MINUTES WOCN-St. Louis Affiliate Meeting- February 2, 2010

 

A.  Call to order-Janette Dietzler, president at 1620

            1)  Replay of STL-WOCN movie from the Holiday Party

            2)  Request to members to be sure Kay Gundy, secretary has correct email addresses for                            everyone, and to add Kay's email address to members' list of approved senders.                             We are having too many messages bounced back as undeliverable, and want to be              sure that the membership gets all the messages and announcements in a timely                                     manner.  Kay's email is kgundy@sbcglobal.net.

            3)  Members present: Kathi Thimsen, Marsha McGuire, Lyn Kramer, Sandy Kucera, Dena Muscarella, Retta Sutterfield, Susie Tuttle, Janette Dietzler, Christine Heady, Jackie Bangert, Kay Gundy, Debbie Coleman, Michelle Raines, Josett Franke, Roxy Lupien, Jeanette Brown, Betty Nittler, Sheila Kramer, Rhonda Pepmiller, Beverly Pool, Pam Bowman, Cynthia Fleck, JoAnn Hager, Mary Anne Douglas, Bev Mittrucker, Krista David, Diana Economon, Nancy Bryant, Colleen Cole, Liz Borsay, Sheri LaCroix, and Sheryl Smith.

 

B.  Approval of October Minutes-Kay Gundy, secretary.  Roxy Lupien moved to accept the minutes from the October 2009 meeting as distributed.  Beverly Pool seconded the motion.  Minutes are approved.

 

C.  Secretary Report:  2010 Upcoming St. Louis Affiliate Educational

            Dinner Meetings:  April 6, June 1, August 2, October 5, December 7 Holiday Party.  All sponsoring vendor slots for the next two years are filled.

 

D.  Website Report:  April Kuhlman, webmaster.  Report in absentia:  January saw 338 total page loads, 140 unique visitors, 46 first time visitors and 94 returning visitors.  For December,

There were 338 total page loads, 127 unique visitors, 16 first time visitors and 111 returning visitors.

 

E.  Treasurer Report: Jackie Bangert:  The $18,000 CD came due, with interest of $268.54 obtained.  That money was moved to a Money Market account, with sufficient funds added from the checking account to bring the total up to $20,000 in order to obtain an interest rate of 1.5%.  Income from the Holiday Party was $2825.00, which, together with the maturation of the CD, brought the total income to $3093.54.  Expenses for the Holiday Party totaled $2613.26; with the $500 annual donation to UOAA and miscellaneous office supply expenses, the total of expenses was $3133.03.  Cash on hand currently is $20,000 (money market account) plus $2741.92 (checking) for a grand total of $22,741.92.  There was some discussion regarding the charges for vendors for the Holiday Party.  Due to the new Avamed regulations, companies are no longer allowed to sponsor meetings/dinners without some type of display and educational component.  Having a vendor table or vendor hall adjacent to the meeting room would fulfill this requirement and allow vendors to write off the expense of sponsoring/attending.

 

F.  UOAA Report:  Betsy Naeger.  Meetings held second Monday of  the month.  Please contact Betsy Naeger 314-781-4544 or Lee Ann Barcus 636-240-3551 for questions.  There will be an ostomy visitor class soon.  Potential ostomy visitors must have had their surgery at least one year previous.  More information to follow.

 

G.  WOCN Positions:  Jefferson Memorial (now Jefferson Regional Medical Center) is looking for a full time WOCN or Wound Care Certified RN.  SLUH is still looking for someone to fill their open position, but has three applicants and is starting the interview process.

 

H.  Old Business:  Janette Dietzler

            1.  Scholarship Committee Report:  Linda Guerin (not present)

 

            2.  News for WOCnews on quarterly basis:  Pat Donald (not present)

 

            3.  Officer election Process change

                        a. Chicago affiliate by-laws:  Pat Donald (not present)

                        b.  Proposed change in process:  April Kuhlman (not present)

                                    Discussion regarding changing process of affiliate officer election.  There                                       was some interest in moving  the election years so that all three officers                                          are not             turning over the office at the same time.  Also discussion regarding                                     having officers elect to ease the turnover.  Officers-elect would attend                                             meetings and planning meetings and "learn the ropes" for the year prior to                                           taking office.  It was brought up that we have enough difficulty finding                                           officers to run for election every two years.  Discussion tabled pending                                               reports by Pat and April.

 

I.  New Business:  Janette Dietzler

            1.  Interactive STL WOCN webpage (tabled)

                        Blog Legalities:  Audrey Moyer-Harris (not present)

            2.  Sponsorship of regional conference

                        Proposal:  Janette Dietzler:  It is established that there is definite interest among the membership for sponsoring a regional conference.  Names were taken of those interested in sitting on a Conference Planning Committee, which will be headed up by Janette Dietzler.  Those interested are : Christine Heady, Rhonda Pepmiller, Retta Sutterfield, Liz Borsay, Mary Anne Douglas, Bev Mittrucker, Debbie Coleman, Michelle Raines,  Sheila Kramer, and JoAnn Hager.  Anyone else interested in participating should contact Janette Dietzler (jdietzler@synergicare.com.)

            3.  Establishing WOCN-STL Library (tabled)

                        Proposal:  Colleen Cole (not present for the business meeting)

           

 

J.  Announcements

            1. Roxy Lupein and Liz Moore (St. Anthony's) had their poster submission accepted for

                        June 2010 WOCN Conference in Phoenix.  Ronda Pepmiller and Liz Borsay also                          had their poster on peristomal lipoplasty accepted.  Congratulations!

            2.  New Products: 

                        a. Discussed was Altraseal, a new wound care powder which does not fit into                                current wound care product categories.  The powder is sprinkled over a shallow                             wound (such as leg ulcers), and is then sprayed with saline to activate.  It is to be                           changed weekly, but can stay in the wound up to one month.

                        b.  Also discussed was "Marathon" an new cyanoacrylate barrier from Medline.                              Similar to Dermabond, it generates a chemical adhesion to skin, allowing it to                                remain for up to 7 days.

            3.  A card was passed around for anyone who wanted to sign for Liz Moore, who broke                           her arm skating.

 

            4.  Kathy Thimsen  created a beautiful prayer blanket to honor Lyn Kramer.  The blanket and a card was passed around for anyone who wished to pray over.  Lyn was one of the first ET nurses in the area and has been a constant advocate for ET nurses and patients.

 

            5.  Since many of us find it difficult to get to affiliate meetings by 4:00, a vote was taken to move the time of the meeting back to 4:30.  A request was made to keep the meeting location central, so that those coming from Illinois don't have so far to drive.  A vote was taken:  there were 20 votes for moving the meeting time back one half hour, no "nay" votes.  Motion passed.

 

K.  Adjournment:  Michelle Raines moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Pam Bowman.  The meeting was adjourned at 1717.

 

Today's meeting is sponsored by Advanced Bio-Healing.