New Orleans, Louisiana Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, May 10-12, 2005

ICON was established in 2001 with the mission of "uniting knowledge with technology." With the nursing shortage at an all time high, ICON understands the tremendous pressure and complexities faced by the bedside clinician and strive to enhance ICU practice and improve patient outcomes. ICON's Critical Care Resource Center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week providing clinical and educational support to clinicians by clinicians. The center is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of health care clinicians including: Intensivists, Registered Nurses and Respiratory Therapists.

A link was placed in the Drager Infinity Explorer Monitoring System to remotely connect to ICON through the latest in audiovisual capabilities. When asked if this would be helpful to the overburdened critical care nurse, many nurses exclaimed this would be the ultimate in clinical resource. The ICON display, part of the Drager Medical exhibit, highlighted additional services including interactive web-based learning. This was particularly popular with attendees, as they were able to participate in remote interactive educational sessions with an Intensivist in Baltimore, Maryland covering clinical topics from ventilator waveform analysis to radiographic interpretation. Said Mary Regle, an ICU nurse of 20 years, "This was impressive, I will certainly be going back pushing for this kind of support in my institution".

With over 7,500 participants and 480 exhibitors, this year's National Teaching Institute (NTI) was by any measure a success. As a record breaking number of attendees perused the latest in health care adjuncts and technology, exhibitors vied to demonstrate the latest in technology for the critical care nurse. Among the myriad of exhibitors was Intensive Care On-line Network (ICON), a company that provides clinical and educational support to manufacturers of health care devices.