Associations / Executive Nursing Programs | August 2023

FOCUS: ASSOCIATIONS/ EXECUTIVE NURSING

In This

By Julia Quinn-Szcesuil

Editor’s Notebook

Did you know there are over four million nurses in the United States? With so many individuals working in the field, it’s critical to have a unified voice when addressing issues that impact nursing and the overall health of our communities.

Joining professional nursing organizations like associations and executive nursing programs can offer many benefits, such as camaraderie and mentorship, the developing of professional skills, networking opportunities, and the chance to advocate for the nursing profession.

By Michele Wojciechowski

With over 100 national nursing organizations and many other international organizations, there’s sure to be one out there that fits your needs.

This month, Minority Nurse explores the importance of associations and nursing executive programs and how they can help advance nursing careers in unexpected ways.

By Louis Pilla

You’ll hear from nursing leaders about how these organizations offer professional and personal growth, and how the National League for Nursing has connected the academic and clinical worlds for the past 130 years. You’ll also have the chance to discover more about executive nursing programs designed to prepare nurse executives for top-level nursing leadership roles.

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” –John Ruskin, social thinker

Nursing Associations Offer Professional and Personal Growth

By Julia Quinn-Szcesuil

The nursing industry has dozens of professional associations devoted to the art and science of nursing care and nursing specialties. And while many nurses know they exist, they may need to realize the depth of what associations do and how the skills and connections developed through membership can advance a career in ways they never expected.

The American Nurses Association  (ANA) president  Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, says joining an association is an excellent professional move, and membership carries personal benefits that are just as critical. “Many people don’t consider that when they join the ANA or an association of another specialty, that they are advocating for the profession,” she says. “We are protecting our profession or specialty.”

it makes our footprint within the policy world bigger,” she says. “We grow in the ability to influence. So even if you feel like being a member isn’t an active form of involvement, it is; you are being counted when association leaders are advocating for change. We represent you, and you count.”

and volunteering for a committee is another way to become engaged.”

With so many nursing professional associations out there, it’s not hard to find the most appealing one. “Review the organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals to determine which organization may best fit your professional needs,” says Nava. “Do these align with your values and goals? If so, this organization may be a good fit, and you will find other nurses to collaborate with to meet those goals and stay engaged.”

There are many opportunities to get involved, but not all involve nursing skills. Associations need you to reach out to legislators or members of Congress, help produce newsletters, or advance fundraising efforts. “When you’re in an organization, it’s about the organization as a whole, and it’s not nursing specific,” says Kennedy.

Be an Active Member

associations/organizations offer scholarships, travel, and speaking opportunities, and networking connections are especially important.”

Adrianna Nava, PhD, MPA, MSN, RN , and  National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN)  president, agrees. “Membership is important in the world of advocacy because

If you want to get the most from any professional association membership, active participation helps you and the organization. Even if your busy schedule leaves little time to devote, you can find something that will fit your schedule. Sign up for any newsletters and read them. Attend webinars, seminars, and conferences as you are able. “NAHN doesn’t have a chapter in every state yet, so if you don’t have a local chapter, I would encourage you to reach out to the national organization and connect with other members who live in your area,” says Nava. “Our national organization also has national committees,

All Nurses Are Welcome and Needed Associations don’t require years of nursing experience for membership. Nurses across the entire career spectrum can learn from each other. “I often hear from students that they are too busy to join an association,” says Ann KriebelGasparro, DrNP, FNP, GNP, FAANP, and president-elect of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA). “And yet, this is the best time to join. Membership fees are often lower, there are opportunities for growth, and later on in your career trajectory, you may want to run for a state or national office in that organization. The opportunities are many—most

“A misconception is that novice nurses have nothing to contribute, which is a myth,”

Kim Regis, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CPNP-PC, BCC, and a member of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN). “The voices of all generations must be at the table so that policies, practices, and standards reflect everyone working in the profession and the communities we serve.”

Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is the president of the American Nurses Association (ANA).

Adrianna Nava, PhD, MPA, MSN, RN, is the president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN).

Ann Kriebel-Gasparro, DrNP, FNP, GNP, FAANP, is the president-elect of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA).

Kim Regis, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CPNP-PC, BCC, is a member of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN).

Regardless of where you are in your career, Kennedy says that mentoring plays a big role in many nursing associations. Whether you are a new nurse looking for guidance from a mentor or a more experienced nurse who can share your expertise and mentor someone else, a nursing association offers excellent opportunities to do both.

All the skills you acquire and your work in an organization will also help advance your career. You may have yet to gain formal management experience, but if you have led an education campaign, board member, or committee in your organization, that gives you hands-on experience.

Nurses can also add to their knowledge and grow into leadership roles within an association. “Joining a nursing organization is a great way to expand your skill set within leadership, advocacy, research, and clinical practice,” says Nava.

The personal connections you’ll form in an association membership are also professionally valuable. “This is how you learn of job opportunities, fellowships, and academic opportunities,” says Nava. “Also, members and leaders within organizations, through your engaged involvement, will end up being the people who mentor you, or sponsor you, or write letters of recommendation for you, to advance your career.”

Nurses also know the opportunities they find through an association membership are often the kind they would not have found any other way. “As a new member [of AAACN], I had many doors opened to get involved in various committees

and task forces,” says  Andrea Petrovanie-Green CAPT(Ret), NC, USN, RN, MSN, AMB-BC, and a member of the leadership team supporting AAACN. “These experiences helped hone my leadership, management, and clinical acumen. As a result, I authored a white paper that established the first Specialty Leader in Ambulatory Care Nursing for the Navy Nurse Corps. Another unique oppor tunity I am grateful for was co-chairing the Tri-Service Military annual symposium. During networking events, I was introduced to several influ ential and inspiring leaders who mentored me to pursue additional opportunities. I sub sequently served as a member of the nominating committee and currently as a director.”

says Nava, noting the small chapter gave her opportunities to take on leadership roles including, eventually, presi-

is brought forth on many of the issues that impact practice and the health of our communities in which we work,” says

Can I breastfeed on this medication?

Both Nava and Kennedy credit their association mem berships with advancing their careers.

“I joined my first associa tion because my aunt encour aged me to join with her our local Illinois Chapter of NAHN when I was a first-year nurse,”

Andrea Petrovanie-Green, CAPT(Ret), NC, USN, RN, MSN, AMB-BC, is a member of the leadership team supporting AAACN.

The National League for Nursing: Connecting the Academic and Clinical Worlds for 130 Years

The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago, was known for many thing: the World’s Fair that inspired the blockbuster book  The Devil in the White City; where the first Ferris wheel premiered; and where the National League for Nursing (NLN) began.

The superintendent at The Johns Hopkins Training School in Baltimore, Isabel Hampton, headed the group of superintendents at the fair. Together, they laid the groundwork for the first nursing association in the United States: The American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools of Nursing.

By Michele Wojciechowski

The name changed twice— first to the National League of Nursing Education in 1912 and finally to the National League for Nursing in 1952.

The Mission

“The mission is to promote excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community,” says Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, president and CEO of NLN.

According to Malone, the NLN was founded because, at the time, there were no boundaries, criteria, or standards regarding how nursing should be taught. “In the United States, it was going on your own. Everybody determined what would be taught, and the public deserved to know the criteria,” she says.

“It’s the same issues we have now,” Malone continues. “The public deserves transparency regarding the quality of nurses’

preparations. We were stretching beyond being the doctors’ handmaid. So, how does one stretch to become a professional? You start determining your standards. Not only would we determine them, we would live by them and operationalize them. That’s what the National League for Nursing started with, and that’s what we continue to do.”

The NLN Today

The NLN offers services for over 45,000 individuals and more than 1,000 institutional members.

In addition to its mission, Malone says that the NLN is also guided by its four core values: caring, integrity, diversity and inclusion, and excellence.

Malone explains what the first and last core values mean to the organization. “Caring promotes health, healing, and hope in response to the human condition. I think hope is something that we don’t appreciate enough,” she says. “The ‘excellence’ piece is cocreating and implementing transformative strategies with daring ingenuity. We don’t do anything by ourselves. We are into cocreating and co-implementing, and then transformation.”

The NLN offers members professional development, networking, assessment services, nursing research grants, and public policy advocacy. Regarding professional development, the NLN accomplishes this through a variety of centers.

The Center for the Advancement of the Science of Nursing Education, Malone says, deals with the scientific background for nursing education. While patients are

expected to receive evidencebased care, that starts with nursing students receiving evidence-based education.

“With technology moving as fast as it is, we must understand the scientific basis for nursing education,” says Malone. “This distinguishes the National League for Nursing—belief in the evidence-based.”

In addition, the NLN has a division for credentialing nurse educators. To date, about 15,000 nurse educators have received credentials. They have a certification for clinical educators and credentialing for newly-developed nurse educators.

“I believe that this is so critical to the nursing profession—of holding us not just accountable, but also providing an opportunity for recognition,” says Malone.

The NLN’s Center for Transformational Leadership provides nurses with education regarding leadership, and its Center for the Innovation in Education Excellence gives education about simulation and technology and how it will be incorporated into the teaching and education of nurses.

Malone says these exceptional programs for nurse educators make the NLN crucial.

“We believe wholeheartedly that unless you address the issues for nurse educators— including salary—the nursing shortage continues,” she says.

The NLN offers so much more for nursing educators. For additional information, check out their website: https:// www. nln.org.

Michele Wojciechowski is a national award-winning freelance writer based in Baltimore, Maryland. She loves writing about nursing but comes close to fainting when she sees blood. She’s also the author of the humor book, Next Time I Move, They’ll Carry Me Out in a Box.

Besides being the first nursing association established in the United States, the NLN continues to help nurses in academia today.

Executive Nursing Programs Help Prepare for Top-Level Leadership

By Louis Pilla

You may not naturally think of becoming a nurse executive, which may seem far removed from the bedside and benefiting patients. Yet, you can significantly impact patient care as a nurse executive, such as a chief nursing officer.

“When you’re caring for patients, as a nurse, you’re caring for a set cadre of individuals,” says Elizabeth Speakman, EdD, RN, FNAP, ANEF, FAAN, senior associate dean, professor, and chief academic officer,  School of Nursing,  University of Delaware. “When you’re in a leadership role in the clinical environment, you may have thousands of patients you are responsible for.”

If that appeals to you, read on. In this article, we’ll examine a few programs available to prepare for the nurse executive role.

Preparing for Opportunities

Executive leadership is one of four specializations offered within the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Post University’s American Sentinel

College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The program covers leadership, business intelligence, finance, health policy, and health services research.

Students at the 28-month program “typically come with a master’s degree already and have some experience at a leadership level,” according to Kimberly Nerud, PhD, RN, dean at Post University’s American Sentinel College. Perhaps they have worked as a charge nurse or directed a health care unit, and “they’re looking to build on those skills that will help prepare them for those advanced opportunities within a healthcare system.”

At the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, students who want to pursue a role as a nurse executive can choose from a range of programs, according to Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, Elizabeth Brooks Ford professor of nursing, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and distinguished university professor, Case Western. Those programs include a doctoral program with an executive focus and a postdoctoral and senior executive program. These programs are housed within Case Western’s Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy.

Although students need a doctoral degree to enter the postdoctoral program, for instance, the academy believes that “every nurse is a leader,” notes Dr. Fitzpatrick. “Our philosophy is you’ve already got the leadership skills. You may not know how you have been leading, but you have been leading as a clinical nurse.”

For example, Dr. Fitzpatrick notes, “Nurses are leading care

leadership is not just your title. Leadership can be very informal. How you lead is more important than your position. How you hold yourself pedagogically in life and how you present yourself. I think that’s the first and foremost conversation.”

at the bedside for the patient. They’re leading care for the patient’s families. So as they become nurses, they learn to lead in clinical care. We capitalize on the experiences they’ve already had as clinical nurses and help them to understand how they’ve been leading all along.”

The school emphasizes a relationship-based leadership model, according to Dr. Fitzpatrick. That includes components such as communication, executive presence, intentional communication, and helping the leader understand any individual’s influence in a leadership role.

The academy, says Dr. Fitzpatrick, is especially interested in identifying individuals to join the program who come from under-represented groups. The school also seeks to engage minority nurses in mentoring the next generation.

“Stackable Credentials”

According to Dr. Speakman, nurses considering executive leadership positions can benefit by focusing on two actions.

First, “they need to know that

The second involves earning what Dr. Speakman calls “stackable credentials.” That can include fellowships, earning certificates, and joining leadership programs – gaining new skills. Another word of advice: “Before you decide you want to be the top executive, spend time with the top executive.”

Leading After COVID

In considering a role as a nurse executive, know that COVID took a toll on nurse leaders, making the need to prepare nurses for executive roles even more important.

Dr. Nerud hopes that “we can help to rebuild that area of nurse leadership that decided to take a step back or step out or retire early because of all of the demands that came from the pandemic.”

Dr. Nerud stresses the need to have nurse executives view problems from a policy

Elizabeth Speakman, EdD, RN, FNAP, ANEF, FAAN, is the senior associate dean, professor, and chief academic officer of the School of Nursing at the University of Delaware.

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, is an Elizabeth Brooks Ford professor of nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and distinguished university professor at Case Western.

Kimberly Nerud, PhD, RN, is the dean at Post University’s American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

perspective “that we’re helping these leaders go in to help be able to think fast and be able to talk about the policies that need to be made to move quickly because we learned during the pandemic that that was huge. We needed to be able to focus on quick changes and quick policies and quick things that needed to happen.”

During the pandemic, leaders faced significant challenges, notes Dr. Fitzpatrick, as did clinical nurses. “We need to continue recruiting nurses

into leadership roles because the challenges are still there,” she says.

“Even though the worst of the pandemic is over, we still have to rebuild and revitalize the clinical systems,” says Dr. Fitzpatrick. “We want to be sure that we focus on nurses staying in the workplace, which falls to the leader. We know from the research that if you have good leaders, you have higher nurse satisfaction—that leadership is key to keeping the clinical nurses engaged.”

“There Is No Box”

Nurse executives and leaders have opportunities in traditional health care systems, industries, and corporations. “We shouldn’t just think of nurse leaders being positioned in the traditional healthcare environments, but engaging them outside of the traditional healthcare environments into executive positions in corporations as well as in community health,” says Dr. Fitzpatrick.

“The potential is unlimited because nurses come with skills

that help them to help others. I like to teach my students, we often talk about thinking outside the box, but what we try to communicate to our nurse leaders is there is no box.”

Louis Pilla is a seasoned publishing expert with over 20 years of experience providing content and digital products to health care audiences.