August News


ATHNA Travels to Panama March 2020

ATHNA has engaged Perillo Tours to organize our first educational tour for members to Panama in March 2020. Panama was selected for this inaugural ATHNA "Learning Journey" as it is an increasingly popular tourist destination, not too far for our members to travel, and shares the pleasures and challenges of the tropics. Members will have the opportunity to experience this destination much as their travelers do. The purpose of this new ATHNA group program is to gain educational benefits and expand networking opportunities. The Panama trip will combine sightseeing, a choice of local activities, and stays in three popular areas of the country: Panama City and the Canal Zone, Boquete National Park and the beaches of Bocas Del Toro. Accommodations for singles, doubles and triples will be available. Bonus: Yellow fever vaccine is not needed for this itinerary.

Seven nursing CE credits will be offered. Most days there will be an optional, one hour, accredited educational session scheduled during free time. Topics, including cases, have not been finalized, but some that are under consideration are: Preparing Travelers for the Tropics; Health Risks of Central America; Panama: A Medical History; Sunscreen, Repellents and Permethrin: Latest Guidelines; The Last Minute Traveler; Boomer Travel; and Fresh Water Hazards. Of course, this week long trip will allow for many other informal travel health discussions.

If you have an interest in joining this trip, please read the tour description and then email Immediate Past President, Gail Rosselot at garosselot@aol.com. Accompanying partners, spouses, and friends are welcome to join you on this trip.

This tour has no payments at this time and sign-up continues. ATHNA will accept sign-ups until October 1 and then trip deposits will be requested.


ATHNA's Poster Describing ANA Specialty Recognition Journey

This past June, at the CISTM 16 meeting in Washington, DC, the ANA Specialty Recognition Working Group exhibited a poster that describes the seven year journey to achieve official recognition of travel health nursing as a professional nursing specialty. A final decision from ANA is pending, but we wanted to share this poster with the full membership. Plans are already in place to share this poster at several nursing meetings this fall as we endeavor to alert our colleagues about this major development. The Code of Ethics also posted on the website this month was just one of several documents developed during this lengthy process. We encourage all travel health nursing professionals to read its nine provisions promoting ethical practices in our specialty. Poster | Abstract

Two Important Goals for 2018-2019

ATHNA is undertaking this one time, unique membership drive to support two important goals for 2018-2019. Your membership is vital, so we can achieve:

  • ANA recognition for the specialty of travel health nursing
  • Low cost U.S. certification for travel health nursing

While you help ATHNA achieve these goals, your Free membership entitles you to all ATHNA Benefits, so please Join or Renew Today.

  • Courses & Conferences - check out the latest courses
  • What's News - we report important travel health updates to keep you current
  • TravelBytes - our frequent blog by travel health experts - What is Disinsection? 9/18 Iguazu Falls 12/14
  • Annual NED - a unique, free CE day for updates offered at multiple U.S sites - 2018 NED 4.0 summary
  • Travel Health Nurses Are Asking - Q & A that answers member questions monthly - send us your question
  • Career Center - members can seek and post new positions

Membership Update - August 2019:

It was wonderful meeting old and brand new ATHNA members at the June NED in Washington, DC. Since then ATHNA's membership has grown and now we have almost 1600 nurses representing all 50 U.S. states. And we have some international members as well- including Australia, India and as of last week, a nurse from Sri Lanka. Travel health nursing is growing as a specialty the world over and U.S. nursing professionals have much to share - and much to learn- from our global colleagues.

To encourage even more nurses to join ATHNA during our 15th anniversary year, the Board of Directors is extending Free Membership through the end of 2019. This is a very exciting time for our specialty and for our organization, so please encourage your colleagues to join ATHNA.


Announcements

TravelByte #31: PreTravel Care for Boomers to SE Asia: A Powerpoint Presentation

It is estimated that 10,000 Americans turn 65 everyday. They are the Baby Boomer generation, now numbering 77 million in this country. With more disposable income, more time for travel, and often a bucket list of places to go and things to see and do, Boomer travel is on the increase both domestically and internationally. Travel agents and tour companies are targeting this generation with major marketing efforts. No longer limited to one or two weeks of vacation, many Boomers can travel to all continents for extensive trips; SEAsia destinations are very popular right now. This month ATHNA shares a powerpoint presentation that provides some suggestions for ways to enhance the pre-travel encounter for Boomers to Indochina.

Note: Most slides have a few speaker notes- don't miss out on this added information. And since this is a Powerpoint presentation it may be best viewed on a tablet or your desktop rather than your phone to avoid formatting issues.

TravelByte #32: It's Not About the Shots: My Evolving Career in Travel Health Nursing from the Student Health Perspective

Travel health nurses have some interesting and rewarding jobs that can be quite different from what other travel health nurses are doing. Periodically we hope to highlight the unique and varied work of our members to illustrate the breadth of our profession. This month Julie Richards, Past President, shares her professional experiences working in student health at Stanford. Contact us at info@athna.org if you're interested in sharing your story....

CE Activity: Do you know this man?

On June 4th over 100 of our members were able to earn 5.0 CE credits at our first national NED. For our members who could not come to DC or who missed out on our regional NED 4.0 sessions last summer, we are continuing to offer some of that continuing education content. In September 2018, we shared a powerpoint presentation on Chagas Disease. Members can still complete that activity and earn 1.0 nursing CE credit. Currently we are also offering a CE activity titled Travel Health Pictionary. It is an image driven educational program for which you can also earn 1.0 CE nursing credit. Later this summer we will post another CE offering as part of our ongoing commitment to travel health nursing education....

Bat Rabies

As travel health nurses we know that rabies continues to be a serious risk for many of our international travelers as well as a concern here at home for U.S. citizens. This week we share a report in the MMWR that updates CDC data and recommendations for rabies cases attributed to dogs and wildlife. Domestic deaths from bat bites are highlighted for our attention. We are reminded as clinicians that bats do carry rabies and lifesaving care may be delayed because bat bites and scratches are often hard to observe or overlooked.

For more information about guidelines for a bat exposure refer to ATHNA's June 13, 2016 TravelByte BAT Rabies: Awake or Asleep- Know the Protocol and for the latest CDC information on the topic:

Members Only Benefits

ATHNA is committed to professional development, networking, research and advocacy in travel health nursing. We offer our members resources for clinics, CE programs, an annual free conference day, monthly updates, regional contacts, and much more... Join ATHNA and start enjoying the many benefits of membership.

Mission of the American Travel Health Nurses Association

To advance nurses engaged in the care of international travelers through professional development, evidence based practice and advocacy.

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