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COLORADO AWHONN
SECTION NEWSLETTER
CONTACTS:
SECTION CHAIR:
Kris Rimbos, MS, RNC-OB, C-EFM
303-902-2554 (Cell)
SECRETARY/TREASURER:
Neva Spencer, DNP, RN, NNP-BC/
CNS
AWHONN Mission:
Promote the health of women
and newborns
AWHONN National
Goals:
Public visibility
Knowledge transfer
Build membership
CO AWHONN Goals:
-Promote AWHONN as the
premier resource / organization
for women and infant nurses
-Advance AWHONN Initiatives
at the state level
-Promote public visibility and
partnership with organizations
with similar missions
Inside this Issue:
Section Chair Report: 2
Secretary/Treasurer: 3
Legislative Update: 4
Western Chapter Update: 5
Northern Chapter Update: 5
Member Matters: 6
Upcoming Events & Announcements: 7, 8, 9, 10
Welcome New Members: 11
Volume 3, Issue 4 December 2015
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Section Chair Report Kris Rimbos, MS, RNC-OB
Happy Holidays CO AWHONN members!
As we wind down the year, it seems a perfect time to reflect on the many accomplishments our Section has
enjoyed in 2015! Two of the greatest highlights, in my mind, were establishing our Facebook page and our
annual Section conference! For many years, we have desired a Facebook page, and this
year AWHONN finally made it possible! If you have not joined yet, please do so- this is a great forum for
sharing of resources, tips and ideas (search for AWHONN Colorado). We currently have 178 members and
our 200th member to join will receive a $25 gift card! At this time, only current AWHONN members may
join the page- this is to protect your privacy. Our Section conference was held in Denver this year, hosted
about 130 participants, had an outstanding line up of poster presentations, and took our vendor hall to a
whole new level with great participation and prizes! I hope that you will plan to join us for our Section
Conference in 2016- it will be held April 21 (eve) and 22 (all day) at the Embassy Suites in Colorado
Springs off of Woodmen Rd. Our keynote speaker will be Renee Thompson: “Celebrate Nursing: Human
by Birth - Hero by Choice". Our conference planning committee is up and running and putting togeth-
er a great line up of topics and speakers. Watch for a Save the Date in December and full conference
brochure by late January.
Our 2015-2016 CO AWHONN Section goals included: increasing membership and sense of community;
advancing AWHONN national initiatives; and promoting advocacy and partnership. Here are some
successes we achieved in these areas: We increased membership by *100* members in 2015 (bringing us
to 571 members)!! We involved nursing students in our Section conference to expose them to their
professional nursing organization. We promoted AWHONN initiatives such as the Diaper Drive and the
Go the Full 40 campaign. We provided member discussion forums through our Section and Chap-
ter meetings and our Facebook page. We partnered with ACOG and ACNM on the Maternal Morbidity and
Mortality conference and increased our presence as an exhibitor at organizations with similar mis-
sions. We continue to have a presence at our state capitol and with our legislators, lobbying for the needs
and interests of women and babies.
Looking forward, we still have much we want to achieve. Much of our work will be determined by
YOU! We want to insure that your membership is value added and that you have ample opportunity to
participate in CO AWHONN, in whatever way is meaningful to you! Therefore, we are again holding our
annual Survey of membership to determine where to focus our efforts in 2016. Please take a few moments
to complete the survey (link emailed to members) and provide us with your valuable ideas!
As we begin to plan for 2016, we will continue our commitment to move meetings around the state to
engage all of our membership. We will continue to encourage your participation at CO AWHONN events
and in the organization. We hope that you choose to take an active role in your organization, as it is very
rewarding and fun! We currently have need for an Education / Evidence Based Practice Coordina-
tor. Please contact me if you would like more information, and know that mentoring is available! Also,
2016 will bring an end to the terms of Neva and I. I have exhausted my terms as Section Chair and Neva is
looking for a replacement as well. We want the great work of CO AWHONN to continue, and are looking
for interested parties that would like to develop the future of this organization! Please reach out to us if you
would like to learn more! Until next time, I wish you peace and joy this holiday season and a blessed New
Year!
Colorado AWHONN
Leadership:
CO AWHONN Section Chair:
Kris Rimbos
Secretary/Treasurer:
Nina Spencer
Northern CO Chapter
Coordinator:
Karen Moore
Denver Chapter
Coordinator:
Rachelle Woods
Western CO Chapter
Coordinator:
Amy Lavigne
Southern CO Chapter
Coordinator:
Open!
Membership
Coordinator:
Nicole Downs
Evidence Based Practice/
Education Coordinator:
Open!
Co-Legislative
Coordinators:
Izzi DeSilver
Anita Roberts
The holiday season can bring on both feelings of joy and stress and in an effort
to hopefully decrease some of your stress I wondered if there were opportunities
for you to save a little money during this time of year. Not surprisingly
AWHONN has many opportunities! Did you know that on the AWHONN
website under “Member Center” there are many travel and hotel discounts and
insurance and financial products available? There is even shopping
opportunities in over 1700 stores, including places like Walmart, Target, Bed
Bath & Beyond and Ulta, that if you select AWHONN as your “cause” a
percentage of your purchase is donated to AWHONN.
The fall has been a successful time for Colorado AWHONN and we have had the
opportunity to financially support several member activities. We have tried to be
good financial stewards of the resources we receive from the National office and
profits from the 2015 Annual Conference. We have been able to support the
combined ACNM/Colorado AWHONN Legislative Happy Hour, a Chapter
meeting on the western area of Colorado, and the Harvey Cohen M&M
educational meeting. Since we are a very active Section with many meetings and
educational opportunities our finances require constant oversight. Despite funding
several projects we remain in good fiscal standing and will be able to pay some
expenses in 2015 for the 2016 year such as a retainer for our keynote speaker for
the 2016 Colorado AWHONN Annual Conference. I have received confirmation
from the National office that our budget was approved and we are doing well!
Secretary / Treasurer Report- Neva Spencer,
DNP, RN, NNP-BC/CNS
Happy Holiday Season! Whichever holiday you celebrate, I
hope you are surrounded by family, friends and enjoy all that
you are doing!
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Legislative Happenings! State News: For the next legislative session in Colorado, we are looking at support for the Pregnant workers
Fairness Act sponsored by Senator Ulibarri (D) and Rep Faith Winter (D). The coalitions that are interested
in this are 9-5 Colorado and ProgressNow CO, and NARAL CO. We spoke about it with the staffer at
Michael Bennet's office and also wrote him and Senator Gardner at the National level about this issue.
Pregnancy is not classified as a disability per se but sometimes it is like one when your hours are limited for
various conditions. When accommodations cannot be made, this leaves the nurse in the positon of choosing
their health or their job! At the National level the bill is HR 2654. You can pull it up on AWHONN website.
We are glad to see a bill at the State level to support this need.
We are looking at a place for legislators to have to use a breastpump. Can you believe that there is no place
available at our State Capitol? Rep Diane Primaverra is helping us with this concern.
Federal News: On November 25th, the Protecting our Infants Act passed!!! This will provide funding to
require the AHRQ to do Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome research in order to identify causes, treatments and
barriers.
AWHONN supports Bringing Postpartum Depression out of the Shadows Act, a bipartisan bill that would
make grants available to States to establish, expand or maintain culturally competent programs for
screening and treatment of women who are pregnant or have given birth in the preceding 12 months for
maternal depression.
On November 20th, the Supporting Working Moms Act was introduced. This legislation will expand a
mom’s right to breastfeed with salaried employees having a private place to pump. Current law already
protects hourly wage earners.
Advocacy ideas: There is a new tool that AWHONN has that you can put on your phone and makes it super
easy to look at bills and email Reps and Senators. It is called ENGAGE. We have posted this info on the
Colorado AWHONN Facebook page.
We are planning to have a presence at the State Capitol once a month on Tuesdays. We want to form
relationships with the legislators so we can have conversation at the State level and get to know them. The
2nd Tuesday of every month is our day. Starting January 12th. We are looking at lunch and the afternoon in
order to target committee hearings. More info to come.
Colorado Nurses Association has a legislative dinner coming up on 2/9/16. There are a lot of legislators that
come and it is a great opportunity to network.
Please contact us if you are interested in becoming involved in advocating for the needs of women and their families. Even if you only have a small bit of time, it will make a difference! Izzi and Anita
Western CO Chapter Update….Amy Lavigne, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM
We had a great turn out for our Western Slope Meeting on November 9th – approximately 18
participants from 6 different hospitals. We discussed AWHONN membership, and it was great to
see that there were only a few present that were not already AWHONN members! We discussed
ways of promoting membership at individual work sites and, hopefully, we will see some new
Western Slope members from this! Vail Valley then presented our Family-Centered Cesarean Birth
Initiative, which generated great discussion. We moved into a round-table discussion on several
topics, including simulation, postpartum hemorrhage, perinatal quality measurement, advanced
certification, and much more. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and there was tons of networking and
exchange of contact information. We reviewed and shared best practice initiatives, we celebrated
each other's successes and supported one another on our challenges. The group was super engaged,
voiced the value in having a strong Western Slope Chapter, and were excited for what's to come.
We agreed that our next meeting will be held in the spring at Community Hospital's new LDRP unit
in Grand Junction. Congratulations to Mic Zywiec for winning the Starbucks gift card door
prize! I hope to see you all at the Spring meeting in Grand Junction!
Northern CO Chapter Update….Karen Moore, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, IBCLC
CO AWHONN SECTION had a well-attended dinner meeting at Banner Fort Collins Medical
Center on Thursday, November 12. Both current AWHONN members and potential new members
gathered to socialize, learn about Colorado AWHONN activities and receive valuable education.
Some of the attendees were lucky and went home with a door prize sponsored by CO AWHONN
Section.
Dr. Michael Ruma, Perinatologist from New Mexico presented –“Planes, Pilots and Preterm Labor:
The Role of Protocols and Standardization in Patient Evaluation”. His information focused on using
protocols to assist in the diagnosis and management of preterm labor. He referenced the March of
Dimes Preterm Labor Tool Kit: http://www.marchofdimes.org/professionals/preterm-labor-
assessment-toolkit.aspx as a good example of protocol any size facility could follow. He also
focused on the role of fetal fibronectin as it relates to accurately diagnosing preterm labor.
We were very fortunate to have Hologic as our sponsor for both Dr. Michael Ruma’s honorarium
and our delicious dinner from Panera’s.
.
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Membership Matters
Nicole Downs, BS, RNC-OB
Our CO-AWHONN chapter currently has 571
members. That’s a lot! And in November, we reached
out to 500 more potential new members via email. We
would like to invite all the Colorado nurses in our field
to become an active part of our work through
AWHONN. If some of your co-workers ask you about
our organization, how will you answer?
What do you consider the greatest benefit of your
AWHONN membership?
Is it:
-Attending events that keep us leading our industry,
like our AWHONN state or national conferences or
section meeting presentations?
-Journals and SmartBriefs that keep you current on
Evidence-based practice related to our populations.
-Networking with other like-hearted nurses in our
state?
-Being invited to participate with colleagues from
ACOG and ACNM at the annual Maternal Morbidity
and Mortality conference?
-Meeting (or just knowing that other members are
meeting) with legislators on issues that help women
and newborns?
-Reading and discussing articles in JOGNN and
Nursing for Women’s Health with co-workers?
-Or something totally different?
Do tell your co-workers about why your
AWHONN membership matters!
Feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions
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Congratulations!
CO AWHONN would like to recognize and share the exciting news
that one of our own members, Suze Ketchem, will be the AWHONN
National President in 2016 (photo below)!
Suze is the Director of Women, Infant, and Pediatric Services at the
Banner Northern Colorado locations and a long time member and
supporter of AWHONN. We are pleased to have her representing us
at the National level and look forward to her continued presence at
our Section meetings and events. Please join in congratulating Suze
and look for an article in our next newsletter on some of her goals
as AWHONN President!
Congratulations also to Cyndy Krening, who was re-elected
to the AWHONN Board of Directors for a second term!
Cyndy is the Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at St
Joseph’s Hospital in Denver, and a former CO AWHONN
Section Chair. Please join in congratulating Cyndy!
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SAVE THE DATE
April 21 (eve)-22 (all day), 2016; Embassy Suites, Colorado Springs
CO AWHONN Section Conference
See Save the Date, page 9
October 13, 2016 9:30am-6pm; Inverness Hotel Denver
CO AWHONN / ACNM / ACOG Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
Symposium
Don’t miss this fabulous opportunity to learn from actual case stories
throughout the state!
2016 Calendar of Meetings:
We are currently working on our Section meeting schedule for 2016. Here is
a very tentative schedule:
February– Denver metro area; March– combined event with ACNM; April–
Section Conference in the Springs; May– Northern CO; June– AWHONN
National convention in Grapevine TX!; September– Grand Junction (wine
fest!); November– Denver metro **Dates and locations will be emailed in
January. Note: Chapter events will be schedule in addition to the above.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Colorado AWHONN On Facebook!
We highly encourage everyone to join our CO AWHONN Facebook
page! Members only! We currently have only 175+ members who have joined
and with 571 current CO AWHONN Members, we know we are missing some of
you! The page is a great opportunity to network and share learnings, best prac-
tices and ideas! Once we reach 200 members, we will give away a $25 gift
card……so, encourage your fellow members to join! Congratulations to Niki
Arhnold who won a Starbucks gift card for being our 175th member!
(Membership is verified prior to adding new members to the page).
HELP WANTED!!
We are currently looking to fill our Southern CO Chapter Coordinator position
and our Evidence Based Practice and Education Coordinator position! If you
have wanted to get more involved in AWHONN, this is a great opportunity!!
Training and mentoring is available and you join a great team of nurses and
volunteers that help make CO AWHONN a great organization. Please email Kris
for more information: [email protected]
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WELCOME NEW
MEMBERS
Niki Arhnold Amy Bolen Tonya Chapin Olivia Cordova Susan Doughty Heather Emmerich
Jessie Grandbouche Katherine Greene Hannah Harvey Brittany Hart Patty Hausman
Jennifer Elizabeth Hergenreter Maria J. Alfante-Herold Elisa Tara Huckvale K. Joesph Hurt
Stephanie James Whittnay Keating Angela Killip Kathleen Kopacz Nancy Suzanne Laird
Lacie Leithead Stephanie Mandani Robbin Miller Melisa Moore Kelli Mossbrucker
Tarah Neam Krystal Nacole Palmer Jocelyn Leigh Porcaro Hallie Jo Rivera, BSN
Pamela Kay Robinson Cassandra L. Romero Denee' Rowe Denise Shore Catie Shumaker
Margaret Marie Smith Jessica Stratton Kelly Strohm Emily Tatar Lisa K. Thompson
Vickie Thompson Diamond Thrasher Jessie Thurber-Dean Barbara J. Tucker
Jessica LynnVallejos Sue Vigil Ashley Winter Claire Zelenkov
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!