President's Message
The end of a quarter in my president's term strikes me as an opportune time to step back, reflect upon the journey thus far, critique, and plan for the remaining year. My first few months as president have included a whirlwind of activities, and the indulgence of members and colleagues is much appreciated.
I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to begin thinking about potential presentation and poster ideas for the NACNS 2011 Annual Conference. Our conference planning cochairs, Rachel Moody, MSN, RN, CNS (vice-president), and Stephen Patten, MSN, RN, CNS (president-elect), have been working closely with board and member colleagues as well as with the management services staff to provide an exciting and informative program. Look for many changes at the Baltimore, Maryland, conference-many of these changes are directly connected to your suggestions! The conference theme, CNS: Your Clinical Innovation Expert, provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase CNS creativity. Please review the call for abstracts, and let your member-colleagues learn from your experiences and expertise. Go to the http://www.nacns.org Web site, and review the conference information-I guarantee that you will be impressed with the "innovation experts" planning this conference!
Another wonderful partnership that requires front-and-center comment is the NACNS and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) relationship. Access to JBI resources has been an NACNS membership benefit for several years. The opportunity to take advantage of JBI as a tool for promoting research-based evidence for the benefit of patient outcomes addresses a distinct aspect of CNS practice. We hope to have resources available at the NACNS 2011 conference to assist you in learning to efficiently utilize JBI systematic review capabilities in your quest for best-practice evidence! JBI is holding its first colloquium in the Americas from September 13-15, 2010, at the Sheraton in Chicago. Many of the NACNS members are integrally involved in JBI, and it would be wonderful to demonstrate a strong CNS presence in Chicago! If you attend, please look for me. I hope to take advantage of the convenient location! More information is available at http://www.joannabriggs.edu.au/events/2010Chicago/index.php.
The NACNS Board of Directors is hosting its 7th Annual Clinical Nurse Specialist Summit on July 15, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the summit is to bring together representatives from specialty nursing organizations representing CNSs. The summit has been planned for a full day with opportunity for "bridge-building" and strategic partnering. This gathering is a highly anticipated activity among the specialty "crowd," and I'm looking forward to the enthusiasm, storytelling, and support that is generally found among nurses joining together in common purpose.
On April 23, 2010, I represented the NACNS at the 122nd Meeting of the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice and presented the topic, "The Clinical Nurse Specialist in Primary Care." I offered CNS expertise as one critical factor in health reform particularly as related to the primary care needs of people living with chronic illness and comorbidities, including psychiatric/mental health concerns as well as physical illness and disease, requiring specialized expertise. The Q & A session was lively and intellectually challenging. I encourage each of you to contribute to health care reform by creating and advocating for models of care that ensure optimal patient outcomes via partnerships with health care colleagues, including other advanced practice nurses. We need to develop, implement, evaluate, and publish new and exciting models of primary care that incorporate CNSs' unique skill sets. The public needs our expertise. This might be a wonderful topic to consider submitting as a conference abstract.
I'd like to again encourage you to become involved on some level with the NACNS-your organization. Offer to precept a graduate student or serve as a guest speaker. Support a colleague in his or her choice to become a CNS-talk up the role and the organization! Each positive act has a ripple effect with you as the epicenter. Know that your membership is valued by this board and our management team. Thank you for the privilege of working with you in common endeavors.
NACNS Updates
Effective April 15, 2010, Fernley & Fernley, Inc, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, firm will provide association management services to the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS). Fernley & Fernley was established in 1886 as the nation's first association management company. In addition to providing day-to-day management services, they will support the work of individual standing committees and the board of directors through meeting management (eg, committee orientation, scheduling, minutes) services and facilitate the work for planning and implementing the annual conference. Fernley & Fernley's services will facilitate the growth of NACNS and help us with strategic planning fulfillment. Ethan Gray is the new executive director for NACNS. He may be contacted at:
NACNS Headquarters
100 N 20th St, 4th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-320-3881
Fax: 215-564-2175
http://www.nacns.org
[email protected]
SAVE THE DATE! The 2011 NACNS Annual Conference will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 10 12, 2011. The conference theme is: "CNS: Your Clinical Innovation Expert." The conference format is being revised in response to members' feedback to allow for greater participation by members and to increase dissemination of CNS innovations. The conference will have 4 tracks: clinical track (clinical projects, innovations, descriptions of system processes, or clinical issue analysis), education track (clinical nurse specialist education), research track (research studies or evidence-based translation projects), and an entry-into-practice track. Presentations can be in the form of individual papers (15-minute presentations), poster presentations, or collections of papers (ie, symposia with 3-4 papers) that present information about different aspects of innovative programs (clinical, educational, research, or entry-into-practice) or that focus on distinct health problems (eg, papers address various aspects of caring for the selected health problem). Please consider submitting an abstract for either an individual paper, collection of papers as a symposium, or poster presentation.
News From Our Affiliates
Heart of GA Clinical Nurse Specialists
Leslie Swadener-Culpepper of the newly established Heart of GA affiliate was published in the prestigious Critical Care Nurse journal. Check it out: Vollman KM, Swadener-Culpepper L, Jankowski I, et al. Progressive mobility in the critically ill. Crit Care Nurse 2010;30(2), S1-S16.
Virtual VA Nationwide Clinical Nurse Specialist Group
This is the third year that the Point Loma Nazarene University School of Nursing has honored 1 awardee in each of 5 CNS tracks offered in their MSN program. These 5 tracks include CNS mental health, CNS family health, CNS gerontology, CNS medical/surgical, and nursing education. Nominations are submitted for clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) throughout San Diego County.
Vilma C. Divinagracia, MSN, CNS, from the VA San Diego Healthcare System was selected to receive the CNS Gerontology Advanced Practice Nursing award for 2010, which was presented by the School of Nursing at Point Loma Nazarene University. Ms Divinagracia has worked in the field of gerontology for 17 of her 23 years in the VA. Twelve of those years have been as a CNS in the Community Living Center.
Karen Blair, MS, RN, CNS, CRRN, CWCN, CNS at the Spinal Cord Injury Center at the Palo Alto VAMC, received her CWCN certification in March. She coordinates the Team PUPP pressure ulcer/wound care program and weekly skin rounds at her facility.
Francie Hanumaiah, ACNS-BC, the Pain Management and Fall Prevention Program Coordinator at the Phoenix VAMC has received a VA Advancement of Patient-Centered Care grant for her project "Integrative Pain Management: Use of Complementary Therapies to Improve Pain Management, Decrease Anxiety, and Emotional Distress of the Surgical Patient." She is currently implementing the massage therapy component of this program.
Virginia Affiliate
Donna Bond, RN-BC, DNP, CCNS, AE-C, a pulmonary CNS in Roanoke, Virginia, announced the formation of the Virginia Chapter of NACNS. They currently have 28 members and are developing their strategic plan with the assistance of Becky Bowers-Lanier. Their mission statement is to promote the role of the CNS as an APRN in Virginia to improve systems of care, prevent disease, and enhance health and well-being through integration of evidence-based care of population. Anyone interested in joining the Virginia Affiliate, please contact Donna Bond at [email protected].
Washington Affiliate
The Washington Affiliate of NACNS is working to increase networking opportunities for CNS across the state. With the exception of psych mental health, CNS is not a protected title in Washington. This makes it difficult to obtain an accurate listing of practicing CNS. The Washington Affiliate is currently surveying all "suspected" CNSs regarding their desires around networking as well as the support they may be willing to provide other CNSs. Any members of NACNS from Washington who did not receive this survey, or if they know of other CNSs who are not yet members of the Washington Affiliate, are encouraged to contact Heather Schoonover at [email protected] to help build the affiliates list of Washington CNSs. The Washington Affiliate is also working on obtaining much needed title protection for CNS. We hope to see our practice recognized soon!
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our affiliate organizations and ask them to check their contact information. If corrections need to be made, please send that information to[email protected];[email protected].
Alaska
Alaska Clinical Nurse Specialist Association
Carrie Doyle
E-mail: [email protected]
Second contact: Rose Timmerman
Work e-mail: [email protected]
Arizona
Arizona Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Eileen Smith, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC
E-mail: [email protected]
California
California CNS Network
Paddy Garvin, MN, RN, CRRN-A, CNS
E-mail: [email protected]
Margaret Talley
E-mail: [email protected]
Florida
Central Florida CNS Affiliate
Barbara Hatfield
E-mail: [email protected]
Georgia
Atlanta Area CNS Group
Sandra Gandee
E-mail: [email protected]
Heart of GA Clinical Nurse Specialists
Amanda Hudson Lucas
E-mail: [email protected]
Indiana
Central Indiana Organization of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Jan Powers
E-mail: [email protected]
Illiana Lakeshore Organization of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Kimberly Nagy, MS, APRN, CNS
E-mail: [email protected]
Louisiana
Louisiana Affiliate of NACNS
Fiona Winterbottom, MSN, RN, APRN-BC, CNS, CCRN
E-mail: [email protected]
Maine
Northeast Affiliate
Judith A Spross
E-mail: [email protected]
Military Virtual Affiliate
LCDR Tina Cox
E-mail: [email protected]
Minnesota
Minnesota Affiliate
Kay Greenlee
E-mail: [email protected]
Missouri
Greater Kansas City CNS Group
Janice Marcy Smith, MSN, ARNP, CCRN, CEN
E-mail: [email protected]
Montana
Montana Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Charlene A Winters, DNSc, APRN, BC
E-mail: [email protected]
Nationwide
Virtual VA Nationwide Clinical Nurse Specialist Group
Kathleen Dunn
E-mail: [email protected]
New York
Northeast New York CNS Group
Kathleen M. Carey
E-mail: [email protected] (W)
Upstate New York Chapter of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Elizabeth Duxbury, MS, RN, CNS
E-mail: [email protected]
North Carolina
North Carolina Affiliate of NACNS
Susan A. Williams
E-mail: [email protected]
Ohio
Northeast Ohio Clinical Nurse Specialists
Bette Idemoto, PhD, RN,CCRN, CS
E-mail: [email protected]
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Susan Jones
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Oregon
Oregon Council of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Mary J. Waldo, PhD, RN, CNS-BC
E-mail: [email protected]
Virginia
Virginia Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Donna Bond
E-mail: [email protected]
Washington
Washington Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
Heather Schoonover, MN, APRN, BC, CNS
E-mail: [email protected]
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Association for Clinical Nurse Specialists
Susan Fuhrman, MS, MSN, RN-BC, FAACVPR, CCNS
E-mail: [email protected]
Member News
The effort to grow affiliates continues in many states. In Texas, NACNS members, Jan Foster, Mary Heye, Linda Harrington, Susan Wilkinson, Kathleen Baldwin, Angela Clark, and Sheri Innerarity (UT Austin institutional member), planned the inaugural TxCNS conference. The conference, "Transforming the Future: Improving Care With Expert Knowledge" was held in Austin, Texas, on April 9-10, 2010, and was well attended by more than 70 participants.
Errata
There was an error in the May/June 2010 issue of the NACNS newsletter in the report from the conference. In thanking the local CNS group for the excellent support provided by their volunteers, we erroneously identified them as the "St Louis" group. It was the Portland area CNS volunteers who provided such wonderful support for the conference and helped to make it a success.