In keeping with the Academy of
Neonatal Nursing’s (ANN) mission to provide quality neonatal nursing education, we offer these tools to provide a clear path to assist you in achieving your educational
goals. Realizing effective results in your practice is achieved with exposure to
new thoughts and ideas that
you will experience by attending one of our conferences. As you attend sessions and network with colleagues,
you will open your mind to innovative solutions. ANN conferences are the most cost-effective, educational, career enhancing experiences; and the
single best thing you can do to enhance your professional practice.
The resources and information provided here will assist you in communicating the value of participating in a
live conference to your manager. Your
manager or supervisor is sure to appreciate the investment made into your
professional development as well as greater knowledge that you can apply
directly to patient care.
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Benefits
As a neonatal nurse, we understand that you need to be on the cutting
edge and, while treatment strategies evolve and technologies advance, it
remains the goal of the conference to help you ensure and facilitate the
best possible patient outcomes. When you propose attending an ANN Conference, focus specifically on
what you will bring back to the unit/hospital to demonstrate return on
the investment.
Skills & Knowledge Benefits
State your hospital's or institution's specific goals or needs, and then state how specific components of the
conference will help meet those needs.
- Which topics or specific sessions
have particular relevance to your job, department, or hospital's
current priorities and goals or needs? Identify
specifically what you can use, and how.
- Which of the sessions
are most relevant to your skill development, goals, or your
unit/hospital's expectations of you? What new skills, techniques, or
approaches will you bring back?
Networking Benefits
Whether live or virtual, attending an ANN conference will enable you to meet and interact with industry professionals and
technical experts from around the country. You will be able to acquire valuable information and insights, gain an understanding of what other nurses and hospitals/organizations are talking about and planning for, and how they are accomplishing certain
goals or tackling specific challenges that are similar to your own.
Exhibit Hall Benefits
The exhibit hall will showcase vendors with new products you could use or
evaluate for potential future use. It's an opportunity to
collect first-hand information and compare competing technologies all in one place. It's
also a chance to discover companies you've never heard of before,
offering solutions you don't even know about yet, so you can make
more informed decisions for current and future projects.
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Justification Letter and Reports
Prior to the conference, you will most likely have to submit forms or letters to your
supervisor and/or
organization to approve the costs
associated with attending an ANN conference. We have created several documents you can use to
help with your efforts.
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Justification Tips
Three days at an ANN Conference will be the most cost-effective
educational and professional development choice you will make all year.
Ten Tips for Building
Your Case for Attending ANN's Spring or Fall Conference:
- Focus
on the issues at hand.
Explain what you plan to get out of attending and how that will benefit your work, patients, and organization or hospital. Explore the conference session schedule and make a list of the sessions that will help you address those groups.
- Share and present. Offer to share handouts and present Q & A session to your colleagues to share what you learned. They will get the benefits
of your attendance, too.
- Talk
up the takeaways. From networking opportunities to practical takeaways from each session attending a conference provides information you can put into action after the conference. In addition, you can bring back ideas or solutions from new or
improved products and/or services presented in the exhibit hall.
- Take advantage of early registration. Register early for lowest registration, hotel, and airfare rates. You can save by signing
up before the early registration deadlines.
- Consider status.
If your hospital has or is trying to obtain magnet status, remind your supervisor that demonstrating staff participation in continuing education is vital to securing and keeping magnet status.
- Call attention to quality. As the premier source for neonatal nursing education, ANN conferences offer a comprehensive, time-intensive
learning environment. Attending the conference is much more cost-effective and time-efficient than participating in multiple seminars or webinars throughout the year because you get all of the information you need in one place at one time.
- Have a plan. Be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending the conference.
- Be proactive. Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses. Be sure to check out the Conference Registration
Pricing page on ANN's website where all the various rates are listed to see if you qualify for any of the lower rates or discounts. Submit an abstract to present at the conference. Remember, poster and podium presenters save receive $50 off registration fees.
- Build a networking list. Our conferences are an unmatched source for networking, bringing together nurses from across the
country and around the world. Make note of speakers, exhibitors, or industry representatives you would like to meet or learn new techniques from.
- The value of ANN conferences. A stand-alone 60-minute CE webinar can cost over $100. However, at ANN conferences, you can
earn up to 21 contact hours of CNE credit for as low as $460 for the Spring 2023 conference (members early registration price). Attendees get all that CNE credit and face-to-face networking.
