ORNAA Provincial Conference

Dear ORNAA members & Vendor Colleagues,

As you are aware, the conference planned for this fall had to be cancelled after we were unable to secure enough delegates for attendance. We know that this is due to a number of factors including the staffing shortages, the Alberta Surgical Initiative, Connect Care training starting back up, people are tired and want to rest on their days off work, and so much more.

I want to say a heartfelt 'Thank You' to those who were registered to attend, who tried their hardest to get time off and couldn't, and those who volunteered to work so that others could try to attend the conference instead. We are so disappointed at this outcome, but we are determined to move forward and continue to deliver education opportunities to members across Alberta.

We are pursuing a revised format for bringing education to our members and we want to hear from you about what you'd want. If you have thoughts or input please email and share your thoughts! At this time we are looking at an Education Retreat hosted over a weekend. We are looking at sites closer to the mountains that allows for a mix of learning and relaxation in a scenic location. More to come on this later!

Alberta Association of Nurses
Advanced Surgi-Pharm Inc.
Associated Health Systems Inc
BD Canada
Clarion Medical Technologies
Conmed
Covenant Health
Diversey Canada Healthcare
Ethicon
Fibertech Canada
Fraser Health
Getinge Canada Ltd.
Hologic
Integra LifeSciences
Karl Storz Endoscopy Canada Ltd.
Keir Surgical Ltd.
Galen Medical
KLS Martin
LeMaitre Vascular
Meditek
Medline
Molnlycke Healthcare
Northern Health
Olympus Canada Inc.
PRIMED Medical Products Inc.
Smith & Nephew
Southmedic Inc.
STERIS Canada Sales
Stryker
The Stevens company
Trudell
Ultraray Group Inc.
Zimmer BiometM

I also want to acknowledge the vendors and companies that had registered to participate in the vendor hall. We were looking forward to seeing what new offerings your companies have to offer and really hope to engage you in the future.

Bryana Hahn, RN BN
ORNAA President
2022 ORNAA Vendor Chair
Alberta Director for ORNAC

Hello,

As conference chair I would first like to thank my fellow planning committee members who worked very hard over the past 2 years planning this conference. Planning a conference is no small feat and I'm disappointed you didn't get to see the outcome of your hard work.

Thank you to the vendors who were planning to attend. Conferences do not happen without your support, and we value the interaction we have with your company representatives. Thank you to the delegates who had registered for your support, and ongoing interest in learning and networking with fellow perioperative nurses and vendors. We hope you continue to attend any future education events.

Thank you,
Heather Lanouette
RN, BScN, CPN(C)
ORNAA Secretary
NCORNA President
2022 ORNAA Conference Committee Chair

Message from AEAC:

AEAC's (Alberta Exhibitors Advisory Committee) purpose is to assist ORNAA in enhancing positive relations with the provincial conference exhibitors and to represent all ORNAA conference exhibitors. On behalf of my 2022 AEAC team (Andrea Devlin, Steph Paulson & Sarah Maynard), we are saddened by the news of the cancellation of the 2022 ORNAA conference.

Our vendor community showed strong support towards this event with 35 exhibitors registered, but unfortunately, despite the new format proposed, the participation of the OR nurses didn't meet the minimum requirements.

This means that ORNAA executives will have to rethink their conference format moving forward to address the new constraints of today's workplace with a serious shortage of nurses, time allocation and funding for nurses' continuing education.

Your payment towards this conference will be reimbursed in full and we want to thank you for your continued commitment and support to the ORNAA organisation and hope we will meet again in person soon.

Martin Fisette, AEAC President.