President’s Message

Abstract

It is hard for me to believe that this year will be half over by the time you read my message. The AVA Board has been busy, and I have a number of things to update you on so I will dig right in.First of all, in my last message I shared that we had selected Talley Management Group (TMG) to provide association management services for AVA. The effective date for their contract was March 1, 2023. Brent Schwartz is serving as our Executive Director, and Tonya Hutchison, Judy Thompson, and Blake Hotchkiss are continuing in their roles, now as TMG employees. There is a robust team of folks at TMG who are providing services for membership, creative services, and finance. Though the relationship is new, the transition is going well. There is a bit of a learning curve for TMG staff, but they are quite experienced in association management and bring a lot of knowledge to the table. I want to give a shout out to Tonya, Judy, and Blake for their work to make the transition go smoothly and want to thank Brent and the team at Talley as well. AVA remains dedicated to our mission: To advance the global practice of vascular access, through awareness, advocacy, and education to improve health care outcomes.Are you excited about the upcoming AVA Scientific Meeting in Portland, Oregon? I know that I am. The D-team, led by Kacey Wiseman, has been working diligently to put together another excellent meeting. Registration opened mid-April so if you haven’t sent in your registration and made room reservations it is not too early. They have an exciting line up of sessions planned that range from diversity, equity, and inclusion, to hospital onset bacteremia, catheter materials, and navigating the legal aspects of vascular access. If you have never traveled to the Pacific Northwest you are missing out on a special treat. The area is beautiful, and Portland is a great city to visit. Give yourself time to check out Multnomah Falls, Powell’s Books, and the food truck scene and have fun learning and honing your vascular access skills.AVA recently launched a new learning series called IV League learning. They are short learning opportunities intended to enhance your clinical knowledge. These 15-minute to 30-minute events are followed by a Q&A period. We want all clinicians and those in the process of becoming a licensed clinician to join. I hope you have had a chance to take advantage of these quick learning opportunities. They are held every other Wednesday at 7:30 pm EST. The link to register has been shared through email and social media. If you want to join and have not received the link, please email AVA at ava@avainfo.org. I encourage you to take advantage of this great clinical education.I also want to follow up on the survey we conducted late last year. There were a number of issues around a common theme—Networks. It is always interesting when analyzing survey data to see common themes such as this come from varied groups of respondents. Because this was a theme that was evident across the board, the AVA Board has appointed a task force to review that feedback and make recommendations. Karen LaForet is leading the task force, which is made up of some board members as well as some network leaders. There were a number of great suggestions in the survey data, and we thank you for the thought you put into your responses. Some of the issues that were brought to us will not be quick or easy fixes, but we hope to have some quick wins as well. Stay tuned.And on the topic of Networks, I want to sincerely thank all of you who are serving in leadership roles in our networks. Your dedication to the profession makes a difference. We had great attendance at our first 2023 Network Leaders meeting, and I know that there is excellent work going on because of your efforts.Before I close I want to share some great news about some of the webinars that were held earlier this year. We had over 800 people attend one and over 1000 attend another. Wowza! I know that our education department puts out great work, and this is validation that it is benefitting many of you. Thank you for your engagement with our educational opportunities.Though our work never ends, it is important that you take some time to recharge. Enjoy your summer and be safe if you are traveling, and don’t forget your sunscreen! I am counting down the days to Portland and hope you are too. See you at the AVASM 2023.