NLN Honors Leaders of Affiliated Constituent Leagues

Awards Presentation Made During Constituent League Leadership Workshops at NLN 2008 Education Summit in San Antonio, TX

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — October 17, 2008 — Three executive directors of NLN constituent leagues distinguished for more than 20 years of service, and three other members of constituent leagues selected for their leadership on the local level were recognized by the National League for Nursing at an awards ceremony in San Antonio, September 16-17. The workshops took place just prior to the NLN’s 2008 Education Summit, a four-day gathering of nurse educators and administrators from all tiers of the academic, nursing, and health care communities.

Awards were presented to three long-serving executive directors who worked with the NLN to develop Standards of Affiliation for Constituent Leagues: Gail Hammond, executive director of the New Jersey League for Nursing for 28 years; Lana Martin, who has headed the Missouri League for Nursing for 25 years; and Jane Mahowald, MS, BSN, RN, Ohio League for Nursing’s executive director for the past 22 years.

Recipients of the two other awards, for Outstanding Leadership and for Effective and Innovative Membership Recruitment, were selected through a nominations process overseen by the NLN’s Constituent League Advisory Council (COAC).

Marilyn Frenn of the Wisconsin League for Nursing and Pat Porterfield of the Missouri League for Nursing tied for Outstanding Leadership, both as elected officers chosen for their creativity in making a positive difference in the direction of their leagues; serving as role models and mentors for future league leaders; and inspiring others to active engagement. Porterfield was lauded specifically for expanding the Missouri League’s capacity, facilitating its expansion to a regional league. Frenn won plaudits for establishing student scholarship assistance; helping to produce a sold-out Wisconsin League conference; organizing a web-based prep course for the CNE (Certified Nurse Educator) exam; and boosting NLN membership among Wisconsin schools of nursing by 84 percent.

Connie Booth of the Iowa League for Nursing became the first recipient of the Innovative and Effective Membership Recruitment Award. As part of the Iowa League’s Membership Committee, Booth was praised for developing and successfully implementing membership activities and motivating others to focus on the importance of membership benefits. In presenting the award, the NLN’s Booth was noted to be “always welcoming and supportive of new members, while persistently reaching out each year to all the schools of nursing in Iowa to maintain their membership.”

The three executive directors have been successful in raising the profiles of their respective leagues by working in partnership with volunteer leaders to offer programs and activities that have benefited nurse educators within their states and the nursing profession as a whole.

The NJLN co-sponsors (with the New Jersey State Nurses Association) an annual three-day spring conference that draws nurse educators, school administrators, student nurses, registered nurses, and other health care professionals from the entire New York metropolitan area as well as from Delaware, which has yet to form its own constituent league.

In Ohio, Mahowald oversees the yearly production of an informative brochure listing the schools of nursing in the state, with links to each school’s website appearing in the online version of the brochure on the league’s website. Free to prospective students and high school guidance counselors, the brochure provides an important public service.

By special arrangement with the NLN, the Missouri and Ohio Leagues for Nursing also provide educational programming and professional development to nurses in states without their own leagues. Ohio has held three educational workshops this year for faculty in Illinois. The Missouri league is currently supplying faculty development to nurse educators in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Kansas and is in discussion with the NLN regarding Minnesota and Colorado.

Noted NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone, “Twenty-one state and regional leagues now provide professional development programs, avenues for networking, and the opportunity to take on leadership roles that can have a critical impact on nursing and nursing education. Constituent leagues represent the voice of nurse educators regarding health care delivery within their respective states. Our constituent leagues are the state and local face of the NLN. We treasure our relationship.”

For complete information on NLN Constituent Leagues, log onto www.nln.org/stateleagues/index.htm. For assistance starting a constituent league, contact the NLN constituent league liaison, Tish Hess, at thess@nln.org.

Reporters/Editors: To arrange interviews with awardees, please contact Karen R. Klestzick, chief communications officer, at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing , the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 28,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members.