Board Update

Joan Rikli, MBA MSN RN CPNP-PC NE-BC
President of NANN

Hello and happy spring! I hope, wherever this issue of NANN’s E-News finds you, you’re experiencing the renewal that comes along with the season. I know I speak for the NANN Board of Directors, NANNP Council, and NANN Staff when I say that we’re feeling inspired and invigorated following our in-person meeting at NANN headquarters in Chicago last month. It was so wonderful to spend time together discussing and designing the strategic future of NANN.

As we move through the year, I’ll be sharing details about the progress we’re making toward the goals in our strategic plan, which includes the domains of Education and Professional Development, Setting the Standard of Care, Advocacy and Awareness, Leadership, and Community. The goal of the Community domain specifically is to build a diversified, engaged, and active membership that optimizes individual and collective talents and ideas.

Local engagement of NANN members is crucial to the NANN community experience. Toward that end, NANN has developed a Chapter Engagement Improvement Plan to be executed throughout 2019 and beyond. Through process improvements, new and improved chapter resources, additional educational offerings, and a chapter-focused webinar series, NANN will nurture these dedicated groups that now reside in 35 different areas of the United States. Visit the Chapters section of NANN’s website to learn more about chapter resources and benefits. If you’re not a NANN chapter member yet, I encourage you get involved today.

The stories we share of our NICU experiences connect us all at a deep level and that connection is at the root of the neonatal nursing community. In January, NANN launched NANN Footprints: Stories from the NICU, a series of personal stories we’re all sure to find familiar and meaningful. Take a moment to read some of these important stories or consider sharing your own.

NANN members understand the intrinsic value that membership provides and seek to share that value with other neonatal nurses. We do that in many ways, through our membership referral program, our new-member group membership program, and through the inspiring content we share with the world. In February, we released our most recent membership video project, aimed at encouraging new nurses to join our NANN member community. Please share it with your colleagues to help us grow.

Finally, in order to ensure our community experiences the celebration it deserves each year, Neonatal Nurses Day will be evolving. Beginning this year, we will extend the celebration to Neonatal Nurses Week. Look for more communication on this throughout the year and mark your calendars for September 9-15, 2019.

Thanks for all you do make our community vibrant, engaging, impactful, and successful. It’s a wonderful time to be a neonatal nurse and I’m thrilled to experience this life-changing profession alongside each of you.

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