President's Message

Daffodils are in bloom as I write this in New York. I hope they are soon visible to all our 1400+ members across the country. Many of you are starting to experience the annual "summer travel surge" as more students, tourists and VFRs prepare for travel during our warm weather months. Be sure to take good care of yourself as the stress of pre-travel encounters peaks...

ATHNA is spending this month finalizing plans for the first national NED. Full details about this historic meeting are now posted elsewhere on this website. Still time to register and join your colleagues in DC on June 4! Our program, entitled "Advancing Nurses Critical Role in Global Health," couldn't seem timelier; measles cases in this country continue to escalate in an outbreak started by a returning traveler.

I can also report some very good news. This month the ANA Recognition Working Group is entering the final phase of its multi-year effort to achieve official ANA recognition of travel health nursing as a specialty. Until May 9 ATHNA will be accepting your comments about this newly revised Scope and Standards of Travel Health Nursing. Please take some time to read one or all sections of this draft now posted on our website. Let us know what you really think. This document will serve to define your practice for years to come. When finalized, it will have far-reaching significance in the United States for travel health nursing education, employment, professional development, and legal parameters of practice. After your comments are addressed, we will submit a revised Scope and Standards on May 30 to the ANA Nursing Practice Standards Committee. Then it is time to keep our fingers tightly crossed- as we await-hopefully- more good news...

And for those of you now studying for the ISTM Certificate of Knowledge exam, we have added more content from Candace Sandal, President-elect. In the Announcements Section of the website Candy shares her review of MCQ's in Travel Medicine, a book by Dom Colbert that she has found helpful for preparation.

Wishing everyone a beautiful Spring!

Gail Rosselot
President

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
  • Plus Standards and protocols for travel health - a set of the official U.S. Travel Health Nursing Scope & Standards, and more..

Membership Update - June 2019:

It was wonderful meeting old and brand new ATHNA members at the DC NED. We now have a membership with more than 1500 nurses representing all 50 U.S. states. And we have some international members as well- including a great group of Australians sharing their travel health nursing experiences at the conference.

To encourage even more nurses to join ATHNA during our 15th anniversary year, the Board of Directors is extending Free Membership through September 2019. This is a very exciting time for our specialty and our organization, so please encourage your colleagues to join ATHNA. Let's use the summer months to expand our association even more!


Announcements

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:

TravelByte #29: Start Here -ATHNA Syndicated Content

As busy travel health professionals, we at ATHNA understand how overwhelming all the information can be. One can waste a lot of time perusing what seems to be an infinite number of websites looking for the knowledge you need, time you often simply do not have when you are trying to get through a long schedule of complex and challenging travel patients.

We're very practical and pragmatic here so we developed a list of key resources with trustworthy, reliable and appropriately evidenced-based content that we regularly use ourselves to share with our members in an efficient manner in a single spot.

To that end, we have a few key items in the Members Only section of our website. These resources are syndicated, meaning that our site is automatically updated with the most current information from germane sites....

CE Activity: Do you know this man?

For our members who missed out on NED 4.0 this summer, we are continuing to offer some of the continuing education content. In September, we shared a powerpoint presentation on Chagas Disease. Members can still complete that activity and earn 1.0 nursing CE credit. Now we offer 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.

Continuing education opportunities for nurses are one of the many benefits of ATHNA membership. We encourage you to take advantage of this free and very valuable ATHNA benefit of ATHNA membership....

Should ATHNA start sponsoring a travel program for members?...

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.

What's News