Celebrate Neuroscience Nurses Week!

Neuroscience Nurses Week is the fourth week of May each year as recognized by the specialty’s national representative organizations AANN, ABNN, and NNF. Please join us in observing this special week dedicated to those caring for the most vulnerable patients and families by engaging in recognition and celebratory activities at your institution.

Neuroscience Nurses Week celebrates the work of neuroscience nurses as well as highlights their influence on patient care to hospital administrators, allied health professionals, and the community. Invite greater recognition of the impact of neuroscience nursing care through internal and external special events during this designated week. Special events increase exposure and heighten awareness of the contributions neuroscience nurses make year-round. Following are some tips and suggestions for hosting recognition and celebratory activities at your institution.  At the bottom of the page you will find some ideas used during past Neuroscience Nurses Week celebrations.  Neuroscience Nurses Week will next be celebrated May 18-24, 2008.

• Contact the administration offices for guidelines and approval several weeks prior to your events.
• Develop a Neuroscience Nurses Week that is unique and suits your environment and budget.
• Neuroscience Nurses Day: If your organization cannot devote the entire week to celebrate, designate a day during Neuroscience Nurses Week to hold your events.
• Create activities that promote a greater understanding of the role and impact neuroscience nurses make, adapting the messages to your organization’s needs.
• Use publicity, word of mouth, posters, news releases for internal newsletters/publications and local media, before and during your events to promote your Neuroscience Nurses Week activities.
  Contact the AANN national office for a jpg of the Neuroscience Nurses Week logo, info@aann.org.
• Attract the media by obtaining an official proclamation and then sharing that the Governor, Mayor, and/or CEO of your organization has endorsed the observance of Neuroscience Nurses Week.
• Send invitations for events to staff, volunteers, and the community.
• Decorate your facility for Neuroscience Nurses Week.
• Use a photographer to record your events.
• Start Neuroscience Nurses Week with a Kick-off Event or Open House.
• Continue throughout Neuroscience Nurses Week with events such as: a Luncheon for Neuroscience Nurses, a Recognition Ceremony for CNRNs, Patients’ Day, Educational Seminars, and Community Outreach activities (host an injury prevention program or stroke screening).
• The week following Neuroscience Nurses Week send out post-event news releases with photos to internal newsletters/publications and the local media, post photos on a prominent bulletin board in your facility, send “thank you” letters to all who assisted, and submit your ideas and/or success stories to AANN at info@aann.org for inclusion in the Synapse newsletter.

We look forward to hearing and sharing your stories about Neuroscience Nurses Week, and, most importantly, celebrating your devotion to the patients and families we all care for so dearly.

Events/Ideas

As the Neuroscience Coordinator, I organized a Neuroscience Education Day with presentations from the Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, the Neuropsychologist and myself.  I also gave out carabiners with an LED light that has our CHOC Neuroscience Institute logo on it and posted signs on the Neuroscience Unit and in the PICU.

Nicole Ryan, RN BSN
Neuroscience Coordinator
Children's Hospital of Orange County

We hosted an Open House on our Neuroscience unit- had a pictorial of nurses and patients as well as the definition of Neuroscience Nursing. We had a section of the pictorial dedicated to our "Dedication to patient and community education, as well as injury and disease prevention"- we showed nurses in action. We also highlighted the many local neurological organization that nurses have been involved in to heighten community awareness and fundraising efforts. The month prior our local chapter sponsored a Logo contest- all of the entries were displayed. We had a door prize drawing. We heard a lot of positive feedback about how "dedicated our nurses are at work, in our community and at play".

Sherry Nash, RN CNRN
Neuroscience/Stroke Coordinator
Sacred Heart Medical Center
Spokane, WA

The Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) Neuroscience Department has sponsored some educational events and networking activities.

I, myself, am currently working in Neurosurgery Department. This Thursday, in OR, we have ice cream cake treat and photo-poster of all neurosurgery RNs, allied health professionals, and technician in recognition of everybody's hard work and dedication in taking care of GUH Neuro patients. This Friday, everyone deserves a little gift bag.

Grace Adonay, RN

At Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC we planned a week long celebration. Lunch and learns were scheduled daily with lectures provided by the neurosurgery and neurology house staff, as well as our attending physiatrist. The nursing staff hosted a house-wide journal club on ischemic strokes. They also created educational posters and displayed them in the waiting areas for families and visitors. Raffles were held and our CNRNs were recognized with a year's membership to the AANN. All nurses received "brain" pins as a thank-you for the excellent care they provide on a daily basis.

Janis Harral

We started the week with ice cream and popsicles on Monday. We had a potluck breakfast today. Our NP is doing 15 minutes in-services today and Friday on "Communicating Effectively" with on-call staff. One of our neurosurgery attendings is doing a "Lunch and Learn" session tomorrow and then the Neurosurgery department is buying lunch for all staff on Friday!

Lynn Goodloe, MSN, CNRN
Registered Nurse Manager
VCU Medical Center
Harold F. Young Neuroscience Center

Tomorrow we have a neuroscience nurses luncheon planned at the hospital and I will be giving my CNRNs CNRN Trackers.

Barbara Mancini

I'm a City Council member and I announced NN Week on TV at our last meeting.

Mary Craton

We truly make it a week of celebrations in the Neurotrauma ICU at Hartford Hospital.

• We started on Monday with pastries for breakfast, pizza and ice cream cake for lunch and dinner (night staff included). Signs were placed in the unit to alert all to the celebration. And a raffle was started - every staff persons name was entered and three prizes given away each day Monday through Friday. Our latest issue of the unit newsletter (also called Synapse) was distributed to alert all staff to Neuroscience Nurses Week (NNW), and trivia about the start of the neuro program at Hartford Hospital and Dr. Scoville our famous neurosurgeon who invented aneurysm clips and net beds amongst other things, of course general unit news was also included.
• Tuesday - buffet set up with finger foods throughout the day.
• Wednesday - lunch sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, and cake on days and nights (two identical cakes made).  Gifts given a to all staff - Carabiners, with an integrated light and key chain attachment imprinted with "Neuroscience Nurses Shine."
• Thursday and Friday - continued gift distribution and buffets all day with finger foods.

We are already planning for next year.  We are having a banner made up which says "Happy Neuroscience Nurses Week" which can be hung outside the unit every year.  We are also planning a Neuroconference during the week with CE credit (timed also with a SNEANN mtg)  so that there is education in conjunction with the celebration.  This year our SENAAN mtg/ Educational offering is the week after NNW since people did not want to meet so close to the Memorial Day Holiday.

Gretchen Riggott