A Professional Timeline

1973: Gwen graduated from New England Baptist Hospital in
          Boston, MA, and went to work in ICU and PAR at Thayer 
          Hospital in Waterville, ME. It was here that she began her
          long history of well received educational presentations.

1975: Moving to Massachusetts’ “Witch City”, she started working
          in the ICU at Salem Hospital.

1976: Having discovered the world of Intravenous Therapy, she
          transferred to the Salem Hospital IV Team.

1979: By now, Gwen had tried her hand at OR Nursing but, when a 
          job became available, she joined the IV Team at the New
          England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, MA.

1980: Gwen and her husband, Steve, moved to Columbus, OH where 
          she joined the Transfusion Team at the Ohio State University
          Hospitals. She also took classes at OSU and maintained a 4.0 GPA.

1982: After Steve completed Graduate School at OSU, it was back to
          the Boston area for them. Gwen became the Nurse-In-Charge of
          the Blood Donor and Transfusion Services at the Brigham &
          Women’s Hospital. Along with training the blood drawing staff
          and writing the policies and procedures, she supervised the
          Plasmapheresis Program. This entailed running the plasmapheresis
          machine, assisting in clinical research, and providing emergency
          “on-call” plasmapheresis coverage. The Blood Donor room also
          provided out-patient transfusion services. Gwen is acknowledged
          as a contributor to research published in the American Journal of 
          Kidney Diseases, Vol. V, No. 3, March 1985. The name of the 
          work is: Successful Management of Thrombocytopenia,
          Microangiopathic Anemia, and Acute Renal Failure by
          Plasmapheresis.

1984: After starting her family, Gwen found herself with an opportunity
          to join the very progressive IV Team at the Hunt Memorial
          Hospital, in Danvers, MA. In addition to routine IV Therapy
          duties, she was placing “Intracaths” (the “Big Daddy” to PICCs)
          and arterial lines.

1986: A move back to Maine, found Gwen with a job on the IV Team
          at Redington-Fairview General Hospital (RFGH) in Skowhegan.
          This is the year that she also started her association with the
          Infusion Nurses Society (INS) and their local Maine group, the
          Pine Tree Chapter (PTC). This would prove to be a long and
          marvelous relationship!

1992: By now, PICCs had become very popular as an option for
          intermediate and long term vascular access. These lines were
          traditionally placed by specially trained, certified RNs. However,
          the Maine State Board of Nursing Regulations prohibited an
          RN from performing this function. Seeing this as an important
          patient care issue, Gwen asked the Board if she might be heard.
          She made a presentation to the entire Board of Nursing, explaining
          all the details involved with the insertion of PICCs. In April, the
          Board voted unanimously to reverse its position and allow properly
          trained RNs to become PICC Insertion Nurses. This opened up a whole new
          world, in Maine, for Infusion Therapy patients in the acute care,
          home care, and long term care settings.

1993: Gwen was then asked by INS, to give a presentation about the
          above experience at their Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, in May.
          As a very effective President of the Pine Tree Chapter, she was 
          given her first of three, INS National Awards. At a ceremony at
          Orlando’s Sea World (with Shamu in attendance!) she was sur-
          prised with the “Most Improved Chapter” Award, a shiny,
          engraved silver cup.

1994: Gwen “became her own patient” in October, when she was diag-
          nosed with Ovarian Cancer. With an intense course of chemotherapy
          coming up, she needed a reliable long term vascular access device
          herself. As an avid swimmer, she chose to have an implanted port 
          inserted. All went well and her career continued to boom!

1995: As one of three RNs who became certified in PICC Insertion, Gwen
          was instrumental in getting the RFGH PICC Program off the ground.

1996: As a PICC Insertion Nurse, the next logical step was to sit for the
          Infusion Nurses Certification Corporation’s Credentialing exam. She
          took the exam, in September and achieved her Certified Registered
          Nurse Infusion (CRNI®) credential. As a gift to herself, she went for
          a ride in a NASCAR, for three laps around Loew’s Motor Speedway
          in Concord, NC, at a speed of >180 mph!!!

1998: By this time Latex Allergy had reared its ugly head in healthcare and
          Gwen had become very versed in the area. INS asked her
          do a presentation on this topic at their Annual Meeting, this time in 
          Houston, TX. Again, she was very well received!

1999: At the INS Annual Meeting, in Charlotte, NC, Gwen did a present-
          ation entitled, “Intradermal Bacteriostatic Saline as Local Anesthesia
          for Pediatric IV Line Placement.” Now a regular on the Infusion 
          Therapy state and national lecture circuit, INS appointed Gwen as its 
          first Regional Liaison; a mentoring position to help other local chapters
          fulfill their dreams of success

2000: At the INS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN, Gwen was again
          honored by being given the first ever “Outstanding Regional Liaison”
          Award for her dedication to the position. She went on to hold this
          appointment for 6 years before passing the torch.

2002: After 16½ years on the RFGH IV Team, with her eyes on the future,
          Gwen took the leap of faith, and started her own consulting business,
          PICC a little…TALK a little! As a big fan of the Broadway Musical,
          “The Music Man”, she had always thought that the modified song title
          would be a charming name for a business that completely describes
          what she does. Hence, her Consulting Services name.
 
          PICC a little…TALK a little! signed its first contract in September with
          Kindred Pharmacy Services in Portland, ME. Gwen is the Infusion
          Therapy Nurse Consultant for their Long Term Care facilities with
          Skilled Units, in Maine. She provides them with both educational and
          clinical IV support.

2005: And, again this year, at INS’ request, Gwen gave three lectures at the
          Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL. And, to her astonishment, 
          received her third national award…….. “2005 INS Member of the
          Year”!

2006: Gwen continued to develop interesting topics for education that will
          further nurses abilities to give superb, quality patient care. She traveled
          a lot this year, presenting many of these lectures in Des Moines, IA,
          Reno and Las Vegas, NV, and Portland, OR.

2007: Several speaking engagements had her taking her show
          “on the road”! Bartlett, NH in March, Des Moines,
          IA (again!) in May, the INS Annual Meeting, in Orlando, FL, in 
          June, Lincoln, ME in July, and Rockport, ME in October.

2008: PICC a little..... continues to grow. This is a brand new webpage with a
          completely updated look. After an RN IV Course session this February
          in Bangor, Gwen will be the Keynote Speaker at this year's annual Pine
          Tree Chapter Seminar in Portland on April 2nd. She will then travel
          to Connecticut to entertain at the Oncology Nurses Society's local
          chapter Seminar, in Wallingford.

2009: This year started with a trip to Orlando, FL to entertain the Society of
          Gynecological Nurse Oncologists. April saw her heading to Seattle, WA to
          speak at the Seminar of the Puget Sound Chapter of INS. She continued her
          work educating and training nurses who work in facilities serviced by
          PharMerica, of Portland. And in December, she entertained the staff of
          Assistance Plus, of Benton, ME, during their Holiday Celebration.

2010: Speaking engagements in Bartlett, NH and Burlington, MA will start this year
          off with a bang! Then, she’s off to Fort Lauderdale, FL in May, for the INS
          Annual Meeting.
 

          There are plenty of dates and times left for you to take advantage of the
          phenomenal Infusion Therapy Education and Training provided by PICC
          a little...TALK a little!

          Gwen is a proud “Cancer Survivor” and works very hard to use this
          “gift” of time to improve infusion patient care.  There is no doubt that 
          Gwen can help you solve most of your Infusion Therapy problems. 
          You see, if she doesn’t know the answer, she knows someone who
          does!
 

Gwen:

A.  Belongs to the following Professional Organizations: 
          Infusion Nurses Society (INS)
          Pine Tree Chapter of INS (PTC) 
          Coalition of Maine Nursing Organizations (COMNO)
          Maine Vascular Access Network (MEVAN) 

 

 

B. Is listed in: 
          National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Pro-
                 fessionals; 2004-2005 Edition

C.  Is published in;
          The ANA-ME Journal; Fall 2005; “There are no “PILLs”
                      in Infusion Therapy”; p.6.
          The ANA-ME Journal; Winter 2006; "To Swab or Not to
                     Swab...That is the Question"; p. 18.
          The ANA-ME Journal; Spring 2006; “Can Anesthetized
                     Patients Hear?”; p.5. 
          The ANA-Maine Journal;  Summer 2006:  "Skills 
                     Competency Validation"; p. 8.
          The ANA-Maine Journal; Fall 2006; “Infusion Therapy 
                     Documentation”; pg.4.
              The ANA-Maine Journal; Winter 2007; "Writing Infusion
                    Therapy Policies and Procedures"; pg 6.

D.  Is fully insured through Nurses Services Organization (NSO)

E.  Holds a current, valid, compact-type RN license in the State 
          of Maine. Holds an “In-Active” status RN license in the
          state of Ohio.

F.  Is a Notary Public in the State of Maine and, as
          "The Wedding Nurse", performs beautiful Civil Marriage
          Ceremonies. Her Commission expires: 11/8/2011