Clayton Sleep Institute Clinical Consultant on faculty for ATC 2014 and SLEEP 2014

ST. LOUIS (May 13, 2014) — A Clayton Sleep Institute (CSI) clinician will temporarily trade her patient files for presentation scripts. Loretta Colvin, APRN-BC, CRNP, RN, CSI clinical consultant, will appear at two national conferences to speak about the best equipment and best practices for treating sleep apnea.

Loretta Colvin

Colvin will co-present the topic, Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) Devices in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on May 16 at the American Thoracic Society ATS 2014 conference in San Diego, Calif.

There are three major brands to PAP machines and the presentation will review those available to doctors and other providers.

“The machines keep a report of what happens when a patient sleeps, and each machine is slightly different,” Colvin said. “We’re going to be digging deep into the features and all the things they can do.”

On June 3, Colvin will serve as faculty on a panel to discuss PAP Adherence: Utilizing Team-Based Care and a Behavioral Approach to Maximize Success at SLEEP 2014, the 28th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, held in Minneapolis, Minn.

Colvin said that some patients have difficulty acclimating to PAP therapy masks, which they wear while sleeping to help them breathe. Those difficulties can mean getting a new mask or seeing a psychologist for a more serious issue. The panel at SLEEP will discuss how to put those pieces together to help the patient.

“How do we get all of the different players to help? A sleep technologist, a respiratory therapist, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians and psychologists? Everyone has a different skill set but we each need to understand what each person does so we can maximize our effectiveness for the patient,” she said. “Not all of the patient care will necessarily come from the patient’s doctor. In some cases, it really does take a village.”

To further demonstrate the importance of the team approach, Colvin will also present The Expanding Role of APRNs and PAs in Sleep Medicine at SLEEP 2014.

Colvin said sharing the spotlight with the top minds in her field is only one reason for attending conferences.

“I learn a lot from these conferences.” she said. “SLEEP is the place where ground-breaking research is presented from both a research and a clinical standpoint, and at a multidisciplinary level. I have the opportunity to hear some very specific research or some very broad clinical discussions.”

At Clayton Sleep Institute, Colvin serves as clinician and as director of The Knowledge Center, CSI’s program for sleep education. Before joining CSI, Colvin served in the cardiac care unit and division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the nationally-recognized Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Colvin is the task force chair for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and a board member in the Society for Behavior Sleep Medicine and the Missouri Sleep Society.