The Midwest Reproductive Symposium

Post-Meeting Nurse Practicum

June 8, 2008 · FCI River North · Chicago, IL

  
 
 
 

The Midwest Reproductive Symposium (MRS) is pleased to announce the first Post-Meeting Nurse Practicum scheduled this year for June 8th immediately following the MRS meeting. This program is the direct result of feedback from nurse attendees at previous MRS programs.

The Nurse Practicum is available for a limited number of nurses attending the MRS 2008. Held onsite at the Fertility Center of Illinois River North Campus (Chicago, IL), the half-day program will include a mix of interactive discussions and hands-on workshops, providing a unique opportunity to observe, practice, and ask questions about techniques and issues affecting your practice.

The Nurse Practicum is funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Ferring Pharmaceuticals; there is no separate registration fee for this program.

 
 
 
 

Practicum Outline

  
   Sunday, June 8, 2008 
 
8:30 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.
 Transportation from hotel to FCI    
 

8:20 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Continental breakfast

Overview of Nursing Care of the IVF Patient		    
 

9:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Hands-on workshops: all nurses will rotate through 3 clinical workshops:

  1. Embryology
  2. Ultrasound
  3. IVF procedures
    
 

12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch

The “difficult patient” and other psychosocial issues

   
 

1:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Transportation back to hotel for late check-out
 
     
 
 
Learning Objectives
  Overall Program  
  After attending the MRS Post-Meeting Nurse Practicum 2008 meeting, the participant should be able to:
1. Discuss several new concepts, techniques, and treatment modalities relevant to the nursing in a fertility practice.
2. Identify current clinical challenges to the effective and timely delivery of reproductive medicine and in vitro fertilization.

Overview of Nursing Care of the IVF Patient
After attending this session, the participant should be able to:
1. Describe the fundamental principles of techniques used in the IVF practice, including PGD, cryopreservation, and ART research.
2. Identify patient concerns and describe appropriate patient counseling techniques to address those concerns.

Workshops
Embryology: After attending this hand-on workshop utilizing mouse embryos, the participant should be able to:
1. Describe initial embryo development from oocyte fertilization to implantation.
2. Demonstrate appropriate microscopic techniques for viewing embryos.

Ultrasound: After attending this hands-on workshop utilizing a model patient, the participant should be able to:
1. Describe how an ultrasound works and its role in the IVF practice.
2. Demonstrate methods to optimize ovarian and uterine images for IVF monitoring and egg retrieval/embryo transfer.

IVF Procedures: After attending this observational session, the participant should be able to:
1. Describe the process of IVF, including egg retrieval, processing of oocytes, ICSI, assisted hatching, embryo transfer, and embryo vitrification.

The “Difficult Patient” and Other Psychosocial Issues
After attending this session, the participant should be able to:
1. Identify the issues that will likely predict a “difficult” patient.
2. Explain how to use mental health professionals to manage difficult patients and patients with other concerns.
   
   
 
Registration
 
 

All nurses registering for the MRS 2008 will be contacted about the post-meeting Nurse Practicum; OR call 888.MBM.MTGS ext. 24 or 847-478-5200 ext.24 for more information.