August 4 - Summit Happenings, Starting with Magic

It's just around the corner. It's already August, and our Summit is just six weeks away. Join us for Flight of the Phoenix September 17 to 20 in - guess where - the Valley of the Sun, exciting Phoenix, Arizona. Each year at the NLN Education Summit I am amazed at the intensity of interest among the participants. And I am truly excited when I meet nurse educators attending for the very first time. There is always a large group of newcomers, ready to learn the power of networking and the potential for education research across institutions.

Where shall I start for this year's Summit? It's always good to start with magic. At the Thursday plenary session, Lee Cockerell, the former senior operations executive for the Walt Disney World Resort, will share how all of us can create magic for our students, patients, families, and friends by understanding the power of personal leadership as we practice our profession. I can't wait for his presentation - I love magic, and I love the magic of Disney. I am especially interested in how individuals can develop the skills they need to bring about transformation and have a positive impact, at work and everywhere. These are skills that do not necessarily come naturally - teaching them is important to our goals for professional development.

August 8 Fall Scholarly Writing Retreat Applications Due August 28 Taking the Angst Out of Test Construction & Item Analysis Workshop September 17-20 NLN Education Summit September 30 Leadership Institute Applications Due October 15 Centers of Excellence Initial Applications Due October 24-26 9th Annual NLN/Elsevier Technology Conference Nurses Shift, Aiming for More Time with Patients NLN CEO Co-Authors Textbook to Advance Diversity and Cultural Competence Across Health Care Professions Just last Saturday at the Japan Society for Medical education where #nurses from Nepal won the int'l poster session - wow! Long-Term Care Nursing Offers Career Opportunities

Other Summit happenings will be more nursing education specific. For example, on Thursday, Jennifer Hayden, project director for the three-year NCSBN National Simulation Study, will present newly released data. She examined educational outcomes achieved when simulation replaced a portion of clinical time in undergraduate programs.

And on Saturday, Kristina Thomas Dreifuerst of the Indiana University School of Nursing will present the annual Debra L. Spunt lecture on "Reasoning and Practice Education: Debriefing In, On, and Beyond Simulation." The Spunt lecture is always a Summit highlight - the opportunity to hear from leaders, innovators, and, importantly, researchers in this compelling area of nursing education.

You should never miss the National Faculty Meeting, moderated by NLN president-elect Dr. Anne Bavier. This year Anne will lead a Town Hall on Accreditation & More, where we will update you on the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (CNEA) and discuss wide-ranging issues important to the nursing education community. Be sure to bring your questions and concerns - as always, this is one of our open-mic sessions, and we will want to dialogue with you.

Another major highlight of the Summit is the presentation of honors. You already know about the forthcoming bestowal of the NLN President's Award on Dr. Polly Bednash, who recently retired as CEO of the AACN. Watch for news about other 2014 NLN honorees in a future issue of the Member Update and in upcoming Summit news releases.

Thinking about the banquet, make sure you bring your phone for Text to Pledge. It's always exciting and yes, I admit, a little competitive. For the first time, Dr. Nancy Langston, chair of our NLN Foundation for Nursing Education, will not be at the Summit. She will be in South Africa, touring the world as she transforms the foundation. A colleague I have known and admired since we were both deans in North Carolina (Nancy at UNC-Charlotte and me at North Carolina A&T State University), Nancy been busy streamlining the foundation by-laws, reducing the number of operational board members while increasing contributions. I was speaking about magic earlier, something Nancy carries around in her pockets while magically extracting dollars from everyone else's pockets.

At this Summit, the NLN Foundation is also sponsoring a "get to know your finances, investments, and goals for retirement" workshop as a service to our members. Presenters NLN treasurer Mike Newsome and financial adviser Don Shuck invite you to bring your financial statements; they will help you translate the general information you receive for your own personal financial needs. It's pretty awesome.

This Summit summary is not in sequence, and it is in no way comprehensive. But I hope I have stimulated your interest just enough for you to check out the entire program.

I also want to call your attention to the 9th Annual NLN/Elsevier Technology Conference, October 24-26 in Nashville. Jennifer Hayden will be with us again, to discuss the implications of the NCSBN Simulation Study. And there will be an orientation to the world of Second Life and several unconferences (I wonder what that means) on informatics, telehealth, simulation, and eLearning. As at the Summit, there will be informative vendors offering diverse, innovative teaching solutions, and the program and speakers are top notch.

If you are seeking ways to incorporate best practices in the use of technology into classroom, online teaching, and clinical experiences, you really should attend. Early-bird rates continue through September 12.

One of the joys of working on technology in nursing education for me has been our close collaboration with Laerdal Medical. So I am very excited to tell you about the company's latest accolade. Laerdal Global Health, its nonprofit sister company, was presented with the 2014 Business Leadership Award for Outstanding Contributions to Global Health at the High Level Forum organized by USAID in June. The reasons for this honor are breathtaking.

Laerdal Global Health works with many other organizations, including the International Confederation of Midwives and the International Council of Nurses, on important projects in the developing world. The Helping Babies Breathe Campaign, launched in 2010, has trained more than 225,000 birth attendants in 70 countries. The Helping Mothers Survive campaign is benefiting from the birthing simulators Laerdal provides through a Buy One Gift One campaign. And with USAID and in collaboration with the pediatric societies in India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, it is supporting the Helping 100,000 Babies Survive and Thrive campaign. This initiative is led with purpose and passion by Tore Laerdal, chairman of the board of directors of Laerdal Medical and managing director of Laerdal Global Health. What wonderful work they do. I am so impressed with the quality of our partners.

We'll talk about it more at the Summit, but we are also strengthening our engagement in the global health community. NLN president Marsha Adams writes about NLN efforts in her President's Message in the July-August issue of Nursing Education Perspectives. Well worth reading, it tells how the NLN Board of Governors reaffirmed the importance of the core value of diversity as one that embraces acceptance, respect, and inclusivity. You will experience these qualities firsthand at all NLN conferences and events. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Summit. It will be here before we know it. So, if you have not registered, colleagues, what are you waiting for?

All best wishes,


Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN
Chief Executive Officer

Next Issue of the NLN Member Update: August 18, 2014. View previous issues of NLN Member Update »