Recognizing the demanding working conditions its members and all emergency nurses face as this long public health crisis continues, the Emergency Nurses Association on Friday announced Emergency Nursing 2021 will shift to a fully virtual event taking place Sept. 22-24. ENA’s annual General Assembly will also be held virtually.
Right now, with many emergency departments reporting the highest COVID-19 case numbers seen in months, ENA members are where they are needed most: ready and available to support their patients and communities facing the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 – just as they have since March 2020.
Changing Emergency Nursing 2021’s format allows attendees to focus on their work, knowing that high-quality emergency nursing education is available to them virtually everywhere later this month or, with on-demand access through Jan. 31, 2022, whenever they’re ready to log on to learn.
ENA President Ron Kraus, MSN, RN, EMT, CEN, ACNS-BC, TCRN, said the difficult decision to shift the format for Emergency Nursing 2021 followed lengthy discussion of many factors, including travel restrictions imposed on some emergency nurses, but the key focus was on doing what is best for ENA members at this stage of the pandemic.
“There’s no hiding from the disappointment. Our members are physically and emotionally exhausted, and those who planned to travel to Orlando looked forward to Emergency Nursing 2021 as a chance to reunite and re-energize during the most challenging time in their careers,” Kraus said. “The move to a fully virtual event allows ENA members, and all emergency nurses, to rightfully focus on caring for patients, educating others on the importance of vaccinations and, most importantly, their own health and well-being.”
Kraus emphasized that similar to 2020, when ENA hosted it first fully virtual education and networking conference, Emergency Nursing 2021 will once again offer attendees high-quality emergency nursing education and engagement on a dynamic virtual platform. Live sessions, a virtual exhibit hall, an on-demand content library and more are just some of what attendees can expect beginning Sept. 22.
“Just as it has for the last 18 months, ENA continues to find the best ways to support its members during these difficult moments we are all facing. Emergency Nursing 2021 will be a time to rally together once again,” Kraus added.
For more information on the virtual Emergency Nursing 2021, visit ena.org/EN21.
Orientation week is a pivotal event to help new higher education students bond with your school. Orientation is your school’s opportunity to get a student’s education experience kicked off on the right foot. In-person orientation usually takes place for about a week. During this week, students engage with a series of events, have the opportunity to mingle, and learn more about the school’s services.
Over the last few years, we’ve run many student engagement events, from open houses to research symposiums, all the way to events for exam preparation and student de-stressors. We’ve used these events to discover crucial insights into what students expect from online event experiences.
This article will highlight some key areas that can help you run successful online student orientation events.
1. Make it EASY
For first-year students, it can be an overwhelming period. It will represent the most significant environment shift they’ve ever experienced in their lives for many students. With so many changes in their lives, the last thing any student wants is to figure out and navigate a jam-packed and overwhelming school orientation week. As an orientation planner, you want to do your best to simplify the orientation experience for students.
A key aspect to simplifying the navigation experience is to minimize the amount of reading students need to process to access event activities. Do your best to make the experience highly visual – with images that will engage and excite students about the available opportunities during orientation. Students are immersed in TikTok and Instagram and respond better to visual cues than web page listings.
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You also want to avoid complicated event schedules or have students join a series of Zoom/online calls, which students have told us can be exhausting. An excellent way to break up the monotony of live sessions and allow your online student orientation to ‘breathe’ is to place key event breaks to enable students to be more exploratory and access content on-demand. For example, a networking or mentorship zone, a company sponsorship hall with give-aways, a student clubs showcase zone, a games-room zone, and more.
2. Think about the experience from the students’ point of view
We’ve been fortunate to speak with highly experienced orientation week coordinators across North America, and we’ve also been able to talk to first, second, third, and fourth-year students. Interestingly, students tell us that there are two big highlights or attractions for them during orientation week:
(1) the exhibitors and companies that give students unique deals and promotions and
(2) finding and learning about relevant clubs and social circles to join to make friends around their interests and affinities.
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These two highlights are often placed on the back burner by coordinators when planning online orientation events. They are unsure how to fit these elements alongside the more traditional orientation week events in the online environment. It is easier to organize school resources, but a lot of the value of orientation week to students are social events that welcome them to the community and enable them to plant strong social roots that make them feel they belong. In this sense, orientation week is a critical retention tool for schools.
3. Leverage the benefits of online by staging your orientation
In-person orientation weeks are typically framed and managed within the limitations of location and time. Students need to be at a particular place to see a specific faculty member at a certain time. If they miss that session, then they will typically lose access to critical information or experiences. Online student orientation provides a unique opportunity to overcome this limitation. Within an online orientation week, you have the chance to create live, on-demand, and blended experiences. You also have the opportunity to segment content that needs to be consumed live and content that can be seen ahead of time by students or seen after orientation week by those who may not have had the time.
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For example, students can access some resources ahead of time on demand, like tips and tricks on getting the most out of the LMS or an info session on academic writing and then mixing in Live sessions from key professors and campus leaders to address more targeted questions. You can also blend the two, combine a pre-recorded talk with the recreation center (gym), and provide a live QA session with a representative for students to talk to. This flexibility is an exciting lens to view planning an orientation week with and can dramatically increase student access to campus resources and be a differentiator for schools with more developed student resources seeking more avenues for student engagement with these resources and improving their ROI.
4. Find ways to get current students engaged and involved in the online orientation
Many online orientation weeks lack support from existing students. The lack of student involvement can make the event feel more clinical and boring for incoming students. So greater student involvement can make orientation week festivities more genuine but can also dramatically improve participation. We often see 10-20X greater student participation in school online events run by students during the regular year versus those organized solely by school administrators. Why? They ensure they invite their friends and their network to participate. They can influence and promote an online event far better than most school event organizers.
A great way to get students engaged is to ensure that your student clubs have a fundamental role to play. School clubs are always interested in easy and convenient opportunities to promote their name and recruit new members. Student club involvement gives your orientation week two key features. It allows incoming students to identify and join relevant clubs more quickly, and the additional voices create campus-like energy. A school club fair organized as a part of orientation week also allows for earlier student networking and relationship-building.
Other vital members that you should consider involving are orientation leaders, student’ mentors,’ residence dons, and other campus student leaders.
5. Don’t ask students to download an app, but be ready for mobile
The world is going increasingly mobile. We see as much as 30% of online academic event participants joining using their smartphone devices (some open house events we have run have over 50% smartphone access). To serve this audience better, many orientation coordinators make the mistake of working with virtual event platforms requiring a dedicated app to run their orientation week.
Using a dedicated smartphone app can be counterproductive for events like student orientation. When students already have a whole slew of new apps to install (LMS, Email to setup, etc.), installing an app for a singular event can be seen as an unnecessary complexity and often discourages large groups of students from participating. Instead, you want to ensure that your online orientation can be instantly opened on any smartphone device using a hyperlink. Avoiding a dedicated app also enables you to have a more consistent experience across smartphones and desktop devices.
In Closing
Student expectations when it comes to school events are shifting. There are increasing expectations for schools to provide a well-thought-out digital alternative to on-campus events. Schools should see this as an opportunity to provide their students with a more robust student experience while simultaneously ensuring a legitimate backup solution for students who cannot attend in-person campus events (weather conditions, pandemic restrictions, travel, or timing issues).
I hope that this article has given you some insights or, at the very least, some food for thought as you think about your student orientation events. We are currently at an exciting juncture in figuring out how academia leverages online technologies to provide next-level experiences for their students. If you are interested in how Acadiate can support your events, don’t hesitate to reach out to us, we’d love to talk!
Looking to meet with a VA recruiter? Forget the crowded conferences – VA is making it easier to connect with one by taking the traditional job fair online with a virtual open house.
Starting this month, we’re launching a new series of virtual open houses aimed at connecting doctors, nurses, and job seekers in other critically needed occupations with a VA recruiter. (And in May, there will be a special open house just for nurses!). The series will be hosted every fourth Wednesday of the month from 2-3 p.m. ET.
Registration is now live for the Feb. 24 event, and future registration links will be available on the VA Careers website.
In addition to doctors and nurses, each month will offer a specialty booth focused on a specific field:
February: Psychology.
March: Physicians, social work.
April: Medical support assistants, medical technologists.
May: Nurses, practical nurses.
June: Medical records technicians.
July: Police.
August: Engineers.
September: Medical instrument technicians.
These occupations are being highlighted as part of VHA’s 75th anniversary celebration, recognizing decades of providing high quality health care to millions of the nation’s Veterans.
What to expect
Like a traditional job fair, these virtual open houses bring together employers and job seekers for a set period of time on a particular date. But instead of face-to-face meetings, you’ll connect via chat.
You’ll be able to upload your resume when you register and then participate in a brief, web-based chat with a recruiter, who will answer basic questions about working at VA and how to apply for open positions.
“This is a great chance for interested candidates to chat with recruiters who understand the process behind getting hired at VA,” said Mike Owens, recruitment marketing program specialist at VA.
To make the most of your time with a recruiter, make sure you prepare your questions ahead of time.
You should use a smartphone, tablet or computer with a reliable internet or wireless connection to connect. Our virtual career fairs are compatible with all internet browsers but work best with Chrome.
If you’re considering a career caring for America’s heroes, now is a great time to get connected with one of our hiring experts.
In addition to Dr. Grant’s keynote address, the conference (which is being hosted online by SpringerPassport) will feature poster presentations, a live NCLEX-RN Review, networking opportunities with prospective employers and schools in the Exhibit Hall/Career Development Center, special discounts at publisher and NCLEX vendor exhibit booths, a virtual yoga session, and more. Live interaction in the Exhibit Hall begins at 7pm EDT on October 29; visit the schedule for details on all live event times. Attendees can also take advantage of the virtual format to access video recordings of programs and exhibits at their convenience (recordings will be available for three months post-conference).
Tips for a Successful NSNA MidYear Virtual Conference
Poster presentations featuring school and state projects by NSNA Chapters and individual members will be available through the online Project Showcase. Presenters can apply here. The application deadline is October 25, 5:00pm EDT.
Registration for the NSNA’s 38th MidYear Conference is open through October 31, 11.30pm EDT. Members who register by or before October 13will receive a $15 Early-Bird Registration Discount. Prior to registering you will need to have your membership number and/or credit card handy. NSNA members and sustaining members must provide their membership number when they pre-register for verification purposes.
The NSNA fosters the professional development of undergraduate nursing students and provides them with opportunities to develop their leadership skills and prepare for lifelong involvement and continuing education in the nursing profession. The association currently has over 60,000 members in 1,500 nursing programs across the US. Visit NSNA.org for information on membership, scholarships, the NSNA Career Center, and association activities.
There’s no question that job searches have become increasingly virtual. Email, digital job boards and even video interviews are quickly replacing physical resumes, classified ads and traditional interviews. Virtual job fairs are the latest development in this trend, and they’ve seen another bump in popularity due to travel restrictions and physical distancing.
While they lack face-to-face interaction, online career fairs offer more flexibility and less time commitment. If you are seeking a position in another city, you can chat with recruiters without leaving home.
VA is one of many employers moving to online career events, including job fairs, for the remainder of 2020. We host events through Brazen, a popular virtual job fair software, and take part in virtual events hosted by other groups. For instance, we recently participated in a health care technology management virtual career fair for biomedical engineers.
What to Expect
If you’ve never been to a virtual job fair before, the prospect of attending one might feel a little confusing and even daunting.
Like a traditional job fair, virtual career fairs bring together employers and job seekers for a set period of time on a particular date. But instead of face-to-face interaction, you’ll connect via text, web chat, video conferencing or email.
“Make sure you find a virtual career fair that is a good match. You want to attend one for the occupation you’re seeking,” recommended Mike Owens, recruitment marketing program specialist at VA.
VA Career Fair Lobby
Once you’ve found a fair that interests you, the first step is to register and upload a resume. VA’s virtual career fairs are free to job seekers.
From there, every virtual career fair is set up a little differently depending on the host.
VA’s online career fairs include a 10-15 minute pre-scheduled text chat with a recruiter, during which you can learn about jobs that are available in your area and get tips on submitting a stand-out application.
“To make the most of your appointment, ask as many questions as possible to the VA reps and make sure you prepare them ahead of time,” Owens said.
VA Career Fair Live Chat Booth
You can use a smartphone, tablet or computer with a reliable internet or wireless connection to connect. Our virtual career fairs are compatible with all internet browsers but work best with Chrome.
For job fairs with multiple employers, you might see a simple list of employers while others will use virtual environments to simulate a real-world career fair. While you can often move at your own pace, some fairs have specific times for chats, webcasts or online presentations with companies.
