Conference Update: Speaker Q&A

As you start to plan your itinerary, we’re interviewing a handful of our speakers to give you a preview of the sessions and what you can expect at this year’s event. This week, we spoke with Carrie Norwood, RN, BSN, CPN, CDI Specialist at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, who, along with Lauren Shivers, BSN, RN, CPN, will be presenting “It’s a Grown-Up World in Pediatric CDI.”

Q: Tell me a little bit about your pediatric CDI program and some of the challenges and successes you’ve experienced.  

Norwood: We are a relatively new program—we started June 2014. I think our number one challenge and success combined would be that everything is very fluid. We try new things and go from there. Members of our team are always trying something different, and sharing it with the team if it goes well. If it doesn’t, we go back to the drawing board.

Shivers: From the beginning, this has been a learning experience for the entire team. We’ve all been nurses for years, but no one knew anything about CDI. I feel like I’m learning something new every day.

Q: What are a few things attendees can expect from your session?

Norwood: It will be a super informal, basic session where we will speak about the creation of our program. We are approaching this opportunity as a learning experience and will welcome any questions or feedback.

Shivers: We are hoping to shed some light on pediatric CDI and the benefits it can provide, as well as some of the challenges our department has encountered.

Q: Who should attend your presentation and why?

Norwood: Anyone who has a pediatric CDI program, who is looking to start one, or who just has a pediatric floor in their facility.

Shivers: Basically, anyone interested in expanding their program to include pediatric patients.

Q: What do you think is the most important quality for a CDI professional to have?

Norwood: Flexibility. You have to be able to work with many different people, and with that comes dealing with many different personalities. You need to be able to read people well to know how to best approach a situation.

Shivers: You need to be a “people person.”  In our department, we are educating physicians, coders, nutritionists, nurses, etc. We work with just about anyone involved in the patient’s care.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about this year’s conference? What is your favorite part of the conference?

Norwood: The experience as a whole. This will be my first conference, and I’m excited about everything I will be learning.

Shivers: This is my first conference, as well. I’m looking forward to learning more about this rapidly growing profession.