NSNA MidYear Convention 2023 San Diego, California

Greetings, NSNA members and future colleagues!
          I hope you are all packed and ready to meet the Board in MidYear! We are so excited to welcome you to San Diego, California and to NSNA’s 41st MidYear Conference. We cannot wait to bring you a live NCLEX-RN Review session, panels with multiple nursing specialties that are eager for your questions, exhibits, workshops, and networking opportunities you will not find anywhere else. In addtition, MidYear is an amazing conference to attend as it allows you to be personable with the NSNA Nominations and Elections Committee, the Chair of the Resolutions Committee, and the Board of Directors. 
         I hope you already are a leader in the NSNA Leadership University Honors Society but if not, we will definitely be speaking about that as well and how you can get involved!
         Our keynote speaker will be the incredible Dr. Laurie Ecoff, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, CNL, who is Vice President of Caster Nursing Institute. She oversees four centers of excellence—professional growth, inquiry and innovation, simulation, and technology and innovative learning and community engagement. Additionally, Dr. Ecoff has oversight of the new Brown Simulation Center, opening in April 2023 in the Sharp Presbys Innovation and Education Center.  
Dr. Ecoff started her nursing career as a new graduate nurse on the Oncology Unit at Sharp Memorial Hospital and has previously held positions as Director of Ambulatory at Sharp Grossmont and Director of Research and Education at Sharp Memorial.
In addition, Dr. Ecoff received her Bachelor of Science and PhD in Nursing from the University of San Diego (USD) and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration from San Diego State University.
Dr. Ecoff is a past president of the Association of California Nurse Leaders and currently services on the annual program planning committee. She is a founding member of the San Diego Consortium for Excellence in Nursing and Allied Health, a community-based collaborative between service and academia, which offers an annual Evidenced-Based Practice Institute.
For State Leaders, we will be having our annual Council of State Presidents on Thursday, November 2nd from 8am-4pm PST. In addition to state presidents, all board members are welcome to attend. There will be time for registration and a lunch provided as well. Faculty have plenty of opportunities to get involved in the programming as well with our faculty workshops taking place throughout the convention!
We are offering our American Red Cross Disaster Certification (pre-registration required) and that is open to all students and faculty! Our Advocacy Corner features many different organizations where you and your local/state organization can get involved.
At the close of our first day, we will hold our opening ceremony to welcome you all to the 41st MidYear Convention and to hear our keynote speaker, Dr. Ecoff speak. Right after the insightful keynote, the Foundation of the National Student Nurses’ Association is sponsoring our Masquerade party so be sure to grab your masks and your extravagant outfits! We can’t wait to see you there.
         Friday, November 3rd brings just as much excitement! We have our NCLEX Mini Review also taking place presented by Lippincott PassPoint, our Faculty Workshop, our Advocacy Corner, and sessions that are coming soon! The exhibit hall opens at 11 am (PST) so be sure to head there as soon as it opens! Our exhibitors are eager to meet you and hand out some free goodies!
         Our Career Readiness Panel takes place from 2pm-3:30pm, which will be an amazing discussion and conversation on preparing for our futures! After that, the exhibit hall is still open until 5pm. Sessions will repeat at that time for anyone who would like to attend a session they missed earlier. We are delighted to announce an important session at the upcoming NSNA MidYear Conference that focuses on the development of Interpretive Statements for the newly amended Code of Ethics. This session presents nursing students with a unique opportunity to actively contribute to the refinement and update of the NSNA Code of Ethics.
         As you know, one of the primary goals for the Ethics and Governance Committee this year has been to review and revise the NSNA Code of Ethics. In line with this objective, we have organized roundtable discussions, information sessions, and forums at the MidYear Conference and Annual Convention to engage our members in constructive conversations regarding the creation of interpretive statements.
         The Code of Ethics Interpretive Statements session at the MidYear Conference aims to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among nursing students. During this session, participants will have the chance to provide insights, suggestions, and ideas for the interpretive statements that will complement the revised Code of Ethics. This collective effort will ensure the Code reflects the values, principles, and expectations of our esteemed profession.
I am pleased to inform you that any proposed changes resulting from this session will be carefully reviewed by the NSNA Board of Directors, and any proposed changes will be presented to the House of Delegates at the Annual Convention to be voted upon if any proposed changes should be adopted or not.
We encourage you to attend this session on Friday, November 3rd from 6:15-7:30pm PDT.
         Our last business day together in San Diego, November 4th will bring to you an amazing opportunity: Mental Health First Aid! We are so excited for this opportunity and are looking forward to the feedback from you all on what you think! The exhibit hall will be open for a couple of more hours and then, our nursing specialty showcases will begin! We have so many nurses coming to speak from so many specialties and they are excited to answer any questions you may have! Our Faculty Roundtables take place during these showcases so our faculty are not going to want to miss those! And for our last agenda item in San Diego, NSNA will be holding their roundtable discussions to hear feedback from you all! Definitely don’t miss out in shaping our next conventions to come!
         And lastly, Sunday, November 5th is yours! Enjoy as many of the activities San Diego has to offer on your own and we look forward to all the posts of sunny San Diego!
         If you have any questions, please feel free to email nsna@nsna.org and someone will get back to you as quickly as we can. We are so excited to see you all in San Diego and I know speaking for the Board of Directors, we are so excited to interact with you all so please say hi!
         Safe travels!
 
Yours in service and signing off for now,
Lauren