What conference benefits does your hospital offer?

[sarah.b2024]

I'm trying to start a program at my hospital that offers financial assistance to nurses and other members of the clinical team to go to conferences. This assistance would go towards conference fees and maybe travel expenses. I was wondering if anyone's facility offers any assistance for conference attendence and are there any requirements when you return? If you could detail the assistance provided, that would be great! Thanks!

[PeakRN]

We are given a number of elective education hours that we can use however we please in addition to mandatory education. Some staff use this for dinner presentations, some use it for various classes or other training not required for their job, and some use it for conferences.

We can apply to have conference fees and travel expenses paid for as well, but we need to demonstrate how it would benefit the unit or the hospital, and is still put under scrutiny. Between the difficulty in the application process and the number of denials most staff don't find applying to be worth it.

[L-ICURN, BSN, RN]

We get no assistance for that. We hosted an annual specialty conference every year, but you had to pay to go and not everybody could do that. One of the clinical members paid to attend a national conference every year. But I don't believe the person had assistance for it. That would be an awesome program if you get it up and running.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

The first hospital I worked for had an amazing and supportive program for continuing education and conferences. Each employee had the opportunity to apply for a grant for one conference a year. An application had to be filled out including why you wanted to attend the conference. The conference had to be relevant to the job and then you were required to present the information you learned at your unit's staff meetings and send out a summary via email. They paid for airfare, hotel room, and a per diem daily for meals.