Our President’s Message

Dear GSAC Members,

The AALNC convention was a terrific success and a lot of fun. On top of that, the networking opportunities were endless. We have learned recently that we usually aren't "just lucky" but instead, as nurses, "prepared" and that is what happened to me at the conference. I schlepped my laptop all the way to Phoenix, spent numerous hours purchasing a new cell phone 3 days prior to the convention, as mine took an unauthorized swim in my glass of water. I use my phone for business and as a Case Manager I cannot afford to miss calls.  I also came prepared with about 10 copies of my CV. Do you wonder where this is heading? Well for me it headed right into getting a job. I was prepared! A notice went up on the Conference communications board looking for LNC's to work with a Law Firm on toxic tort cases and I responded. I immediately emailed my interest in the project, from my trusty computer and got a quick email response.  Soon I was on my phone with the nurse recruiter while sitting in the lobby of the hotel with my CV. Yes, I wasn't just lucky; I was prepared (Thank you Karen Preston).

On my recent conference call with our Director Cynthia Lacker from AALNC we discussed: virtual meetings with tips and tools, ½ Year Membership option and 2010 Membership Dues Renewal offer, New Membership Benefits, AALNC Exhibiting Nursing Awareness at AORN and AACN and Attorney Awareness at AAJ and DRI, New Membership Benefits, Educational Resources, Affinity Benefits Program, Educational Opportunities with 2009 AALNC Conference Recordings, 2009 Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting Contact Hour Program, LNC Biz, and the 2010 Conference. 

Our chapters focus is to be on Virtual meetings with some of the newest technology available, is becoming the focus of most chapters across the country. What a great resource to be able to 'sit-in' on chapters' membership meetings. This national effort will not only advance our knowledge of virtual possibilities, but also allow us to take advantage of other chapters efforts and issues they face thereby possibly avoiding making the same mistakes. Marilyn McDonald, our president elect, has already started formulating plans to get our chapter up to speed for our chapter meetings next year. Our region is so spread out that we know Virtual meetings will assist in our coming together to utilize the benefits of our chapter’s meetings and educationals. This is a big project! But I am positive it will come together and be appreciated as a huge benefit for us all.  AALNC continues to show their dedication and commitment to all of their members as they add additional member’s benefits and bring the profession of Legal Nurse Consulting into the mainstream of attorney’s today. Other interesting news from AALNC:

·         They will be offering ½ year memberships starting in July. To join our chapter you must be a member of AALNC before you can join.  Our local chapter dues will also be reduced down to $25.00 instead of $50.00 starting in July.  A ½ year membership gives you all the membership benefits and runs from July 1 to December 31, 2009.

·         New member benefits discussed were the many educational offerings such as the LNCC preparatory module for the LNCC exam, a new business development course, numerous books and resources and the affinity program in which there are many discounts from vendors. It will be like a shopping mall with discounts to Staples, Orbitz flights, etc. Visit the AALNC web site for more details; these new benefits are expected to begin next month.

·         AALNC President, Suzanne Q. Langroth and Immediate Past-President, Mindy Cohen will be exhibiting at the 2009 AAJ (American Association for Justice) Convention in San Francisco from Saturday, July 25th through Tuesday, July 28th.

·         National educational opportunities for members include 2009 conference tapes that are available for purchase and CEU's. 2009 Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting Contact Hour Program, and LNC Biz. You may chose on-line or CD's. The Journal offers 1 CEU for $10.00. The maximum for the year is 4, as the Journal comes out quarterly. Lastly, LNC Biz is an on-line program that will help participants develop their business plan.

The last thing I wanted to discuss in this newsletter is the concept of "data storage". This is critical for LNC's. Almost everything we touch is considered a medical record &/or a legal record. Some LNC's have their own server and some have a multitude of back-ups with external hard drives and such. Any way you slice it, it is very important. Why all the fuss about backup? You probably have financial documents, email, digital photos, music and more. Unfortunately, computers are vulnerable to hard drive crashes, virus attacks, theft and natural disasters, which can erase everything in an instant. Current statistics show that one in every ten hard drives fail each year and it can cost $7,500.00 to recover a failed hard drive and success is never guaranteed, not to mention the confidentiality aspect. Last September Francis Ford Coppola's computers were stolen and so was his backup device. He lost 15 years of computer records; you can just imagine what information he lost.  Similarly, if there's a fire or flood you can lose everything, including digital photographs, music collections, and anything else you've backed up locally. One solution, the one I have chosen, to use is Online Backup.  The services are inexpensive (typically about $5 a month), and they don’t noticeably slow down your PC. They also encrypt your data before, during, and after it's been sent to industrial-strength servers. The service can start processing and uploading files automatically on a schedule or in the background. It will back up all the supported files on your hard drive regardless of size. Recovering small amounts of data (a few files here or there) will probably take only seconds or minutes. Restoring all of your data will probably take longer.  Online Backup is the easiest way to protect important files against hard drive crashes, theft, damage, accidental deletion and other data disasters.
Sincerely,
Melony A. Carlton, RN, MSN
2009 GSAC President

Member Activities:

2009 AALNC Conference Leadership Forum

The leadership forum was attended by President Melony Carlson and President-Elect Marilyn McDonald along with Tracy Albee, a DAL on the National Board.  The topics of discussion included inspiring leadership and volunteerism in members, how to function in the down turn and virtual tools for the future. All were interesting topics and well presented. Of most interest to our chapter appeared to be the use of virtual tools to increase participation of the membership in meetings and educational events. Due to the extended area of our membership, it would be very advantageous for our board to consider utilizing conference meetings with internet resources such as Dimdim, Skype or other available services. This would allow meetings to be attended from home or the office decreasing the time for commuting to the meeting place. A few chapters have started to utilize this means for connecting with chapter members with good success. The New York office volunteered to assist other chapters with information and trouble shooting. Other considerations would be to tape and broadcast educational events for members who cannot attend and for sharing with our sister chapter the BACNC, who has also expressed interest in using these new communication tools……Marilyn McDonald

 

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2009		GSAC-AALNC COMMITTEES
Executive Committee:		By Laws Chairperson:	Ruth Swiggum
President	Melony Carlton	Finance  Chairperson:	Muffy Ratto
President Elect	Marilyn McDonald	Holiday Party Chairperson:	Anne Noder
Past President	Ruth Swiggum	Membership Chairperson:	Tracy Albee
Secretary	Marilyn McDonald	Nominations Chairperson:	Marge Patzer
Treasurer	Muffy Ratto	Public Relations Chairperson:	Teresa R. Cox
Directors at Large	Mariann Cosby Teresa Cox Anne Noder Bev Skinner	Publications & Newsletter Editor:   Web Spinner:	Teresa R. Cox  Tracy Albee
		Policy and Procedure  Chairperson:	Marilyn McDonald
		Education Chairperson:	Debi Turner

 

Welcome Newest Members!

Active Members:

Jim Gilkison: jimgilkison@sbcglobal.net

Carla Lund: carla.lund@sbcglobal.net

                      Please feel free to go to our Members listing and learn more about all our members: http://www.gsac-aalnc.org/Pages/MembersListing.aspx

Past Events:

April’s Mock Trial Event with McGeorge School of Law

Fun to participate!  It was interesting to speak with a professor and learn more about how these students are trained to think.  I hope we get asked to help out again next year.  Karen Preston

I THOUGHT THE MOCK TRIAL EXPERIENCE WAS AWESOME AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT EVERYONE GET INVOLVED IN THIS WORTHWHILE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN GSAC-AALNC & THE LAW SCHOOL.  THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY EXPERIENCED IN TESTIFYING HAVE A LOT TO OFFER THE STUDENTS AND THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE MUCH OR NO EXPERIENCE WILL BE PUT THROUGH THE TESTIMONY PROCESS, THEREFORE IMPROVING YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL AND GIVE YOU SOME PRACTICE…….TRACY ALBEE

If one has never experienced a trial, it is a great way to experience the process and get a chance to hear the jury deliberations.  I found it most beneficial and enlightening to hear how something was interpreted…. Mariann Cosby

I didn't do very well, partly because I didn't get all of the info re: my part.  The biggest thing I learned if I were to do it again, was to really pay attention and know the deposition, but of course that was the piece I did not get early and was not fully prepared when specific questions were asked of me.  Overall for me, as I do not have as much court experience as many others, just learning how it all works was good for me.  I would highly recommend participating in the mock trials for people new to LNC work….Kristen Henderson

I testified today as the forensic pathologist expert; it was a lot of fun.  I was told that I was "very effective."  I was impressed with how realistic and serious this event was.  I was told the trial was the student's final and was 50% of her class grade.  Good news for her:  we won!........Britt Mull

I had a great time and stayed after my deposition was complete just to listen to the workings of a court, judge, attorneys and even a jury was their for these trials.  The jury deliberation was put on the television so everyone could watch and listen.  It was worth my time, enjoyable and educational……Teresa Cox

Participating in the mock trials was a very good experience. It is always motivational and energizing to work with people in school as there is a naivety that exudes ground level hope and promise. Students pursuing a professional degree are fresh, energetic, and motivated. I can tell after my experience with the mock trials that we certainly can add to their learning experience. I hope we have the opportunity to participate next semester…..Melony Carlton

June 10th Educational: Thermography 

The June Educational was held at The Holiday Inn in Downtown Sacramento. Our speakers included Martin Stivers and Dr. Ward Joiner .  Mr. Stivers is a certified medical thermographer practicing in Nevada and also providing thermography at Dr. Joiners Roseville and Rocklin offices. The topic was a new one for the group and the information was both interesting and helpful for legal applications. Several examples of images were shown illustrating the newest technology for the process. Of interest was the ability to determine breast disease earlier than a normal mammogram and ultrasound. Also it is possible to pinpoint the areas of inflammation for pain management purposes and also detect possible malingering. The participants had hands on use of the camera at the event. Please contact Marilyn McDonald if you would like more information regarding this technology.……Marilyn McDonald: http://www.bluebeaconmedical.com

I found that (thermography presentation) to be very interesting.  I have already discussed some of the info with an attorney I'm working with regards to one of his clients….Kristen Henderson

This was interesting.  I will admit being skeptical about this prior to the meeting, but now have a more open view of this as a diagnostic tool……Karen Preston

What a marvelous technology and the advances it makes in screening women for breast cancer is wonderful.  I doubt I will be getting any more mammograms as I would prefer to use this technology……Teresa Cox

2009 AALNC Conference:

I found it very interesting as well.  It is very encouraging for me to see all these people involved in the legal nursing arena, listening to their questions and experiences.  I collected some very valuable info…..Kristen Henderson

Attending the 2009 AALNC conference was fabulous. It was inspiring to listen to fellow LNC lecture on a wide variety of topics. The networking opportunities are enormous. It is so interesting to hear about all of the different types of work that the LNC's perform and how their roles evolved. We have the capability of doing so much when we allow ourselves to try something new. It is also a fun time to get together with fellow GSAC members and get to know each other better. Who knows...you might even get to check something off on your bucket list. I did!! I finally got to ride a mechanical bull and didn't even fall off…..Juli Weaver RNC - BSN

"I got a job from attending the conference"!!  ……Melony Carlton

This is my second AALNC national conference my first was in Tampa, Florida, 2008. It is inspiring and educational to be around a group of educated, hard working professionals such as those at the conference.  There is always something to learn and if you listen you will learn just as much outside of the seminars as you do listening intently during the seminars. 

The evening at the museum was good fun too.  What a marvelous opportunity to get to know colleagues from all over the nation. There is nothing like adding a glass of wine to a conversation and then wandering around looking at aquariums full of unusual looking species of wildlife while you get to know your colleagues.  I look forward to 2010……Teresa Cox

Upcoming GSAC-AALNC Events:

September 17, 2009

Presenter is Ken Braunstein is a Forensic Science Consultant and an associate professor emeritus of Criminal Justice. He has testified in depositions and in the courts across several states.  This will be an excellent topic for all LNC’s.

Holiday Inn Capital Plaza

300 J Street

Sacramento

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Watch our website for more details:  http://www.gsac-aalnc.org/Pages/MemberEvents.aspx

Other Meeting Dates and Educationals:

July 25 -28, 2009 

American Association for Justice Convention

GSAC has been invited by AALNC and the San Francisco Bay Area LNC's to work side by side with our AALNC President at the AAJ conference. AALNC President, Suzanne Q. Langroth and Immediate Past-President, Mindy Cohen will be exhibiting at the 2009 AAJ (American Association for Justice Convention link:  http://www.justiceannualconvention.org/.) convention in San Francisco from Saturday, July 25th through Tuesday, July 28th…please contact Kathryn Ryan at kathryn.ryan@aalnc.org if you need more information…..Melony Carlton