STTI conference attracts RNs from nine countries.
The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) hosted the 2017 Creating Healthy Work Environments conference 17-19 March in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Nurses representing Canada, Finland, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, and the United States attended.
“The passion for creating and sustaining healthy work environments was palpable,” says STTI President Cathy Catrambone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "Participants were highly engaged and committed to bringing back evidence-based standards to their areas of practice.”
Patricia Thompson, EdD, RN, FAAN, chief executive officer of STTI, notes that “the importance of positive, safe work environments for quality care was evident not only in the presentations, but in the engagement and passion of all attendees.”
Conference content was based on the six Healthy Work Environment standards outlined by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Experts in healthy work environments and communications presented four plenary sessions.
The opening plenary session, “Healthy work environments: Discussions from the bedside to academia,” featured a distinguished panel—Beth Ulrich, EdD, RN, FACHE, FAAN; Cynthia Clark, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN; Dave Hanson, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, NEA-BC; Connie Barden, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CCNS; Cynthia Oster, PhD, MBA, APN, ACNS-BC, CNS-BC; and Jane Braaten, PhD, MS, RN. This interactive session focused on strategies to build, develop, and maintain a healthy work environment.
During Plenary Session 2, “Creating healthy work environments: Powered by civility, leadership, and ethical practice,” Clark emphasized the scope and impact of workplace civility and evidence-based strategies to foster a positive environment for achieving desired outcomes.
Plenary Session 3, “Healthy work environments II: Discussions about the profession,” moderated by Ulrich, outlined initiatives of several national nursing organizations. Leading the discussion were Mary Jo Assi, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FNP-BC, FAAN, American Nurses Association; Barden, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; Linda Cassidy, MSN, EdM, BSN, RN, CCNS, CCRN-K, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; Janet Stifter, PhD, RN, CPHQ, American Organization of Nurse Executives; and Patricia Thompson, EdD, RN, FAAN, STTI.
The closing Plenary Session, “From toxic to healthy: Breakthrough strategies for transforming the clinical practice environment,” presented by Hanson, stressed the importance of AACN’s six standards—skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, and authentic leadership—in delivering safe, effective patient care.
In addition, the conference featured nearly 80 concurrent sessions and 59 poster presentations—including posters by students designated as STTI’s Rising Stars of Research and Scholarship.
A book-signing event highlighted an impressive showing of STTI authors of books relating to a culture of ownership, toxic and stressful environments, civility, high reliability organizations, evidence-based practice, mastering precepting and simulation, and nursing career development.
Participants were highly active in social media, sharing key concepts from the presentations that resulted in more than 1.3 million impressions (the number of times a tweet could appear in users’ Twitter feeds).
Explore the series of articles published recently in Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL) on how to create a healthy work environment.
View photos from the conference.
STTI is pleased to recognize these exhibitors and sponsors for their support and participation in this event:
ATI Nursing Education, Platinum Sponsor, Exhibitor
Chamberlain College of Nursing, Exhibitor
St. Vincent, Platinum Sponsor, Exhibitor
Indiana Organization of Nurse Executives, Exhibitor
MedCo Technologies, Exhibitor
Cathy Catrambone is president of STTI. Kathy Bennison-Meadors is senior corporate relations officer for the STTI Foundation for Nursing.