Written by Nicola Vickers – Community Stroke Prevention Practitioner – Betsi Cadwaladr UHB.
Our names were entered into the free draw for the attendance to the conference and I was shocked but thrilled when I received the call to say that I was a winner for the Stroke Conference tickets.
I am 1 of 3 nurses developing the new stroke prevention pathways working PAN BCUHB. To have the opportunity to attend is hugely beneficial to gather further knowledge and meet people to build upon our service.
I had a wonderful 3 days and it was hard to narrow down what to include in this report so I have incorporated just some of the highlights I found most insightful.
I downloaded the app prior to the conference, which allowed me to book in and save my preferred sessions. This app was easy to use and it also enabled me to watch the sessions I missed on demand and look at the conference abstracts.
I travelled down by train to the Birmingham ICC. We were informed there were a record number of people at the conference even though parts of the country had snow fall along with train strikes! The programme was packed full with speakers, workshops and abstracts to chose from.
We started the conference off with my favourite session, singing medicine. They use singing to bring inspiration and wellbeing to people. The team of speakers had a sceptical crowd up dancing and singing by the end.
Following this was CVD ACTION. They use a data analysis programme to look at preventing strokes and other cardiovascular events. This was really interesting as it is something we are trying to do as a team, pulling together data to look at secondary prevention within primary care.
In the intervals there was an abundance of exhibitions to browse and time to discuss with the experts. I also attended the NSNF AGM being a member and it was nice to meet these colleagues for the first time.
The soapbox sessions were very popular and I listened to silent conferences on here. I wish I had tried them out earlier as I really enjoyed the ones I listened to including nurse led loop recording implantation and the acute stroke simulation course.
One of the parallels I attended was nursing across the pathways which included discussion around training, clinical research in nursing practice and neurological observation tools for stroke which were interesting, thought generating and motivating.
Another parallel attended was ‘How black and Asian people are disproportionately affected by stroke’, where we were able to listen to stroke survivors experiences.
The workshop I joined to discuss evidence based practice for nurses and AHPs generated lots of interesting conversations around our table about our service development and other peoples successes in their areas.
I found Birmingham ICC to be a good venue to host the conference. Great space and conference rooms, with large areas to see all the exhibitions. I even found the National Stroke Nursing Forum amongst them all to say hello. The ICC is conveniently located for hotels and transport, plus it presented the opportunity to enjoy the Birmingham Christmas Markets in the evening after the conference.
I managed to learn and absorb a huge amount at the conference then enjoy the Christmas lights, a bratwurst and I even met a polar bear in the evenings.
I am really grateful for the opportunity to attend the conference and I left there even more enthusiastic. Thankyou.
Thank you so much, Nicola. It was really great to read about your experience of the conference and I hope it inspires others to enter this years competition!
If you'd like to know more about the prize draw for free UKSF attendance, contact us at [email protected].
