Enter a room of tranquility to relax and decompress throughout the conference. We will supply coloring books, essential oils, and light music to encourage our nurses to unwind.

In a world where relationships drive success, the quality of our connections matters more than ever. Whether in business or everyday life, truly impactful connections don’t just happen—they’re built with intention, authenticity, and care. In this engaging talk, you’ll discover the key ingredients to forming meaningful, “5-star” connections that foster trust, open doors, and leave a lasting impression.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Examine the art of presence and why it’s essential for building trust.
2. Discuss how to strengthen communication and emotional intelligence in business relationships.
3. Identify the secret to turning casual connections into long-term partnerships.
4. Explain how small moments of connection can have a massive impact.

Strong Legs, Safer Steps: The Power of Lower Extremity Strength Discover why lower extremity strength is more than just mobility—it can be a key factor in fall prevention, independence, quality of life, and healthy aging. This engaging presentation will explore the connection between strength, mobility, and falls in nursing home residents while providing practical strategies nurses can use to recognize weakness, promote safe movement, and support functional independence. Join us to learn how small, intentional changes in everyday nursing care can help residents stay stronger, safer, and more independent for longer. 

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives:

1. Define the role of lower extremity strength in maintaining mobility, independence, and quality of life among older adults.
2. Explain the relationship between lower extremity weakness, falls, functional decline, and overall health outcomes in nursing home residents.
3. Identify common signs of lower extremity weakness and fall-risk factors that nurses may observe during routine resident care.
4. Demonstrate appropriate nursing interventions that promote lower extremity strength, safe mobility, and fall prevention in nursing home residents.
5. Evaluate the effectiveness of individualized strength and mobility interventions by monitoring changes in residents’ functional status, mobility, and fall risk. 

Antipsychotic use in skilled nursing is under sharper scrutiny than ever. New HHS-OIG reports have called out facilities for using these medications for staff convenience rather than clinical need, and CMS's January 2026 hybrid Long-Stay Antipsychotic Quality Measure is already pushing facility rates upward and catching many providers off guard. This practical, nursing-focused session moves past "med management" to show you how to build a facility system that prevents unnecessary psychotropics while protecting resident rights and safety. You'll leave with survey-ready tools you can put to work Monday morning: a 5-point decision filter for every start and renewal, an ABC documentation template that stands up to survey, a PRN 14-day hard-stop workflow, a GDR due-list process, and a one-page QAPI snapshot for monthly IDT review. Whether you're a DON, nurse manager, or administrator, you'll walk away with a clear, auditable roadmap to align resident outcomes with compliance—and reduce your F605 and Five-Star risk.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives: 

1. Identify the core CMS requirements for antipsychotic use, gradual dose reduction (GDR), and PRN limits in skilled nursing facilities.  
2. Differentiate appropriate from inappropriate indications for antipsychotic use in the long-term care population.  
3. Apply a 5-point nursing decision filter to determine whether initiating or continuing an antipsychotic is clinically justified.  
4. Compose survey-ready behavioral documentation using an ABC format (trigger → behavior → non-pharmacologic response → outcome).  
5. Evaluate facility IDT and QAPI workflows used to monitor antipsychotic use, oversee PRN/GDR compliance, and reduce citation risk. 

What is addiction, really? This session reframes substance use as a signal of distress rather than a moral failing—and gives post-acute care teams the practical tools to respond well. Drawing on current national data, the classic "Rat Park" research on connection and community, and a salutogenic, strengths-based lens, presenter Michael Goldsmith, LMSW, walks participants through the full clinical picture: distinguishing use from abuse and dependence, choosing the right evidence-based screening tools, understanding pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment options, and—perhaps most usefully—recognizing and managing manipulative behaviors without letting them fracture the care team. Expect candid discussion, real-world scenarios, and concrete, consistent strategies grounded in Motivational Interviewing that you can bring back to your building on Monday morning.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Differentiate among substance use, substance abuse, and substance dependence using established clinical criteria.
2. Identify at least four evidence-based screening/assessment tools appropriate for adult and geriatric populations (e.g., CIWA-Ar, CAGE, DAST-20, SMAST-G, SBIRT, AUDIT).
3. Contrast the salutogenic ("origin of health") approach with the traditional pathogenic model of substance use.
4. Recognize the presentations of maladaptive manipulative behavior and apply consistent, non-punitive, team-based boundary-setting interventions.
5. Explain the core elements (F.R.A.M.E.S.) and guiding principles of Motivational Interviewing and how they build internal motivation for change.

Tracking and trending communicable diseases/infections and antibiotic use can seem very overwhelming when you do not understand why it is important to look at this data. Line listings and facility maps can appear to be “busy work” or a “waste of time”. But when you understand why these are important, you will embrace them as proactive and sometimes reactive tools to improve policies, procedures, and current practices within the facility. Resulting in improved outcomes for your residents.

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives: 

1. Differentiate the difference between a HAI, CAI and suspected infections
2. Diagram infections on facility map to identify possible trends
3. Detect trends of communicable diseases/infections and potential overuse of antibiotics by analyzing month end data

Join this high-energy, practical session to discover how to transform routine competency sign-offs into an engaging, high-yield event. You will learn step-by-step strategies to organize and execute a multi-station skills fair featuring 10+ core competencies—all without compromising resident care ratios or draining your floor staff. From gamified micro-stations and escape-room scenarios to digital tracking tools and standardized rubrics, you will walk away with a plug-and-play blueprint to boost staff engagement, eliminate evaluator bias, and keep your facility continuously survey-ready.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Apply at least two scheduling and flow strategies (e.g., micro-burst stations, passport routing) to validate over 10 clinical skills without pulling essential staff off the floor.
2. Transition at least three routine, paper-based competency checklists in their facility into active, gamified demonstration modules (e.g., rapid-fire challenges, simulation/escape-room scenarios).
3. Adopt standardized evaluation rubrics and digital or streamlined tracking systems to eliminate evaluator bias, ensure multi-shift equity, and maintain continuous audit readiness for CMS survey compliance.

Effective antipsychotic stewardship begins with understanding and using data to drive improvement. This presentation explores how nursing homes can leverage Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) principles to monitor psychotropic medication use, identify opportunities for Gradual Dose Reduction (GDR), and improve resident-centered outcomes. Participants will learn practical strategies for analyzing key measures, engaging interdisciplinary teams, and turning data into meaningful action plans that support regulatory compliance, reduce unnecessary antipsychotic use, and promote the highest practicable well-being for residents.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Define primary goal of Gradual Dose Reduction for residents in a long-term care setting.
2. List two key data points used to track and monitor psychotropic medication use within a facility.
3. Develop an interdisciplinary action plan to reduce unnecessary antipsychotic administration while maintaining compliance.

Components and application of routine trach care, Complications associated with poor quality or not providing routine trach care, routine trach tube changes and why manufacturer recommendations matter.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. List the components of routine tracheostomy care.
2. Discuss the complications associated with incompliancy in providing routine tracheostomy care.
3. List 3 reasons why manufacturers recommend routine tracheostomy tube changes.

Legionella is a waterborne pathogen that poses considerable risk to individuals in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities. This presentation will describe situations that may place patients at higher risk and the current state of legionellosis outbreaks and facility investigations in Michigan. Participants will also learn about practical infection control measures that can help reduce the Legionella prevalence and exposure likelihood in their facilities.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Differentiate between possible and presumptive healthcare-associated legionellosis cases
2. Identify clinical areas and situations that pose a higher risk of legionellosis
3. Discuss the role a clinician may play in a legionellosis investigation
4. List at least 3 types of water restrictions a facility may implement during a legionellosis investigation
5. Describe enhanced clinical surveillance during a legionellosis investigation

Enter a room of tranquility to relax and decompress throughout the conference. We will supply coloring books, essential oils, and light music to encourage our nurses to unwind.

Today's litigation environment requires directors of nursing administration to fully understand the critical role they fulfill in giving deposition testimony. This session seeks to equip nursing leaders with practical and defensible approaches to the examining attorney's questions in a deposition. This is a must-attend session.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Summarize how deposition testimony fits into the litigation process.
2. Identify four best practices to prepare for testifying in a deposition.
3. List four exhibits frequently used in depositions.
4. Describe the timeline of when depositions occur in litigation.

We say things like “monitor closely” and “resident stable” but what do those even mean? If your team has to guess, they will. And when vague words get baked into care plans, education, and daily huddles, it leads to silence, missed changes, and harm we never saw coming.

This session calls it out: our language is too soft, our training is too vague, and it’s time to fix both. We’ll dig into how the way we teach and talk actually trains staff to overlook risk — and how to flip that script. You’ll leave with real-world strategies to write clearer expectations, teach smarter (not longer), and help your staff actually see what matters before it becomes a problem.

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives: 

1. Recognize examples of vague language that contributes to inconsistent staff understanding and performance.
2. Differentiate between passive educational approaches and behavior-focused teaching strategies.
3. Apply practical techniques to create clearer expectations and more effective staff education.
4. Identify opportunities to improve communication and training within their own organizations.

You need to know the interface between nursing administration and the law. Come test your legal I.Q. so you can acquire much-needed information for yourself and for those you supervise. In today's litigious environment, you have to stay ahead of the curve.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Describe the state and federal legal court systems.
2. List the litigation process from claims to judgment. 
3. Identify the four elements of nursing negligence lawsuit.
4. Analyze the interactions between nursing administrators and the lawsuit system.

You don’t need another polite reminder to “be more aware.” You need the truth: most bad events don’t come out of nowhere — we just got comfortable ignoring the signs. We normalize chaos, wave off early shifts as “just how she is,” and hope nothing blows up on our shift. Meanwhile, the Bang is warming up in the background.

We'll expose why we miss early warning signs and teach you how to catch them while you still have power to prevent the mess. We break down Left of Bang into real-life skills: noticing what’s changing, interpreting what it means, and responding before you’re stuck reacting in crisis mode. No fluff. No jargon. Just the practical awareness muscles that stop trouble before it starts.

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives: 

1. Recognize subtle changes from a resident's baseline that may signal an emerging change in condition.
2. Interpret early warning signs using the Notice–Interpret–Respond framework.
3. Select appropriate early nursing actions to prevent escalation and improve resident outcomes.
4. Recognize common mindset traps that interfere with situational awareness and early intervention.

This interactive session arms directors of nursing administration in long-term and sub-acute care with knowledge and strategies to identify the most highly litigated legal risks. It seeks to solidify documentation skills and assist nurse leaders with liability reduction techniques. Be sure to attend this session!

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Identify the impact of quality documentation on lawsuit reduction.
2. Apply risk management skills to case studies.
3. Summarize the differences between criminal, civil, and administrative liability.
4. List the most highly litigated issues in long-term care.

The clues are there. The question is whether you'll recognize them.

Every mystery has clues, and in long-term care, some clues hide in plain sight. Join us for an engaging and interactive learning experience where participants will investigate a challenge in resident care: unrecognized and/or undertreated pain. Through the themed adventure of Mystery at the Manor: The Search for the 5-Star DON, attendees will uncover how behaviors, repeated complaints, functional decline, and unmet care plans may point to untreated or undertreated pain rather than resident "difficulties." As detectives on the case, learners will explore the science and psychology of pain, sharpen assessment and documentation skills, and discover evidence-based strategies that improve resident comfort, quality of life, and clinical outcomes. Can you solve the mystery and uncover what the best Directors of Nursing know about pain management? Join the investigation and find out! 

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives: 

1. Differentiate pain-related behaviors from other causes of resident distress, including recognizing when challenging behaviors, repeated complaints, functional decline, or ineffective care plans may indicate unrecognized or undertreated pain. 
2. Apply evidence-based pain assessment strategies to identify pain in residents with varying levels of cognitive, communication, and functional abilities.
3. Implement pain documentation practices by accurately describing pain indicators, assessments, interventions, and resident responses to treatment.

Sponsored by NIVA Wound Care

NOTE: Please grab your lunch and be seated no later than 11:45 AM.

Crack the Code: Understanding CMS QRP & Five-Star Quality Measures

What's really behind your facility's Five-Star rating? Join us for an engaging, practical look at CMS Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and Five-Star Quality Measures and discover how nursing practice, documentation, MDS data, and clinical outcomes come together to impact quality performance. Participants will learn how to recognize key quality measures, analyze performance trends, identify opportunities for improvement, and apply strategies that can strengthen clinical practice and documentation. Through real-world examples, and a little detective work, this session will help nurses connect the dots between what happens at the bedside and what ultimately appears on the CMS quality report.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Identify CMS QRP and Five-Star Quality Measures.
2. Explain the relationship between nursing practice and quality outcomes.
3. Analyze quality data to identify performance gaps and apply strategies to improve clinical practice, documentation, and quality measure performance.

Good intentions do not always produce equitable outcomes. In this interactive session, healthcare professionals will explore how implicit bias can shape what we notice, the stories we tell ourselves about patients, and the decisions we make in everyday care. Through healthcare-based scenarios, discussion, and practical strategies, participants will learn to distinguish observation from assumption, recognize how language can reinforce bias, and identify opportunities to interrupt the process. Because sometimes the most important moment is the moment before we make the judgment.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Define implicit bias and distinguish it from explicit bias and intentional discrimination.
2. Identify how implicit bias can influence perception, communication, judgment, and decision-making during healthcare encounters.
3. Analyze healthcare scenarios to distinguish observable facts from assumptions and identify how patient narratives can contribute to barriers or disparities in care.
4. Apply at least two practical, evidence-informed strategies for interrupting implicit bias and supporting equitable, patient-centered communication and decision-making.

Take the mystery out of Adult Protective Services roles and responsibilities. Learn what Adult Protective Services is all about.

Nurse Learner Objective:

Learner Outcomes:

1. Understand roles/responsibilities of Adult Protective Services.
2. Understand Mandatory Reporter responsibilities.
3. How to make an Adult Protective Services Referral.

What do you do when a resident says, “I don’t want to live anymore,” “I can’t take this,” or “I’ll die if I have to stay here”? Is it frustration, an expression of distress, or suicidal ideation—and how can you tell the difference?

In long-term and post-acute care, knowing how to respond matters. This interactive session will help participants distinguish between negative or distressing statements and statements that may indicate suicidal ideation, identify when additional assessment and intervention are needed, and translate those findings into an individualized care plan. Using practical examples and real-life scenarios, attendees will explore appropriate follow-up questions, interventions, approaches, documentation, and interdisciplinary responses. Participants will leave better prepared to recognize what a resident may be communicating, respond with confidence, and develop a care plan that supports both safety and emotional well-being.

Nurse Learner Outcome: 

Learner Objectives:

1. Differentiate between expressions of frustration, hopelessness, or distress and statements that may indicate suicidal ideation.
2. Identify key warning signs, risk indicators, and follow-up questions that may warrant further suicide risk assessment or immediate intervention.
3. Apply appropriate interventions and approaches based on the resident’s statements, behaviors, level of risk, and individual needs.
4. Develop individualized care plan interventions for residents expressing emotional distress, negative statements, or suicidal ideation.
5. Evaluate resident scenarios to determine appropriate next steps for assessment, documentation, interdisciplinary communication, care planning, and ongoing monitoring.

There has been a mysterious development at the manor - and we need Michigan’s finest nurse leaders to help crack the case!

Join us Thursday evening for Mystery at the Manor: The Case of the 5-Star DON, a Clue-inspired networking party filled with mystery, memorable characters, great food, drinks and plenty of opportunities to connect with fellow attendees.

Guests are encouraged to arrive dressed as though they are attending a murder mystery at an elegant and eccentric manor. Bring one of the classic characters to life—Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum, Mrs. White or Mr. Green—or invent an entirely new suspect of your own. Perhaps you are the mysterious MDS Coordinator in the conservatory, the suspicious Surveyor with the clipboard or the elusive 5-Star Director of Nursing who knows more than they are willing to reveal!

Costumes are encouraged but not required. Whether you arrive dressed for the mystery or simply come ready to enjoy the evening, everyone is invited to join the fun.

Costume Contest

Prizes will be awarded in three categories:

• Best Classic Character: The costume most true to the look and personality of an original Clue character
• Most Creative Suspect: The most imaginative original murder-mystery character
• Most Suspicious DON: The costume that most creatively combines the mystery theme with the world of Directors of Nursing 

Study the clues. Question the suspects. Dress to impress. You never know who - or what - you may encounter at the manor!

In this session, we will discuss the regulation pertaining to the roles and responsibilities of the DON and the MD in Nursing homes. We will also discuss the top ten citations in the state of Michigan, and how the MD and DON can play a role in preventing these types of citations.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Review the top citations in Michigan and their causes.
2. Discuss the roles the DON plays in relation to regulations.
3. Examine how to get MD involved in surveys.
4. Discuss the current state of surveys in Michigan.

In this session, you will learn about the most recent national regulatory updates, along with the stated goals and objectives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS and CDC. The attendee can expect to learn more about the recently released Risk Based survey process and will receive information on tools and resources available for quality improvement in their organizations.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Discuss recent updates for COVID-19 return to work guidance in nursing homes from the CDC.
2. List 3 main priority areas for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as it relates to the nursing home setting.
3. Describe reasons why a facility would be excluded from receiving the new Risk Based Survey process from CMS.

Save yourself! Don't be the next victim of the quagmire of regulations! Help your residents and their guardians battle the seaweed grabbing at their feet with the changes to the guardianship law here in Mich. Save yourself from standard surveys! Learn how you can become eligible for a Risk-Based Survey (RBS). Don't let the strong current of the stream of the new PPS rule drag you under! Discover the upcoming changes to SNF QRP and SNF VBP.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives:

1. Describe the provisions of the changes to the guardianship law in Michigan that affects resident transfers.
2. Discuss the Risk-Based survey process.
3. Review the provisions of the FY 2027 PPS Rule