Workshops

Please Note: NCS Annual Meeting workshop sessions require an additional fee. Workshops may be subject to cancellation due to extenuating circumstances beyond our control. In the event that your workshop is canceled, a member of the NCS Headquarters team will contact you. Workshops will be available in the virtual platform only to registered attendees. 

Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp: A Virtual Introductory Course

Course Director: Jeffrey M. Singh, MD, MSc
Tuesday, September 22 at 9:00 am – 1:00 pm CDT

Mechanical ventilation is a cornerstone of modern life support and a core competency of neurocritical care. This half-day virtual workshop equips the attendee with the fundamentals of mechanical ventilation using a combination of pre-reading materials, lectures and case-based discussions. The online learning is complemented off-line by attendee use of a ventilator simulator. Brief interactive lectures will complement case-based sessions covering basic respiratory physiology, the application, monitoring and troubleshooting of mechanical ventilation, patient-ventilator interactions, and weaning and liberation. Context-specific considerations such as ventilation in brain injury, spinal cord injury and ARDS will also be discussed.

Target Audience: This is an introductory course. Ideal attendees are fellows, neurologists and neurocritical care specialists, advanced practice providers or nurses who want to acquire fundamental and detailed knowledge of the basic provision of mechanical ventilation in neurocritical care.

Advanced Practice Providers

Course Director: Rachel Hausladen, NP & Liz Fox, MSN, ACNS, AG-ACNP, AVNP, FAHA
Tuesday, September 22 at 9:00 am – 1:00 pm CDT

Advanced Practice Providers contribute to the care of critically ill neuroscience patients in many ways. This workshop focuses on both clinical care and role-specific professional issues. At the 18th Annual Meeting, clinically we will focus on learning introductory CT/MRI, followed by an in-depth discussion of these imaging modalities for common neurocritical care diagnoses. Basic ventilator principles and management will also be discussed.  Information will be presented using a case-based approach, allowing participants to apply diagnostic reasoning and management principles, integrating critical care concepts. Professional practice issues will also be addressed via a panel discussion focused on developing a multidisciplinary team.

Critical Care EEG

Course Director: Ayham Alkhachroum, MD and & Julie Kromm, MD
Tuesday, September 22 at 9:00 am – 1:00 pm CDT

This workshop will focus on the practical utilization of EEG in the ICU. The overall goal is to empower attendees with knowledge about the current and future potential of EEG as a neuromonitoring tool. We will introduce EEG basics including acquisition, quantitative analysis, and interpretation. We will cover the use of EEG in the management of status epilepticus and ictal-interictal continuum, ischemia monitoring, and neuroprognositication. The workshop will entail theoretical overview, case examples, and interactive group discussion to familiarize participants with the use of the EEG software.

Neurocritical Care Pharmacotherapy

Course Director: Aaron Cook, PharmD, FNCS
Tuesday, September 22 at 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm CDT

Expert faculty from across the country will cover new, controversial, and evidence-based pharmacotherapy strategies for the neurocritically ill in a case-based and interactive learning environment! This year’s topics include: new antimicrobials for CNS infection, rescue therapy in intracranial procedures, the ABCDEF bundle, renal function issues in neurocritical care, BP management after thrombectomy, and pharmacologic strategies to improve wakefulness and neurorecovery. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own cases/examples to the course for discussion.

Building a Quality Improvement Program in the NICU

Course Directors: Casey Olm-Shipman, MD & Debra Roberts, MD, PhD
Tuesday, September 22 at 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm CDT

The Quality and Performance Improvement Workshop (QPIW) will provide crucial concepts necessary for NCS leaders to develop effective multidisciplinary neurocritical care QI programs within their institutions. QPIW will enhance knowledge essential to improving process and outcome measures in neurocritically ill patients. Existing guidelines and performance measures will be reviewed as a foundation for development of QI projects. With these tools in mind, we will explore the nuts-and-bolts of building a comprehensive neurocritical care QI program, which include building a multidisciplinary QI team, garnering buy-in from institutional leadership and establishing administrative support, identifying and tracking neurocritical care QI metrics, and developing infrastructure for data collection and display.

The workshop will include case illustrations of how to design and implement QI projects. We will conclude with a discussion of pathways to scholarship in QI. Course participants will receive a valuable electronic guide describing useful resources pertinent to conducting QI in neurocritical care, including QI-relevant guidelines, databases, and project development materials.

Friday, Sept. 25

Professionalism, Leadership and Research Mentoring Session**

Friday, September 25 at 10:00 am - 3:15 pm 

This program will cover essential skills for successful career advancement in neurocritical care professions. The sessions are geared towards members of all backgrounds, professions, roles and disciplines. In particular, aspiring leaders who have not attended the course previously are encouraged to attend. Topics presented by NCS leaders will cover areas such as NCS leadership and organizational involvement, mentorship, graceful self-promotion, interview skills, negotiation, team-building, and managing conflict. In addition, topics to help advance research skills and professional advancement in the clinical and laboratory settings will be provided, along with time for direct mentoring by senior NCS researchers in interactive sessions. The session will include a networking break with NCS leadership and multiprofessional leaders in the field.

**Pre-registration is required, but there is no additional fee to attend the Professionalism, Leadership and Research Mentoring session.