screening procedures. Care is provided to both the inpatient and outpatient population.

The Endoscopy Unit is located in the hospital and consists of three procedure rooms and six recovery rooms. Three physicians-and nine registered nurses ,perform procedures with the assistance of five patient care technicians. The staff nurses are ACLS-Certified and competent in Moderate Sedation Administration. The procedures performed include esophago-gastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, liver biopsy, endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography, flexible sigmoidoscopy, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, therapeutic endoscopy, and 48-hour ambulatory probe placement.

mmanuel St. Joseph's, Mankato, is a regional health care system serving residents in 12 counties in south central Minnesota as part of Mayo Health System. It includes Immanuel St. Joseph's Medical Center, Springfield Medical Center, St. James Medical Center and Waseca Medical Center as 'well as ISJ Clinic locations in Mankato, North Mankato, Madelia, Lake Crystal, St. Peter and Le Sueur.

St. Joseph's Medical Center is a 168 bed hospital located in Brainerd in the heart of the "lakes country." The Endoscopy Department, located within the hospital, provides both inpatient and outpatient services. Staffed by 6 RN's, 2 Assistants and 3 Gastroenterologists, the department performs over 5000 procedures per year. The first Endo department in the state of MN to offer the Bravo 48-hour pH testing technique, SJMC was also one of the first GI labs to perform M2A capsule endoscopy.

"We are lucky to work with skilled physicians who are visionary in their approach to gastroenterology. We are also fortunate to work for an administration that not only supports our efforts, but also provides us with the equipment we need to deliver the highest quality medical care possible."

Certification Exam will be given at- the Fairview Southdale Hospital on Oct. 19, 2008.-Go to the MnSGNA website and click on Certification for more information.

SGNA - Dons Barnie Certitication Review Course is being given Aug 2-3, 2008 in Westminster, CO. (suburb of Denver)' It's 2 days, 14.0 nursing CEU's (-12.4 G.I. specific ). Cost is $250.00 for SGNA members and-$350.00 for non-members. -Go to SGNA website for more information.

Elections for the 2009 Board of Directors is coming in October. There are 2 "Directors at Large" openings and the "Secretary" position is also open. Think about running. It's a fun job.

Donna Stockstead, Past President of MnSGNA was honored by EndoNurse Magazine as a 2008 MVP. She was nominated by Skip Ackerman, B.S., owner of Ackerman-Wedemeyer Assoc., "Donna has demonstrated a very refreshing desire to always be open to new ideas and products. She is always willing to listen to details about new products and then uses that knowledge to improve the ability of any Endo department to feel comfortable in working with that product." Congratulation Donna.

Lynn Mueller, Secretary

My name is Lynn Mueller. I have been an RN at North Memorial Hospital for 29 years. For the last 10 years I have worked in the Patient Care Center (PCC). I have been doing endoscopy for _ those 10 years, as the Endoscopy Department is part of PCC.

I have been a member of MnSGNA for 9 years. I have been the Secretary of MnSGNA for the past 3 years. I truly enjoy being a part of the MnSGNA board. It has been a good experience to participate in planning the Fall Conferences, and the spring courses. Serving as an officer on the Board has allowed me to travel to the National Convention in San Antonio in 2006.

Please consider running for an office on the Board. It is a very rewarding experience.

Lynn Mueller, Secretary

 

Past President: Donna Stockstead E-mail: Donna.Stockstead@ParkNicollet.com	Director Carol Weber E-mail: clynnweber1@comcast.net
President: Kathy Rozman-Holt Email: krozmanholt@yahoo.com	Treasurer: Jane Bugbee E-mail: janebugbee@msn.com
President-Elect/Conference Coordinator: Cheryl Lindstrom Email: cherlind@aol.com	Director Jill Casmey E-mail: jcasmey1@fairview.org	Secretary: Lynn Mueller E-mail: lynnrn2@juno.com	Director: Georgia Schumacher E-mail:gschuma1@fairview.org

Planning Committee Members:

Sharon Yorde E-mail: jyorder8768@comcast.net E-mail: Sharon.Yorder@parknicollet.com	Sarah Messer E-mail: asmesser@usfamily.net
Dorene Norgren E-mail: nursenorgren@yahoo.com	Linda Ross E-mail: lrb_1@comcast.net