FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2001

CONTACT: Paula Darte
Perrin Darte & Associates
703.704.7135
www.nursingworld.org/rnrealnews

Washington, DC - The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) will hold its annual meeting October 26 and 27, 2001 at the JW Marriott, in Washington, DC. More than 400 US and international nurses are expected to attend this conference, which focuses on the knowledge base and innovative research in nursing that applies to patient and public safety.

Keynote speaker John J. Nance, founding board member of the National Patient Safety Foundation, will speak Friday morning, October 26 at 8:45 a.m. Nance is a noted aviation analyst called upon by the media for his expertise especially in how entire industries can address safety in systemic ways. His keynote address will analyze lessons from other industries that can be applied to nursing in its care for patients and the public. Nance's focus is on shifting the perspective about errors in care from the individual practitioner to examining the systems that allow errors to occur.

"The National Patient Safety Foundation has focused the healthcare community on the reality that there is never just one cause to a medical error or accident," says Nance. "Just as in aviation, errors and accidents and near-hits result from a long chain of contributing causes, many of them nurtured by a flawed system. The traditional reaction to medical mistakes – firing the closest nurse – is a dangerously ineffective method, which does noting to address the problems in the system."

The conference's focus on patient and public safety grows out of nursing's ongoing concern about medical errors and public safety brought to broad public attention by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) through two reports, one in 2000 and a follow-up report in 2001. As the "think tank" of the nursing profession, AAN and its fellows have contributed to IOM panels and findings. IOM representatives will present at this conference.

"AAN fellows and all nurses are greatly concerned with safety issues," said AAN Executive Director Terri Gaffney, MPA, RN. "This conference is an opportunity for nurses engaged in cutting edge research and public policy making to brief the entire profession and the broader public about advances in approaches to safety in various care settings."

The conference includes several sessions throughout Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th which examine safety more in depth. Friday's sessions include:

Pioneers in Patient Safety: Nursing Success Stories will feature findings from research on systems designed to reduce errors in the hospital setting. Presenters recommend significant changes in education, practice and administration to address the evolving hospital environment and a case mix which includes more critically ill patients.
Speakers include:

• Audrey Nelson, PhD, RN, FAAN - Associate Chief of the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa, Florida

• Ginette A. Pepper, PhD, APRN, RN, FAAN – Assistant Professor, University of Colorado School of Nursing
• Greg Pawlson, MD – Executive Vice President, National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

Saturday's session, The Mandate for Health Care Safety: Solutions for Today and Tomorrow will feature a presentation by Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, a member of the Committee on Quality of Health Care in America of the Institute of Medicine. Wakefield will present discuss the intersection of public policy and individual nurses' strategies for improving patient safety.

2001 press releases

Past press releases: 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996

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