ITNS E-Update
October 16, 2009

Educational Opportunities

It is not too late to register for the Transplant Certification Review Course. The Hotel Cut-Off date is Thursday, October 22nd, after that reservations will be accepted based on availability. The ITNS Group rate cannot be guaranteed.  Columbus, Ohio will serve as the host city for the ITNS Transplant Certification Review course November 14-16. This three-day workshop will be held at the Columbus Westin conveniently located in downtown Columbus, close to the airport and accessible to major highways. The course includes a review of all transplanted organs, as well as other issues addressed in the test such as Professional Ethics and Patient Literacy. This will be the last "live" review course offered.

ITNS Winter Workshop in San Antonio

Plans are already underway for the next ITNS Winter Workshop. Join us to discuss Quality Issues and Best Practices in San Antonio, Texas February 12-13, 2010 at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio. Register early!!!!

Roche / ITNS Transplant Nursing Excellence Award Winner

Sandra Martin Clinical Nurse Specialist in Heart Transplantation to receive the 2009 ROCHE / ITNS Transplant Nursing Excellence Award.
ITNS is pleased to announce that Sandra Martin, Clinical Nurse Specialist, is the recipient of the 2009 Nursing Excellence Award. Sandra has been a transplant nurse for 13 years and an ITNS member for eight years.

She started as a Junior Staff Nurse in 1996 at the Heart Transplant Center of University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium. Sandra completed her Masters degree in Nursing Science at Catholic University of Leuven where she graduated cum laude. Since 2002 Sandra has worked to increase the quality of patient care through an evidence-based nursing approach.  Sandra's nominator described her as "a role model for the members of the heart transplant program". Sandra has served on the ITNS International Board, participated as an abstract reviewer, workshop chairperson and symposium presenter. She has twice received ITNS research grants for her work on "Quality of Life in long-term heart transplant recipients". 

The award presentation will take place during the General Assembly on Saturday, September 26, 2009, in Montreal Quebec, Canada.  You can learn more about the award and Sandra in the Winter 2010 ITNS newsletter.

Help Support ITNS for FREE!

Are you an Internet shopper-or even just an Internet searcher? If so, don't do another shopping trip or search without first logging into www.iGive.com/ITNS and www.iSearchiGive.com/ITNS. ITNS will receive a penny or more per search and up to 26% of the purchases you make through the iGive web site. More than 730 stores participate in the site including Gap, Ebay, QVC, Lands' End, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Barnes and Noble and JCPenney to name just a few. Users also have access to coupons and free shipping details. Don't make another Internet purchase or search without it! Sign up today and start helping ITNS.

ITNS Transplant IQ Series Pre-order / pay on-line

ITNS is now accepting online payment for the ITNS Transplant IQ Series.  The ITNS Transplant IQ Series was developed to allow the CTCRC to become more accessible to the highest number of nurses in the least costly manner. While individuals can purchase the DVDs as a set or by specific topic, hospitals and transplant centers will find the ITNS Transplant IQ Series to be a tremendous resource for training large numbers of nurses at a low rate per person. Individual viewers will receive CEU and CEPTC credits by taking the IQ post-test included in the supplemental materials with each DVD and paying a small fee.

All 16 topic areas covered in the CTCRC are provided by the ITNS Transplant IQ Series. The Immunology and Histocompatibility Module has been translated with sub-titles into 10 additional languages. These DVDs will be an excellent resource for studying for your CCTC or CCTN examination.  Each DVD ranges from 30-120 minutes and features a speaker who is an expert in that field. The DVDs are interactive and studio-produced for the exclusive purpose of delivering information to participants in any setting. The IQ Series was developed for all transplant professionals including case managers, social workers, medical, nursing and pharmaceutical students and pharmaceutical representatives.

While the DVDs carry the FBI copyright and cannot be duplicated, multiple nurses can benefit from watching and reviewing these DVDs in a group setting, as many times as necessary.  Hospitals or transplant centers may complement the DVD subject matter by providing their own transplant educators to moderate organized viewing of the topics, thus allowing for questions and interaction.

Our goal is to educate and promote nursing certification for as many transplant nurses and coordinators as we can reach.  Through the ITNS Transplant IQ Series DVD set, we can do just that, in a very cost-effective manner.

Cost is $350 for ITNS members and $500 for non-members. There is a $10 per DVD credit fee for CEs and CEPTCs for any individual who watches the DVD, completes the IQ post-test and evaluation for that subject, and mails their test and check for $10 to ITNS. The ITNS Transplant IQ Series is made possible through a grant from Astellas Pharma US.

Transplant Nursing Scope and Standard Translated into Italian

ITNS has received confirmation from the American Nurses Association to move forward with the translation of the Scopes and Standards of Transplant Nursing into Italian. It will be published by the Pisa University International Press and endorsed by the Italian Society for Safety and Quality in Transplantation. The goal is to have it published by November 12-14 for the first Congress of the Society.