Be an Advocate for the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association
Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association's (HPNA's) advocacy team works every day at the national level to represent the interests of all members, but to do this well, we need your help! We encourage you to tell your stories and be the voice of hospice and palliative nursing-here's how:
* Learn about policy issues affecting hospice and palliative nursing, and build your advocacy skills. On the advocacy section of HPNA's website, you will find our policy position statements and guiding principles, as well as resources from our partner organizations. You will also find our advocacy toolkit and training opportunities, including our Advocacy 101 course.
* Join our advocacy network. On HPNA's website, you will find our Advocacy Action Center, where you can learn about our calls to action, find your legislators' contact information, and easily send messages to policymakers about key issues. You also can join our advocacy network; we send periodic emails with updates on national health care policy impacting hospice and palliative care, alerts on federal activity that affects the specialty, and calls to action on key legislation.
* Become a state ambassador. State ambassadors meet quarterly, provide updates on policy developments in their states, and provide HPNA's advocacy team with insights that are helpful to our work at the national level. They also receive regular updates from our policy team and the latest news from our Washington, DC, lobbying team. Although we welcome ambassadors from every state, we are particularly in need of representation from the following states: Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Now is a great time to join our team of volunteers!
* Join the Public Policy Special Interest Group (SIG). In HPNA's online community, you can join the Public Policy SIG, where member cochairs provide state and national updates, share helpful advocacy resources, and moderate discussions on public policy issues. It's a great way to meet other members who are interested in advocacy and health policy and learn about opportunities to engage.
* Meet with your legislators in Washington, DC. If you will be in DC for a conference or personal visit, please let us know! We can help set up a meeting with legislators from your state so you can share your story and advocate for key hospice and palliative nursing issues. This is a great way to develop your advocacy skills, and HPNA will provide the training and materials you need for a productive meeting.
If you have any questions about HPNA's advocacy program or how to get involved, please contact HPNA Health Policy Specialist Sarah Potter at mailto:[email protected], or visit http://www.advancingexpertcare.org.
HPNF Champions Continue the Legacy of Florence Wald
Florence S. Wald, MN, MS, FAAN, continues to impact hospice and palliative care more than 50 years after she opened the first US hospice in Branford, Connecticut. Wald was a visionary leader in nursing and demonstrated courage and perseverance in forging a new frontier in American palliative care. Thirty-seven years later, at the time of her death in 2008, more than 4700 hospices had been instituted across the country. Now, in 2023, there are more than 8000 hospice and palliative care programs throughout the United States.
As the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation (HPNF) celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023, the special philanthropic leaders in the Florence Wald Champions program continue to pave the way for the next generation. With their leadership and support, HPNF helps ensure that funds are available to nurses and other health care professionals for education and research in the advancement of the rapidly growing and increasingly important hospice and palliative nursing specialties.
In 2004, the Florence Wald Champions program was launched to encourage and recognize major gifts to HPNF. With her pledge to become the inaugural champion, former HPNA and HPNF chief executive officer Judy Lentz rallied others to invest in nurses, a tradition of giving back that endures today. The support from those early contributors grew the resources of HPNF, increasing its scholarship and award opportunities. "HPNF truly exists because of our donors who wanted to pass funds along to those who needed it most," Lentz said.
Although grants from philanthropic partners in the foundation community are important to the success of HPNF, donations from individuals, particularly our Florence Wald Champions, represent a vital source of funding necessary to maintain and enhance operations and programming. These gifts increase HPNF's sustainability to support expert hospice and palliative nursing care and give nursing professionals opportunities to be recognized for their dedication to their work and patients.
The Florence Wald Champions demonstrate their passionate commitment to high-quality end-of-life care by pledging $10 000 to HPNF over a maximum of 5 years. The Florence Wald Champions program now has 35 members and proudly continues Wald's legacy. The champions convene several times a year for networking, philanthropic, and social events to help encourage support of HPNF and its mission.
When recently asked why they decided to become Florence Wald Champions, several members shared that it provided them an opportunity to support emerging leaders in the field and the future of hospice and palliative nursing care. "Becoming a Florence Wald Champion is the best way to ensure that for generations to come, nurses and other hospice and palliative care professionals continue to provide exemplary care-and caring-to those in the greatest need," said Nicole "Nicky" Martin, MBA, BSN, RN, CHPN, CHC.
HPNF is actively looking for new Florence Wald Champions. If you would like join this special group of philanthropic leaders and learn more about becoming a Florence Wald Champion, please visit http://www.hpnf.org or email mailto:[email protected].
The Importance of Maintaining Certification
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) requires its certificants to renew their credentials every 4 years. The renewal process is called the Hospice and Palliative Accrual for Recertification (HPAR), which requires a certificants to fulfill practice or work-hour requirements and accumulate points through various professional activities.
By requiring certificants to complete professional development activities instead of taking an examination, HPCC helps certificants to expand their knowledge and improve their practice of hospice and palliative care. The requirements of HPAR also help demonstrate continuing competence by allowing professionals to exhibit critical thinking skills and express competencies through continuing education, scholarly accomplishments, and professional contributions. Currently, all certificants renew through HPAR, except for CHPLN certificants, who may choose to renew through testing or HPAR, and CHPNA certificants, who must renew by test.
Over the course of 4 years, certificants must accrue 100 points. They can do so by attending continuing education courses, participating in academic education, publishing professionally, giving professional presentations, precepting students, orienting staff, or volunteering in professional organizations. Certificants are not required to submit points in every category; however, some professional development activities have a maximum number of HPAR points to be awarded.
To help certificants keep track of their HPAR points, HPCC uses the LearningBuilder platform for recertification for all programs except CHPNA. Through LearningBuilder, each certificant has a Learning Plan, where the certificant can enter activities for renewal. After initial certification, certificants receive email instructions on accessing the Learning Plan.
To guide certificants through the renewal process, HPCC provides several helpful tools, including a list of free continuing education resources, an in-depth video guide to the Learning Plan, and an HPAR packet for each program. The HPAR packet outlines specific details and requirements for each program. These resources are all located on our website, http://www.gohpcc.org.
As a certificant working toward renewal, it is never too early to start. HPCC encourages certificants to enter HPAR points into their Learning Plans throughout the 4-year certification, instead of waiting until the end.
Certificants who fail to renew a certification by its expiration may no longer use the credential but may apply for reactivation. Reactivation is available for 3 years after the expiration of a credential. If you are interested in pursuing reactivation, you must notify HPCC with your intention to reactivate your credential.
Obtaining specialty certification takes considerable time and dedication. By requiring certificants to complete the HPAR process, HPCC hopes certificants will take the same care in maintaining their certifications as they did while preparing for their examinations. Our continuing education requirements indicate that our certificants are committed to lifelong learning and continuing to be hospice and palliative care experts.
For more information about renewal requirements and helpful resources, visit our website at http://www.gohpcc.org.