Conference Information

Please see our conference page for information on airline and hotel discounts.

For any questions about the conference, please email conference@cafcn.ca

Early bird pricing in effect until April 1, 2020

Registration for Workshops is separate from your conference registration, but you must be registered for the conference to register for a workshop. Once you have completed and paid for your conference registration, you will receive a link to the Workshop Registration page.

Refund requests will be honoured, less a $50.00 processing fee, if received in writing prior to May 1st, 2020.

After this date, refunds will not be issued, but substitutions are permitted.

8:00 am – 8:30 am Workshop Registration – Baronet Hall, 8th floor
9:00 am – 4:00 pm Early Conference Registration – Baronet Hall, 8th floor
6:30 pm AGM Registration – Baronet Hall 8th floor
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm AGM – Baronet Room, 8th floor
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm Wine & Cheese Reception – Baronet Room, 8th floor

7:00 – 7:50 am Registration & Breakfast
7:50 – 8:30 am Welcome & Opening Remarks; Greetings

8:30 – 9:15 am Towards Inter-Professional Foot Care– Joel Alleyne, ED, Canadian Podiatric Medical Association
In the world of foot care, Foot Care Nursing and Podiatry are two of a number of complementary but overlapping professions. Our Associations have  collaborated over the last five years in finding ways to serve the public better.

In a patient-centric world, continued coordination, collaboration and communication will help strengthen these services for the public. This session will outline some of the challenges and opportunities we face together.

9:15 – 10:00 am The Problem: Diabetic Foot Care in Canada: How the geko™ device can help – Dorace Ramage & Tom Weisz
Diabetes in Canada and around the world can truly be called a pandemic. As of 2016, it’s estimated that almost 1 in 3 Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes and the numbers continue to rise. This presentation will discuss the problems with the Canadian health care system in dealing with diabetic foot care and how the geko™ device can contribute to prevention and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, the leading cause of lower leg amputation.

10:00 – 10:30 am Nutrition Break
Exhibitor Shopping time/Networking with colleagues

10:30 – 12:00 Provincial Roundtable – Audrey Wall
This discussion will start with the top 5 matters CAFCN has learned from previous Roundtable discussions.

12:00 – 1:15 pm Lunch
Exhibitor Shopping time/Networking with Colleagues

1:15 – 2:00 pm Managing the Neuropathic Foot – Janet Kuhnke & Andrea Richards
This presentation features a NSWOC nurse and Pedorthist teaming up to offer their approaches on the prevention and treatment of the neuropathic foot. Topics include: Overview of the problem, links to blood glucose and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and management strategies like offloading and gait assessment.

2:00 – 2:45 pm Protect Yourself – Performing a Point of Care Risk Assessment for Foot Care Nurses – Merlee Steele-Rodway
A point of care risk assessment is critical for Foot Care Nurses and plays a key role for both the provider and client. Knowing how to protect yourself and your client will ensure safe care. Before every client interaction, you will choose appropriate actions to minimize your risk. This presentation will provide the necessary steps to identify risk and take the necessary steps in a point of care risk assessment.

2:45 – 3:15 pm Nutrition Break
Exhibitor Shopping time/Networking with Colleagues

3:15 – 4:00 pm Social media and technology – Jennifer Katusmo CNPS
An increasing number of nurses are using mobile devices and apps as tools to assist in daily clinical care. This presentation will review a nurse’s ethical and professional obligations when using social media and discuss risk-management tips to help reduce risk. Recent case studies and legislative developments involving the use of social media in healthcare environments will also be examined.

4:00 – 4:30 pm Scleroderma – Jason Doucette
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs in addition to the skin. The purpose of this presentation is to help foot care nurses understand the basics of Scleroderma and how we can work together to improve the quality of life for our mutual clients.

4:30 – 5:30 pm Spotlight sessions: Exhibitors are invited to showcase a particular product or service in 10-minute rotating sessions.

6:30 pm Saturday Evening Social Event

Join us at Five Fishermen restaurant (private dining room) in Downtown Halifax and let the personalized service and warm contemporary ambiance, set the tone for an exceptional dining experience. Choose from a selection of the finest seafood available or indulge in our critically acclaimed prime center cut steaks, aged 28 days and wood fire grill to perfection. Complement your meal with a selection from our wine menu — an award-wining list of more than 200 wines curated by our Sommelier.

Everyone will order their own meal (reduced menu) on site and separate bills will be provided. The restaurant is a 5-minute walk from the hotel, 1740 Argyle Street, dinner reservation for 6:30. This event is limited to 36 people on a first come first serve basis, avoid disappointment – register early!

$20 deposit to hold your seat; the deposit will be refunded at the dinner

7:15 – 8:00 am Breakfast
Exhibitor Shopping time/Networking with Colleagues

8:00 – 8:45 am Something could be going on that my eyes cannot see! – Kathleen Stevens
This presentation reports the findings of a mixed-methods research study that evaluated the effectiveness of foot self-management strategy for patients with diabetes that utilized a low-cost infrared thermometer. Results showed that this strategy benefited patients in relation to foot self-management. These findings have implications for advanced foot care nursing practice.

8:45 – 9:30 am IPAC Canada’s Reprocessing of Critical Foot Care Devices – Merlee Steele-Rodway
Foot care devices have been associated with healthcare associated infection and outbreaks. IPAC-Canada has developed a practice document for healthcare providers who provide foot care or reprocess critical foot care devices in any health care setting, including, but not limited to, care provided in private homes, clinics and health care settings. This presentation will provide guidance on the National Standards for reprocessing of critical foot care devices.

9:30 – 10:00 am Nutrition Break
Exhibitor Shopping time/Networking with Colleagues

10:00 – 10:45 am The Stress-Hormone Connection – Dr. Cassandra Connolly
In today’s stressed out world we are seeing more and more individuals having health issues that arise from chronic stress and burn out. You don’t feel like yourself anymore, maybe your work is suffering, you have unexplained symptoms and your trying to connect the dots…. I get it, I have been there! The stress hormone connection may be the missing piece of your health puzzle that you have been searching for!

10:45 – 11:30 “Sole searching” looking for common dermatological conditions in feet – Dr. Ariel Burns
During this presentation, common dermatological foot and nail conditions will be reviewed, including pathogenesis, distinguishing clinical features and differential diagnosis, as well as basic clinic management. Clinical “Red flags” for potentially serious conditions will also be highlighted, including malignancies and serious infections.

11:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch

11:30 – 1:30 pm Educators Lunch – If you are a nursing foot care educator, please join us for lunch.

Guest Speaker:–Erin J. Careless, PhD

Learning Evaluation – How do you accurately measure student learning? How do you provide the appropriate means of representing knowledge so that students feel supported in their diverse learning needs? In this presentation, we will discuss evaluation as connected to the needs of learners and the content delivered, various types of evaluation, and determining ‘best of fit’ in terms of when to use what types of evaluation tools.

1:30 – 2:15 pm The Role of Physiotherapy in the Interprofessional Team Approach in the care of a client with Foot Dysfunction – Stephen Richey
This session will provide an overview of the anatomy and biomechanics of the foot and ankle as part of the lower kinetic chain as well as the role of physiotherapy in the team approach treatment for the client with foot dysfunction.

2:15 – 3:00 pm What toes are telling us and why it matters – Kate Clayton-Jones
Assessing how toes look and feel, and the prints they leave in the front of shoes, is a window of opportunity for a foot care nurse to make a huge impact beyond toe nail shaping and improving skin integrity. This presentation is about what those toe prints tell us and translating that information into practice.

3:00 – 3:45 pm Taking control of your health and wellness in a busy lifestyle – Sylvia Peters & Steve Nemethy
Most of us want to “feel” better, but we tend to have a hard time keeping up with the daily tasks that will give us the results we are longing for. We have a hard time breaking eating habits, and/or following a fitness routine, sticking to something for a short time then eventually giving up. You have the power to change that. Taking control of our personal choices that determine our health outcomes is one of the most empowering things we can do. Steve and Sylvia of Nova Fitness will be presenting on how to incorporate sustainable habits to your daily routine to ensure a healthy lifestyle with a busy schedule. Investing in being healthy physically and mentally provides a foundation of success!

3:45 pm Closing Remarks / Evaluations