The Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI) is a collaboration of organizations that represents a unified voice for nursing informatics. Our mission is to provide a single connection point between nursing informatics individuals and groups and the broader nursing and healthcare community.1 The efforts of our individual ANI members, when combined under the collaborative entity of ANI, provide the synergy and structure needed to advance the efforts of individual nursing informatics professionals. In order to achieve the ANI vision and to maximize individual member efforts, a strategic plan was created to clearly define goals and support activities to meet those goals. The ANI organization embarked upon this initiative toward the end of 2005, defining a strategic plan for 2006 and 2007. This article reviews progress made on those strategic goals.
ANI is a collaboration of organizations that represent a unified voice for nursing informatics. The Alliance represents more than 3000 nurses and brings together 22 distinct nursing informatics groups in the US. These groups function separately at local, regional, and national levels and have established programs, publications, and organizational structures for their members. ANI provides the synergy and structure needed to advance the efforts of nursing informatics professionals in improving the delivery of patient care.
The ANI governing directors consists of representatives of organizational groups that have a nursing informatics focus and will guide the strategic goals and activities of the Alliance throughout the year.
ANI is dedicated to fostering further development of a united voice for nursing informatics; providing a single connection point between nursing informatics groups and the broader nursing and healthcare community; providing a mechanism for transforming care and developing resources for nursing informatics practice, public policy, research, networking, and career services; and supporting individual membership in the affiliated nursing informatics organizations.
IMPORTANCE FOR EACH NURSE
The strategic goals were created-and are supported-by nurses representing all facets of nursing informatics practice. Every member represented in ANI shares the responsibility to move forward and achieve these goals. The collective efforts of individual members will enable us to foster further development of a united voice for nursing informatics and will provide a single connection point between nursing informatics individuals and groups and the broader nursing and healthcare community.
THE STRATEGIC PLAN
In the first half of 2006, we focused on categorizing and prioritizing the 45 great ideas suggested by the ANI membership. Four overarching priority areas provide the framework for the strategic goals. These areas are:
1. Maintain and increase communication channels
2. Encourage education
3. Increase involvement and leadership
4. Promote and enhance nursing informatics (NI) professional practice
The goals were discussed and voted for during a meeting of the governing directors in July 2006. Several governing directors volunteered to each lead a work group to work on activities within these goals.
Each lead first solicited volunteers for a work group, reaching across member organizations. Then, each group formulated an action plan and provided a status update at the end of August. Each work group lead presented to the governing directors at the in-person meeting in November 2006. Feedback was solicited on work done to date and future plans.
Next steps include touching base at the in-person meeting at the end of February, adding links to completed work from the ANI Web site and continuing to move forward with the activities.
SUMMARY OF WORK GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES
Jacqueline Moss (ASCI) is leading a work group to put together a mentoring program for informatics nurses. Nurses from MINING, DVNCN, NCNA, and ASCI are participating in the work group. The plan is to initiate a pilot mentoring project, gather feedback, and determine what the next steps will be at that point.
Anne Scharnhorst and Cheryl Parker (PSNI) are working on a way to best develop and disseminate tool kits that can be used by all informatics nurses. They are working with Jerry Chamberlain (CARING) and Patricia Dykes (HIMSS NI) to coordinate efforts and leverage what is already available and to communicate what is already available. Discussion is under way to determine the best way to continue this effort.
Mollie Poynton (UNIN) is looking into outreach and empowerment of informatics nurses and offered collaboration on projects that are undertaken. Curtis Dykes (ANIA) presented a summary of effective marketing techniques to the governing directors.
Rosemary Kennedy (DVNCN) has an enthusiastic group participating and leading activities in several areas.
We extend many thanks to the work groups for the exciting work they are doing toward ANI's 2006-2007 priorities. When the group meets, the synergy is palpable and ripples through each of these projects.
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