President’s Message

Summer has arrived here in DC and in just 6 months, we’ll be heading to Miami Beach for our PCICS Annual Meeting, December 14-18, 2022 (in person!).  I remember feeling like I had found the epicenter of pediatric cardiac critical care after attending my first PCICS meeting.  The collective expertise of the presenters and attendees was awe-inspiring.  And the interdisciplinary and international nature of the meeting was unlike any meeting I had attended.  I felt that had found my professional home: a global, interdisciplinary community of cardiac critical clinicians working to improve the lives of children and families affected by heart disease.  It was inspiring!  I left determined to find a way to get more involved!

This year, the Program Committee, led by Christin Diller, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC and Jason Buckley, MD, has been working tirelessly planning an exceptional meeting.   Speakers represent over 50 cardiac centers, including 9 international sites.

While most of our PCICS membership is based in North America, we have members representing 38 other countries in the world.  As our Society continues to grow, we are working to strategically expand and strengthen our international engagement.  We’ve learned the enormous potential of reaching international partners through virtual platforms, and thus have recently invested in a new learning management system that will be the hub of our virtual educational and networking opportunities.  Our Advance Practice Provider Course was the inaugural course offered through the learning management system, and our committees and special interest groups are developing additional content that will launch within the next year.  The leadership of PCICS has also decided to make all publications available in an electronic book format to reduce the burden of international shipping.  The electronic version of the PCICS Nurse Curriculum and the CICU Handbook, 2^nd Edition will be launched this Summer and the Advance Practice Provider Curriculum, 2^nd Edition will be published in print and electronically by the end of the year!

Another opportunity to connect with international colleagues is at the 8^th Annual World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS), an in-person meeting in Washington, D.C. in August of 2023, that will bring together clinicians from around the globe to share science and build connections.  PCICS is thrilled to be a societal partner in this landmark meeting.  The PCICS planning committee for the WCPCCS has developed the pediatric cardiac critical care content.  In addition to a track within the meeting, PCICS will lead two preconference sessions.

Please be sure to save the dates for our upcoming in-person meetings and keep an eye out for new virtual opportunities to connect and learn together.  We have more work to do to fully engage our international colleagues, but we are making strides and I’m confident that as our Society grows, so will our international reach.

Finally, I hope this Summer brings you some time for joy and rest.

Warmly,

Melissa B. Jones MSN, APRN, CPNP-AC
President, PCICS

 

Save the Dates!

PCICS Annual Meeting: Miami Beach, December 14-18, 2022, Meeting Registration is open!

8^th Annual World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery: Washington DC, August 27^th-September 1^st, 2023