May 11 - 2016 | NLN on the Hill; Member Benefits

Happy Nurses Week, colleagues. For one week each year, public attention is focused on us, and while it’s appreciated, I think you’ll agree that we have to do more to make sure that nurses, and the people we serve, are at the top of the list every day of the year. But it is always good to reflect on those special skills and values we possess that make nursing a unique profession. I am always proud to be a nurse, but day-to-day responsibilities can get in the way of reflection, so when May comes around, I welcome our special week. As do all the members of the NLN staff, who this year have used the occasion to thank you for all you do. Be sure to watch our video and put faces to the names you’ve grown to know.

One aspect of nursing we often point to during Nurses Week is the importance of supporting nursing organizations – the organizations, like the NLN, that speak for you each day, every day, during the rest of the year. We do what you cannot do alone, but we need your support to thrive. In the spirit of our core value of excellence, we co-create and implement transformative strategies with daring ingenuity.

For example, on April 27 the NLN Board of Governors visited Congress to discuss nursing’s priority issues, namely budget recommendations for Title VIII funding ($244 million for FY2017) and confirmation by the Senate of Dr. Mary Wakefield as deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. In past years the board and the NLN’s Public Policy Committee did the Day on the Hill alone. This year we invited you, our members, to join us virtually, through the magic of social media, and many of you joined in, tweeting, emailing, and posting messages on Facebook. Together our social media activity reached more than 90,000 people! That’s impressive.

While Title VIII and Dr. Wakefield’s nomination were the focus on April 27, there are many public policy issues the NLN advocates for in Congress, including the Title VII health professions programs. The NLN and our colleagues in the health professions and nursing communities support $280 million for Title VII programs in fiscal year 2017. As you know, these programs are vital to promoting greater ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity and minority representation among nurses and nurse educators. If you have not already done so, go to the NLN’s Advocacy Action Center to learn about current issues important to nursing education and how to contact your representatives. We need to educate Congress about us, while teaching our students the critical skill of making our voices heard. While you’re on the site, sign up for Action Alerts and resolve to become more involved.

As you know, colleagues, public policy is just one aspect of the NLN’s outreach. Organized around seven Centers for Nursing Education, we focus our energies on academic and clinical transitions, assessment and evaluation, diversity and global initiatives, excellence in the care of vulnerable populations, simulation and technology, transformational leadership, and the advancement of the science of nursing education. Still, unless you are reading one of the books we publish, downloading one of our ACE.S cases, studying for the Certified Nurse Educator exam, or signing up for a workshop or the NLN Education Summit, it’s possible that you may take your NLN membership as a given.

We hope you don't. At the NLN, we are proud of the ever-expanding reach of our endeavors and the myriad products and services we offer to advance the field of nursing education through professional development and so much more. We are also proud of our expanding and inclusive membership. Our institutional and individual members represent nursing education programs across the academic spectrum.

Colleagues, we want you to consciously take full advantage of your NLN membership and tell those of your colleagues who are not members about our initiatives, events, services, and products - all geared to our professional development and the future. To help us make that happen, I am delighted to report that Dana Hoover has returned to the NLN as director of membership. Dana was with the NLN from 2003 to 2007, as liaison to the Board of Governors and as manager of the Office of the CEO, working closely with my predecessor, the late Dr. Ruth Corcoran. Since then she has traveled the world, working in executive positions at Pepperdine University in Malibu, and most recently as CEO of a company in Nairobi, Kenya. She’ll be glad to share her stories when you meet her at the NLN Education Summit in Orlando (September 21-23) , and, of course, she will enjoy hearing from you any time by email (write to dhoover@nln.org).

We have an incredible team at the NLN . Together we’ll do great things with and for our members. And for all of you, colleagues, my best wishes once again for a happy Nurses Week.

Next Issue of the NLN Member Update: Wednesday, May 25, 2016. View previous issues of NLN Member Update »