Coloplast S4E1 ASCN Intro –Welcome to Stoma and Continence Conversations from Coloplast Professional. I'm Paul, Ostomy Care Education Manager here at Coloplast. As a specialist nurse, I know that stoma and bowel and bladder issues impact the lives of those that you care for. This podcast is here to support your educational needs and help you in supporting your patients. You'll hear from fellow healthcare professionals and experts by experience and discuss the latest hot topics in the world of stoma, continence care and specialist practice. Paul - This time we discuss ASCN 2022, which was the first ASCN following the pandemic. And I think the title of this year's ASCN kind of said it, or says it all, which is Together Again - Demonstrating the Value of the Specialist Stoma Care Nurse. And I know that I had an amazing time at ASCN, and I'm really pleased that my friend and colleague, Associate Education Manager at Coloplast Hannah, you were able to attend. And this was your first ASCN, wasn't it? So how did you find ASCN 2022? Hannah – Hi Paul. Yeah, it was my first ASCN, despite the fact that I've been in Stoma Care for five years, it was actually my first ASCN. So it was really interesting for me. Not only was I attending my first, but seeing it from a completely different angle to what I ever expected to see it from before being as it was my first time with Coloplast. But it was great, the buzz, the environment was brilliant, absolutely amazing. Paul - Brilliant. And I think, you know, it was, it is a real buzz and I think I've been lucky enough to go to quite a few ASCNs and there was a very different feel there. The atmosphere was, you know, it was almost tangible. You could feel the buzz in the air, loads of people and it's really, really good numbers. We actually had 425 delegate registrations at ASCN this year. So a massive, massive proportion of stoma care experience attended. We had 20 oral presentations in total, 21 posters, which is a phenomenal amount of interaction there as well. And hopefully Hannah, you are gonna be presenting, I know you've got plans for presenting next year, haven't you? So you'll be going for the, going for the new presenters? Hannah – Yes! I'm going to, as I always say, get my big girl pants on. I'm going to have a go, practice what I preach. I've been speaking about it again for about five years and, I think now I'm working alongside yourself, I don't think I can get away with just speaking about it anymore? I've now got to just get on with it! Paul – No - you gotta get on and do it! Hannah - So what I would do is encourage other people to join me on that really. Paul – Exactly! And that's, do you know what, it's almost like we wrote the script down for this, isn't it? Because that segways us really, really nicely into the long-running collaboration between the ASCN and Coloplast Professional as well. And this has been going on for a number of years now, and that's the New Presenter's Award. So, first thing, what I'm gonna do is I am actually gonna do a big shout out. There's me talking youth! And the New Presenter Award this year went to the lovely Delilah from, Bristol Royal. She did a fantastic presentation and highly, you know, highly deserved the New Presenters Award. And also the highly commended award for the New Presenters went to Di Davis and Claire Hackley as well for their presentation. And all of the winners were, right, and, you know, very, very deserved winners, of it. I know it might sound a little bit of a shock, Hannah, but I actually got a certificate as well! I got highly commended for my poster, which I did in conjunction with Professor Shafi Ahmed, Dr. Terri Porrett, and we did a poster on the Augmented Practitioner. There's a whole, since obviously Covid, we have to mention. Covid, we have to mention those, those dreaded words of Covid. Nowadays, obviously digital and the understanding of where digital sits, within nursing has been highlighted even more. And even the RCN is now talking about what's called the augmented practitioner. So that's the instigation and the utilisation of digital resources and digital tools within nursing. I can remember way back in the day when things like, IV giving sets… It was all done, you know, when I started, you know, you counted your drips! But now every fluid has to go through a pump. You know, everything is now digital. You've got digital monitoring, even things like out in the community. You've now got digital support for diabetes with continual monitoring of people's blood sugars out in the community using digital platforms and digital methods. And. it's only gonna take off even more. There's gonna be even more digital integration within healthcare and hopefully stoma care is gonna be catching up with that digital revolution soon. Cause I really, really think that it is called for. But Hannah, as I say, I know lots of things happened at ASCN, there were an awful lot of stands out there from industry, some fantastic stands from industry out there. But what I'd like to do is I'm gonna ask you to introduce, I know what we launched at, what Coloplast launched and Coloplast Professional launched at ASCN, which is virtual reality. And this really does kind of tie in with that augmented practitioner and that digital revolution. And we were lucky enough that some of the Golden Ticket winners, which were awarded at the meal before ASCN actually managed to have a go at virtual reality. But Hannah, I'm gonna pass it over to you...What was this VR experience that we launched at ASCN? Hannah - So our first VR experience was designed to enable nurses to practice the fundamentals of siting. So that was being done in the safe and supportive virtual environment, and it was introducing nurses to our patient avatar, who is called Susan. And we're actually lucky enough to have some feedback from some of the people that actually had a go on the VR while we were there. So here's what some of them thought… Clip 1 - That is an amazing training tool. It takes away that fear of getting it wrong with the patient, you know, and actually being able to practice. It's just so life like. Amazing. Amazing. Clip 2 - Yeah, I think it's a great tool. Absolutely amazing for hospitals. Uh, for training new starters, getting people in the zone to ask questions. I think it's good for, you know, even just the interview processes and things, but specifically stoma care, asking the right questions and having a feel from someone sat opposite you. Yeah, I think it'd be really beneficial for people. Clip 3 - I think it's a really good way of, conducting consultations or, addressing patients concerns. But I think, I'm not sure if we are quite ready for it - yet. It definitely has its place, but I think it's quite a process, isn't it, like anything else? It's all learning. It is, learning has a bit more value, I guess, to education. Right, but I think whether we like it or not, that's where society's heading. Yeah. Very tech. And we gotta get with the… Gotta get with it, right? Yeah. Or get left behind maybe? Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Vanessa, Clip 4 - So this is Katherine and Nichola from West Suffolk Hospital. You just experienced the virtual reality platform for Coloplast. What are your thoughts? It was amazing. You felt in a totally different reality actually. Yeah, I found it quite, um, different. Understandably not speaking to a real person. I was very aware of that. Yeah. Yes. But you both immersed, you kind of, you just lost yourself, right? In the environment. Yeah, you're totally unaware of what's going on around you. It's the most extraordinary experience. But, I can see how future progressing is just so innovative and amazing. I think our practice will change over time beyond how we can even imagine, actually. Yeah. I did find myself looking at her face for expression. Yeah, that's true. To convey. Cause we're so used to using that. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you. Bye-Bye. Hannah - So we'd really like to thank Nicola Tonks, Ben Rennison, Vanessa Beyi, Katherine Lloyd, and Nichola Wright for speaking to Shafi and sharing some of their thoughts with us. There was a couple, I dunno about you, Paul, that really stood out for me there, especially one of them was, I think it was Ben that said it would take away the fear of learning. by putting people in that protected environment, so allowing them to learn and making it that great tool for training new starters and asking the right questions. Paul - I think, you know, it's brilliantly and I think, you know, really, you know, kind of following on from that, you know. It's almost that asking the right questions, and I dunno about you Hannah, but I think, you know, from previous experiences, you know. I've been really concerned, I know personally that I've been concerned and worried sometimes, especially, you know, when I was first in the specialist practice role about asking those right questions. And we know that we have to talk about certain things, which can feel, uncomfortable sometimes for some people. You know, we are talking about sex, sexuality. We're talking potentially about certain aspects of religion if we are not sure about and those sorts of things. And I think that by having the environment with Susan, the avatar, we're actually able to control Susan's responses more. So if you did make a mistake, then, you're not gonna, you don't have to worry about upsetting anybody or making that mistake because we can just press the reset button and you can ask that question in a different way if it doesn't go right. And I know, as I said, I've had some, some experiences, not just during siting, but during counselling in general, where I was almost afraid to ask a question because I didn't know how to ask the question in the right way, I didn't have that experience. Hannah, from your point of view, looking at it from an Ostomate, from your personal experience. How did you find some of your counselling experiences on for want of the better words, the receiving end? Hannah - I mean, I will be honest. I think counselling has come on a lot, even in the last 10 years since I've had my stoma. I think counselling in general is a lot more broad spectrum now, and nurses will go out there and ask the questions a lot more. But, my hope would be that by using this tool, the VR, that nurses would be confident to even more so go with those questions, giving them that little bit more confidence. Cause I know that we can vary Susan's responses, so if we are not happy with the response, Susan can even leave the room I believe!? I've never actually seen her leave the room, but I believe she can actually walk out the room. So it's giving them that idea without it actually happening and destroying them instantly in that first consultation, because that first time, when you set foot in front of a patient and you are asking those questions is daunting, and hopefully having that bit of time with Susan will take away that daunting moment. Paul - Yeah. And I think, you know, it's brilliant, and I think, you know, it's really, you know, and it is daunting. You know, things are daunting when you're in those situations. But being able to have it in this digital world and this virtual clinic where you can just press the reset button, take a time out, talk to your colleagues and say - actually, in this situation, what would you say? How would you ask that question? Or somebody can interject and say, have you thought of asking it this way? So I think, yeah, you're right. It is that because it's in that safe environment. And one of the comments Vanessa said in those voice clips, there was, it has its place whether you like it or not. This sort of thing really is, you know, we're not gonna have a choice. These sorts of things really are gonna be part and parcel of not just stoma education, but they're also taking a major part in nurse training as well. So it's been really, really interesting. I think, you know, I dunno about you Hannah, but I was really buzzed cause I know that you spent most of your time on the VR experience so you were able to see people's faces afterwards. So what was the main kind of feeling you had after, when people came out of VR. Hannah - People looked, it was almost stunned, I'd say, when they came out the headset, and I think they've become that immersed in that little VR world. For those five minutes they were in there, that a lot of them took the headset off and had completely forgotten almost where they were. At that point, it was like, yes, you're still in a room with three, four hundred people, but for those five minutes they were in that consultation with Susan and it was that moment of realisation and I think for a lot of them, I think Paul, you'll agree with me, that on that night when we first launched the VR, there was a bit of skepticism in the room there and a lot of people were, like Vanessa said it was all a bit, don't really want things going in that direction, but actually having that time in the headset, I saw a lot of people's opinions change in those five minutes. A lot of people saying, I don't think I got it before doing it. Paul - That's brilliant. Yeah. And it was, and it's, it's like a lot of things, you know, whether you are talking about New Presenters, whether, you know, presenting for the first time, it's taking that first step, isn't it? It's the old adage of, you know, the longest journey starts with a single step. And I think that utilising virtual reality is part of a blended approach to education. Whether you are using simulations, whether you're using peer-to-peer support, whether you're using the discussion, whether it's an upfront presentation, it's gonna turn into this integral part of the training and of the learning experience. And i think that's what, I think one of the things I've really been pleased with this year's ASCN was how people did embrace not just the VR, but you know, the varying amounts of presentations that were up there. We saw lots of new people speaking, and I know we said at the start, Hannah, that you know, we are gonna be getting you up there next year? Cause I know that you've got some fantastic topics that you want to, that you're really, really passionate about and you wanna start to talk about. So what I would say is to everybody is keep an eye on the ASCN website and the link for that will be in the podcast description. So keep an eye out for there. So as soon as you can do, get your submission in. And for anybody who hasn't submitted to ASCN before, you can, as we said at the start of the podcast, use the, or utilise, I should say, The New Presenters Award and what happens in the New Presenters Award is you'll get a couple of sessions with me. You'll get one at the very start where we talk you through, where I talk you through the fundamentals of writing an abstract. So the dos, the don'ts, positioning your abstract and understanding what the message that you want to put across. And if you've got a passion for anything, I can guarantee somebody else out there also has that passion, the same passion. It does take a lot of guts to stand up there for the first time. If you speak to anybody who was taken part in the new presenters, and that includes Andrew Bird, the current chair of the ASCN, he was a new presenter winner. So, you know, it does really set you up really good foundations for taking it forward. So we support you in writing your abstract. We talk you through it. We make sure you are supported, every step of the way. And then once you are accepted for your submission and for your abstract, then what we do is we support you in actually writing your presentation as well. Obviously, we don't write it for you, but we talk you through it and we guide you through that experience. And on the big day itself, we’ll actually go through and we'll, you know, I take you up to the lectern. You get to practice pressing all the buttons and that sort of thing. And we really do need some more new blood coming up and standing at that lectern. And as I say this ASCN, I know we had a lot of people, I think it's one of the most new presenters we've ever had going through and standing up there. So it was really, really good to see and really positive to see. So please keep an eye open on the ASCN website and they do tell you all about the ASCN new presenters. You can also have a word with your Coloplast representative and they can give you some more times and dates about the new presenter's award and when that's coming through. And as I say, Hannah and I will support you all the way through, and Coloplast Professional is always there to hold your hand and take and guide you through the process. Talking about Coloplast Professional as always, I don't think there's a podcast where I haven't said it and that is please, please, please, if you haven't done already, please log on to coloplastprofessional.co uk and you can register there as well and it enables you to get all of the latest educational offerings that we offer at Coloplast Professional, as well as all of the educational resources and tools that you can utilise there for supporting your clinical practice. And again, the link for the Coloplast Professional website will be in the podcast description. So that was ASCN 2022, and I think it really did show that we are better together. I was really, really pleased that we were able to do one face to face this year. I know that I missed it and I can't wait for next year. I can't wait to see the new presenters. So hopefully somebody listening now is gonna say, do you know what? Let me do it. Let me do that New Presenters. Let me get up on that stage and give it a go. So, Hannah, I think everybody's had enough of probably hearing my voice for a little while. So any final comments from yourself? Hannah - I suppose it just gonna go back on what you said about the new presenters. Please don't leave me hanging on my own. Please come and join me. If I can do it, anybody can do it. And again, just going back to the virtual reality, what an amazing success it was. So hopefully we'll see some of you on some of our Masterclasses where you'll all get to have a go on that virtual reality as well. Paul - Brilliant. Thank you. So thank you so much for listening. Hannah, it's been brilliant as always talking to you, and I'm sure we'll catch up on our next podcast. Thank you very, very much. Outro - Stoma and Continence Conversations is brought to you by Coloplast Professional. To learn more, visit www.coloplastprofessional.co.uk .