flying around

One of the joys of my job is the level of travel involved. Whilst at times there are a some mutterings of discontent at home, I relish the opportunity to get out and about amongst practice nurses from all over - as well as get away from some of the daily hustle and bustle involved in running an organisation as well as a household with 2 teenage girls.
In the last 2 weeks I have been to Perth, Gold Coast, Canberra and Sydney. I did Perth and back in a day which sounds mad but was actually quite relaxing. Reading a book, watching the movie of my choice and daydreaming is not to be sneezed at and a return trip to Perth meant 8 hours of that in one day. I was in Perth to participate in the Perth PNCE and give a presentation on the evolving roles of the practice nurse. As always the presentation turned into a discussion and there was a real vibe of optimism about the roles nurses in the room were envisaging for themselves.
The Gold Coast was to check out the venue for next years conference. Whilst it looked good on the web and on paper, I wanted to check that it met our particular needs. And it is a wonderful venue! Very professional and corporate for the conference end of it with alot of space for the exhibitors everyone loved this year, space for us to implement some innovations such as a practical skills area, great venue for dinner which is always important. As importantly for APNA members/practice nurses, it is more affordable than this years was, will be a great place to bring your family if you want to incorporate a family holiday, has inexpensive travel options (Virgin or Jetstar was flying Melb - Gold Coast for $59 one way last week). Now I am getting really excited about the conference and hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Canberra was to discuss the proposed streamlining of the scholarships programs for nurses and allied health which impacts on a program which we have been administering for a number of years now. While practice nurses access to the program won't be impacted, our involvement is likely to be less from January 1 2010.
And finally Sydney was for a Kidney Health Australia PN Subcommittee meeting discussing training they are running out to practice nurses. Apart from the serious discussions, I was able to give Clodagh Scott (our APNA PN rep) a green APNA polo shirt that we wore at the conference for her to wear as she traipses around Russia on a nursing conference cruise!!! She has promised photos of the APNA short on its travels.
Am not travelling anywhere for the next little bit and will be a bit more popular at home!