*Registration payment includes Credit Cards and Interfund Transfers ONLY.
Registered Nurses, Advance Practice Providers, Licensed Practical Nurses, Public Health Nurses, and any one who are caring for patients living in rural areas.
This program is partially supported by the NC AHEC Program Office.
Please come join us in celebration of rural health nursing! This conference is proudly provided by NC AHEC Nurse Council and will be hosted at 8 different rural sites on the same day. Two statewide broadcast keynote speakers will link all the regions together. Each AHEC will offer additional live, on-site presentations that focus on regional topics. It will also provide networking opportunity to connect with each other.
Location
Isothermal Community College
Foundation of Performing Arts & Conference Center
Tanner Room A
286 ICC Loop Road,
Spindale, NC 28160
Morning Keynote Speakers
Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation
Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN
Currently vice president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, has more than 30 years of nursing and leadership experience. Dr. Grant is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert and serves as the burn outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill. In this role, he oversees burn education for physicians, nurses and other allied health care personnel and runs the center’s nationally acclaimed Burn Prevention Program, which promotes safety and works to reduce burn-related injuries through public education and the legislative process. Dr. Grant also serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings.
An active leader in professional organizations, Dr. Grant is currently chair of the National Fire Protection Association board of directors and second vice president of the American Burn Association board of trustees. He also holds membership in Sigma Theta Tau, Chi Eta Phi and the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Grant served as president of the North Carolina Nurses Association from 2009-11. In 2002, ANA honored Dr. Grant with the Honorary Nursing Practice Award for his contributions to the advancement of nursing practice through strength of character, commitment, and competence.
Dr. Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the first male elected to the office of vice president of the American Nurses Association and will serve his term as ANA president begins on January 1, 2019. 
Building a Culture of Health for Nurses
Connie Mele, MSN, RN, PMHCNS-BC, LCAS, CARN-AP, NE-BC, FIAAN
RWJF Public Health Nurse Leader
Consultant & Behavioral Health Therapist
Rural Nursing Can Make a Difference: Preventing Suicide in NC!
Jodi Flick, ACSW, LCSW
Clinical Associate Professor, UNC CH School of Social Work 
Is Rural Living a Determinant of Health?
Phyllis Mangum Rocco, MPH, BSN, RN
Chief Public Health Nurse and Branch Head
Division of Public Health, Local Technical Assistance Training System & Public Health Nursing and Professional Development Unit
NC Department of Health & Human Services
Delivering Virtual Patient Care, Close to Home
Marie Mercier, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC
Nurse Manager
Virtual Critical Care
Generational Diversity: It's Everywhere!
Lisa Foster, MSN, RN-BC
RN Program Coordinator/Nurse Educator
Atrium Health
Learning Outcomes
To provide up-to-date best practices and educational learning opportunities that are focused on rural nursing issues as well as offering networking opportunities for rural nurses to connect.
If this location is not convenient to you, please visit this link to view other seven locations and details about these events
https://www.ncahec.net/news/rural-nursing-2018/
Exhibit Opportunity
If you are interested in being an exhibitor, please contact May Cheung at may.cheung@atriumhealth.org or 704-512-6531
Rachel Ford CHES
