Traveling to a convention for the first time can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. This year’s ANPD Aspire Convention boasts over 80 educational sessions and poster presentations. But, how do you navigate these options? Which do you choose? And, how do you make the most of your time when you’re not checking out a session?

ANPD spoke with two members regarding a few of these questions: Britney Winkelman, MSN, RN, NPD-BC (left), who is attending her first ANPD convention, and Heidi Gilroy, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, EBP-C (right), who is attending her third.

If you’re new to the ANPD Aspire Convention — or if you’d like additional information —  join the Convention Orientation Webinar that’s on March 1 at 1 p.m. CT.

ANPD: What are you expecting from the convention, Britney?

Britney Winkelman: I honestly just have no idea what to expect. I don’t travel much, either, and I don’t really leave the state of Minnesota. I’ve never been to Georgia or Atlanta, so that’s going to be a huge thing for myself.

I'm eager to learn and take it all in. I've been given some advice: Take pictures of a lot of things, get as many handouts as you can, get QR codes for my poster. I’m learning as we go.

Heidi Gilroy: And, bring some business cards, because you'll make connections. Somebody is going to come by and listen to you and want to work with you. I really think that the relationships you make at the conferences are the most important thing that you can get out of it.

I would also say some advice that I would give to a new attendee would be to not map out all of your sessions. I know that’s contrary to advice most people give. But, I think some folks get so worked up about attending the sessions they’ve marked off that they get too stressed, and sometimes you find yourself in a session you needed to hear that was very interesting that you never would have thought of going to.

I do like to have a vague plan, and certainly there are folks that I want to meet or I’m interested in meeting. So, especially for the poster sessions, I like to be a little strategic there. If there's something really important, I definitely will highlight that.

ANPD: What sessions are you most excited for?

HG: I’m excited for Trimming the Excess: A Balanced Diet for Education and Competency, because I think we’re all struggling with that.

I also thought Leading the Way: Transforming System Competency Management looked interesting. I know a lot of our content experts here get very passionate about their content. There’s a difference between “nice to know” and “need to know.” So, how do we facilitate that? It can be a challenge.

There are a few posters I am interested in. I always love poster sessions, because I think it gives you a chance to chat with the folks doing the projects.

BW: I saw Saving Novice Nurses! Peer Mentorship to Promote Engagement and Retention, and that's something we're trying to build right now for the entire graduate nurse residency program.

ANPD: Heidi, what is a key takeaway from a session you attended last year?

HG: Last year, I remember there were a few posters about andragogy vs. pedagogy, and then some of the things that new graduates want. We do adult learning with folks, but in reality, if you’re talking about a 19-year-old, and the developmental level of some of our 25-year-olds is maybe not even adult learning, we should be using some of these more pedagogical principles. Having those two posters, one talking about the desires of new graduates, and one talking about assessing the person in front of you, were really helpful in connecting the dots. I was surprised to see one of the posters that new graduates said their favorite way of learning was through a PowerPoint presentation, but the other poster really explained it.

BW: I’m really passionate about new nurses and new graduates. I'm very into the technology side of things.

The generations we have in the workforce right now need to be accommodated. We have people going back for their second and third careers, and then we have 19-year-olds graduating with their RN. It’s fun to try and design something to meet all the needs of the learner. That’s really my niche.

One thing I have found with the newest new grads that are coming in Is they really like real-life based scenarios.

HG: I really think we're at a paradigm shift when it comes to the way we train nurses. It’s going to be completely different in the next few years.

That's another cool thing about attending the ANPD Aspire Convention. These are the folks that are going to create that model. And so you get to see some little sneak peeks of what it's probably going to be like in those few years when we figure this out.

BW: I'm excited to hear more and see more and bring all kinds of ideas back. I’m most excited for networking, meeting all these professionals who do kind of the same thing that I do, and just learning from the, finding different ideas, getting their contact information, and hopefully staying in touch.

ANPD: Any other advice, Heidi?

HG: It's good to stretch yourself a little bit, and maybe attend some sessions that you don't really know anything about. I'm a PhD type, and I love the inquiry stuff. I’m all about going to all the ones about research. It's always good to have balance.

Also, take advantage of the atmosphere. I think if you're at home learning these things, you don't have the energy of all these other folks that are doing the same thing to encourage you along. It’s almost like a pep rally. Everyone there knows what you’re up against and is excited about your passion for it. So you go home and you're like ‘oh, I’m ready to make all of these changes,’ because you’re excited about it. I think it's easier after a convention to take a lot of things and make a lot of changes in your practice vs. taking an online class or reading a book because of the energy that comes out of the conference.

BW: I'm one of those people that when I learn something, and it is really interesting to me, I'm like ‘I want to implement this now,’ and that's not realistic. So I found that I need to just take a step back and figure out how to do it versus just doing it.

HG: That's a good thing about the conference, too. You have a chance to chat with the people afterwards. Maybe they have described this awesome new thing. You can say, ‘how long did this take you and what were the barriers?’ You can actually ask somebody for their business card and see if you can follow up.

Dr. Heidi Gilroy, 2022 Star Search Winner, is presenting her session "Trauma-Informed Professional Development” at the Convention, and Britney Winkelman will be presenting a poster, “Accelerated Onboarding for Unlicensed Personnel when Preceptors are Limited.”