ITNS E-Update
October 30, 2009

Educational Opportunities

It is not too late to register for the Transplant Certification Review Course. The Hotel Cut-Off date is Thursday, October 22nd, after that reservations will be accepted based on availability. The ITNS Group rate cannot be guaranteed.  Columbus, Ohio will serve as the host city for the ITNS Transplant Certification Review course November 14-16. This three-day workshop will be held at the Columbus Westin conveniently located in downtown Columbus, close to the airport and accessible to major highways. The course includes a review of all transplanted organs, as well as other issues addressed in the test such as Professional Ethics and Patient Literacy. This will be the last "live" review course offered.

ITNS Winter Workshop in San Antonio

Plans are already underway for the next ITNS Winter Workshop. Join us to discuss Quality Issues and Best Practices in San Antonio, Texas February 12-13, 2010 at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio. Register early!!!

First Shipment of Transplant IQ Series Coming Soon

If yours is one of the 200 orders for the exciting Transplant IQ Series you can expect to have the first six topics in the Series by mid November. Pharmacology, Professional Issues, Test-taking, Living Donation, Organ Allocation and Psychosocial issues will all be available in the first shipment.

Don't forget, ITNS is now accepting online payment for the Transplant IQ Series, which was developed to allow the CTCRC to become more accessible to the highest number of nurses in the least costly manner. While individuals can purchase the DVDs as a set or by specific topic, hospitals and transplant centers will find the ITNS Transplant IQ Series to be a tremendous resource for training large numbers of nurses at a low rate per person. Individual viewers will receive CEU and CEPTC credits by taking the IQ post-test included in the supplemental materials with each disc and paying a small fee. The Transplant IQ Series is made possible through a grant from Astellas Pharma US.

Research Grant

ITNS offers one more $2,500.00 Grant for 2009 - Deadline December 1, 2009
This ITNS Nursing Research Grant is sponsored in cooperation with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals:

Grant Guidelines

• The deadline for applications is December 1, 2009
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval must be submitted with the application
• Grants are available to ITNS members only

How to Apply
If you have any questions concerning ITNS research grants, please contact the ITNS Research Director Cindy Russell at 573-884-9541 or RussellC@missouri.edu

Bylaw Changes Accepted

According to the ITNS bylaws, the Board of Directors is mandated to do a complete review of the bylaws every two years and that task was undertaken in 2009. The ITNS Board worked tirelessly on revisions and changes to the current ITNS bylaws.

No one could have guessed how many technical and legal changes could occur over a short two-year period. Technological changes, such as the use of electronic voting and communication products, as well as significant changes imposed by Pennsylvania non-profit law requirements necessitated major revisions and additional sections to the ITNS bylaws. A significant 99.6% of all members voting agreed to adopt the proposed changes and revisions and the new bylaws were officially accepted on October 21, 2009. 

New Pediatric Partnership

ITNS is pleased to announce its new partnership with the International Pediatric Transplant Association.  Members of both organizations can benefit from this collaboration through educational programming and educational materials for both transplant nurses and transplant patients.  An announcement of their bi-annual meeting is below. 

6th Congress of the International Pediatric Transplant Association
June 25-28, 2011
Le Centre Sheraton
Montreal, Canada

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