(Allentown, PA) – Nurses from Allentown and throughout the surrounding areas of Southeastern Pennsylvania gathered for CE Day focused on patient and nurse safety. Attendees came from St. Luke’s Hospital, Cedarbrook Nursing Home, Lehigh Valley Hospital and as far as Hershey Medical Center. The event was sponsored by the Nurse Alliance of Pennsylvania, part of SEIU Healthcare PA.

“This conference was extremely gratifying and important for myself and every nurse here,” said Lori Reinhart, LPN from Berks Heim Nursing Home. “We constantly strive for the best in patient care and patient safety, and the work of the Nurse Alliance of Pennsylvania gives us tools to meet those goals.”

The conference focused on issues that affect nurses and patients every day in hospitals throughout the commonwealth. The nationally respected speakers included.

• Kate McPhaul, Phd, MPH, RN, Assistant Professor Work and Health Research Center University of Maryland School of Nursing on Workplace Violence.
  
  
• Bill Borwegen, MPH, Occupational Health and Safety Director, SEIU, Washington D.C. on Workplace Injury.
  
  
• Jeanine Geiger-Brown, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland on the impact of work hours.
  
  
• Barbara Rakhe, Director of the Philadelphia Project on Occupational Safety and Health, on Mapping the Workplace and how nurses can achieve workplace and patient safety.
  
  
• Kati Sipp of SEIU Healthcare PA on the fight to end mandatory overtime.
  
  

The Nurse Alliance has held CE Days throughout the state over the years, including in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Allentown. Nearly 200 nurses attended today’s conference in Allentown, each obtaining 5 CE credits which are necessary for their profession.

“This CE Day provided nurses with an opportunity to discuss and learn about critical patient care issues and I am proud that we are able to provide nurses valuable information,” said Kathy Magaro, RNC, MPA, Coordinator of the Nurse Alliance of Pennsylvania. “These nurses are on the front line of patient care every day and they can use these important tools to make sure that not only will their patients be safer, but they will be safer on the job as well.”