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Mark your calendars for the AANN 41st Annual Educational Meeting

• presentations by neuroscience nursing experts
• opportunities to learn about the latest treatment options, techniques, trends, and best practices
• pharmacology credit available via concurrent sessions and workshops
• content to meet the educational needs of novice and advanced practice nurses.

• Exhibit Hall showcasing numerous exhibitors
• networking and social events

Preview of Annual Meeting Speakers

Ms. Meili will share lessons of healing from her journey of recovery that allowed her to move beyond being a victim, reclaim her life, and become whole. She will provide the audience with a patient's perspective of the non-clinical aspects of recovery, or the "art" of recovery. This includes care, support, hope, and trust. Ms. Meili will discuss the possibility of attaining a full life despite the restrictive parameters of a traumatic brain injury.

There have been several advances in the treatment of malignant brain tumors. First, molecular characterization of tumor samples has uncovered distinct subcategories of tumors that may translate into more specific treatments. Second, a recent study has demonstrated a clear survival benefit for chemotherapy for patients with glioblastoma. This has led to an increase in international collaborations to build on this treatment advance. Third, recent studies have demonstrated a potential clinical benefit to the use of agents that block angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation) in malignant gliomas. Along with these advances has been the recognition that patients' functional status, symptoms, and quality of life affect the tolerance of treatment and are important secondary endpoints in the evaluation of new therapies. Measurement of these endpoints may include assessment of neurocognitive function or use of self-report questionnaires pertaining to quality of life and the occurrence of symptoms (referred to as patient reported outcomes or PROs). These recent discoveries coupled with the recognition of the importance of understanding the impact from the patient perspective has opened a new area of both laboratory and clinical investigations, providing increasing hope that significant advances in treatment will be forthcoming over the next several years.

On a Saturday in July 2002, when she was only 26, Leean Hendrix's vision suddenly became blurry and her body veered toward the wall when she walked. With great effort, she reached the bathroom of her apartment and then gasped at the unfamiliar face in the mirror. Unfortunately, the emergency room doctors "made a collective decision not to test me for stroke," says Hendrix, "because I was young, they thought I was on drugs and left me alone on a gurney for 6 hours." Hendrix is a survivor with a clear message that stroke is the number-three cause of death among women in the United States and is a leading cause of long-term disability. Hendrix resides in Phoenix, AZ and speaks professionally through Speakers on Healthcare.