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Advocacy Trainings for Nurses – May 2023 Webinars

OADN is excited to announce three new advocacy training webinars. Each of these three webinars are open to all OADN members at no cost through our collaboration with the Nursing Organizations Alliance, or NOA.

NOA has recognized the importance of advocacy and the role nursing associations and their individual members in leading change at the local, state, and national levels. While there is a hunger in our community to make a difference, common obstacles can block our focus or hold us back from achieving this goal. Have you found yourself asking these questions:

Where do I start?
What is my civic duty as a nurse?
Who is my state representative/ how do I find out who this is?
With my position/role at my organization, whose opinions do I promote?
What is the difference between advocacy and lobbying?
I’m just one person, can I make a difference?

Please join us for this series of webinars to hear from two nationally recognized nurse advocates on the steps you can take to embark on your own advocacy journey!

Session Dates and Topics:

  1. Finding & Using Your Voice for Civic Good – Part 1 – A Foundation for Legislative Involvement
    Wednesday, May 10th – 3:00 pm-4:15 pm Eastern Time
    with Gladys M. Campbell, MSN, RN, NC-BC, FAAN
    Click Here to Register
  2. Finding & Using Your Voice for Civic Good – Part 2 – Policy, Advocacy Lobbying, and Testimony
    Thursday, May 11th – 3:00 pm- 4:15 pm Eastern Time
    with Gladys M. Campbell, MSN, RN, NC-BC, FAAN
    Click Here to Register
  3. Seizing Opportunities to Advance Advocacy and Political Activism at the Local Level
    Monday, May 15th – 3:00 pm – 4 pm Eastern Time
    with Janice Phillips, Ph.D., RN, CENP, FAAN
    Click Here to Register

SPEAKERS

Gladys M. Campbell MSN, RN, NC-BC, FAAN

Gladys Campbell is the principal of Campbell Coaching and Consulting, a business focused on advancing leadership skills and outcomes in today’s complex healthcare arena. Beginning her career as an acute care clinician, she has held a variety of progressively complex leadership and executive roles within health care and has also served on a number of nonprofit boards. She currently works with individuals at all leadership levels, and with organizations, to assist leaders to optimize their leadership skills, advance their personal resiliency, build strong and effective teams, manage conflict, and optimize effectiveness and the achievement of outcomes.

Prior to building her own coaching and consulting business, Gladys worked in a number of large acute care, research, and academic facilities across the nation, as a senior clinical leader and strategist.

 

Janice Phillips Ph.D., RN, CENP, FAAN

Dr. Janice Phillips is an experienced clinician, researcher, educator, nurse regulator, author, and public policy advocate in the healthcare arena. As the Director of Nursing Research and Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center, Dr. Phillips serves as a system-wide leader in supporting health equity as a shared goal and integrating health equity across the Rush Health system’s training, research, and clinical endeavors. She is the author of over one hundred publications and five edited textbooks. Her co-edited book “Health Equity and Nursing: Achieving Health Equity through Policy, Population Health, and Interprofessional Collaboration”, received a five-star review from Doody’s Review Service and is in ninety-one libraries worldwide. Her OpEds on health disparity and equity issues have appeared in Scientific American, the Hill, and U.S. News and World Report, to name a few.

Janice is the recipient of many awards including the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, the University of Illinois SAGE Award, The National Black Nurses’ Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and four distinguished alumni awards. In 2000, Janice was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing for her distinguished contributions to addressing breast cancer disparities nationally and internationally. Dr. Phillips holds a BSN from North Park College, an MS in Community Health from St. Xavier School of Nursing, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois, College of Nursing.

Message from the Leadership – April 2023: Invest in Yourself at the OADN Convention

Invest Today in the OADN Convention and Reap the Rewards for a Lifetime

As your OADN Treasurer and the budget manager for the associate degree nursing program at my college, I am sending this timely reminder to plan today for the upcoming 2023 OADN Convention, November 15th– 18th in San Diego, California. The convention’s theme, Turning the Tide of Nursing Education, is focused on innovations and solutions for nurse educators. You do not want to miss it!

Now is the time to request it, plan for it in your budget, and prioritize this investment for you and your faculty to attend. The early bird registration is $695 and, as always, OADN has negotiated the best rates for accommodations at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, perfectly situated on the waterfront in beautiful downtown San Diego. As you plan for attendance and consider nurse educators who could benefit from this essential educational experience, be prepared to make the case of why it is imperative to have contemporary, creative, and inspiring strategies to enhance student success. Do not be timid in asking your budget manager or your president to support the nursing program through an investment for nurse educators to attend the OADN Convention. Asking early will allow the college to earmark necessary funds for this enriching opportunity. We’ve prepared this template letter for you that you can customize in making your travel request and budget justification.

The Return on Investment (ROI) can be immeasurable. Attendees receive exclusive information that is specific, timely, and vital to the success of programs of nursing and their graduates. The relationships established at convention can lead to ideas, support systems, and solutions from other programs experiencing the same issues and concerns that you experience as well as those having great triumphs. OADN is the most comprehensive resource for ADN faculty, directors, and deans. OADN is also far ahead in addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has been a key leader in the national ANA Commission to Address Racism in Nursing. Consider sharing this summary of the convention’s educational offerings and networking opportunities in your travel request.

We are arranging an exceptional lineup of speakers this year including: Jason A. Schwartz, Dr. Ali R. Tayyeb, Dr. Dan Weberg and Dr. Eric Williams. They will touch on key issues related to associate degree nursing education such as the newly launched Next Generation National Licensing Exam (NCLEX) as well as pertinent topics to expand your thinking on leadership, innovation, and advocacy. All of this information will be essential for nurse educators to learn as it has implications on the future success of our students and nursing programs. More details including speaker bios can be found on the convention website Convention – OADN

Watch for upcoming emails regarding convention and note that we took your feedback into account in creating this year’s schedule. The program will still include pertinent educational sessions you have come to appreciate for acquiring CEUs but it will also provide attendees time to enjoy what the city of San Diego has to offer. Based on our schedule of events you will be able to put together a varied and exciting program of educational activities and make plans to enjoy meaningful connections with your colleagues, networking opportunities with our industry partners, delicious dining options, time for personal reflection and beautiful outdoor space with miles of walking paths just steps from the hotel.

There is no other comparable continuing education opportunity specifically designed for community college nursing faculty. Put it in the budget, request funding, invest in yourself and your faculty and plan to attend the 2023 OADN Convention this November 15th – 18th in San Diego. It will truly be a rewarding experience for you and your faculty. I hope to see you there!

Cynthia Maskey, PhD, RN, CNE
OADN Treasurer & Board Liaison, Convention Education Planning Committee
Dean of Health Professions
Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, Illinois

Coffee and Conversations with the CEO

OADN has named Rick García, Ph.D., RN, CCM, FAAOHN, FAADN as its new chief executive officer, effective January 3, 2023.  In his first video message to the OADN membership, Dr. García shares how the associate degree pathway paved the way for his career in nursing and invites OADN Members to join him for Coffee and Conversations with the CEO, where he will field questions from you about issues and trends in nursing education and the future of OADN. Please register and join us for one of these upcoming conversations.

April 17th, 11:00 a.m. EDT

April 27th, 12:30 p.m. EDT – Register Here

May 4th, 2 p.m. EDT – Register Here

Nursing Community Monthly Roundup – March 2023

OADN continues our federal advocacy on your behalf as a member of the Nursing Community Coalition, where we work to ensure that nurses are supported and that nursing education is funded.

NCC Sends Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Appropriations Requests to House and Senate LHHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittees
On March 6, fifty-nine members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) signed onto a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies outlining the funding requests of at least $530 million for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $210 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research for FY 2024.

NCC Sends Letter to Congress on PHE Waivers
On March 9, fifty-two members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) signed onto a letter urging Congress to take action to make waivers permanent beyond this Public Health Emergency (PHE).

NCC Statement on the President’s FY 2024 Budget
On March 15, the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) issued a statement supporting increased funding for key domestic and health care programs, such as Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and the National Institute of Nursing Research, in the Administration’s FY 2024 Budget.

NCC Sends Health Workforce RFI Response to Senate HELP Committee 
On March 20, sixty-three members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) signed onto a response to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Health Workforce Request for Information (RFI).

NCC Submits Testimony to House Appropriations Subcommittee
On March 23, sixty-one members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) signed onto written testimony for the record, which was submitted to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The testimony featured the coalition’s funding requests of at least $530 million for the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and at least $210 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research for FY 2024.

88 Representatives Support FY 2024 Funding for Title VIII in House Dear Colleague Letter 
Eighty-eight Representatives signed onto a bipartisan House Dear Colleague letter, requesting $530 million for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs in FY 2024.

Nursing Community Monthly Roundup – February 2023

OADN continues our federal advocacy on your behalf as a member of the Nursing Community Coalition, where we work to ensure that nurses are supported and that nursing education is funded.

NCC and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Welcome the 118th Congress
On February 8, the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action at the Center to Champion Nursing in America held a reception welcoming the 118th Congress. Attendees were joined by congressional staff and four members of Congress, including Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-01), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18).

OADN CEO Dr. Rick García meeting with Reps. Underwood, Ross, and Jackson Lee (left to right) at the Feb. 8, 2023 event on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Message from the Leadership – March 2023: Scholarships, Awards, & Grants Announced

How the OADN Foundation is honoring excellence and investing in the future of associate degree nursing education

The OADN Foundation promotes the mission and vision of OADN, through the development of resources and the recognition of scholarship and excellence in associate degree nursing education. In collaboration with our valued partners and sponsors, the OADN Foundation is making a difference for nurse educators, their students, and the communities they serve across the country. Every year, the OADN Foundation provides thousands of dollars in award, grant and scholarship funding to support OADN members throughout every stage of their professional journey.

The OADN Foundation is proud to offer financial support to our students and faculty, in the following award and scholarship categories: academic excellence and progression, professional advancement, leadership development and community service, and scholarly research. Investments in these areas will reap benefits for all of us as we help support the future of associate degree nursing education. When the 2023 cycle launches on March 1st, please share these scholarship and grant opportunities with your nursing faculty and students and encourage them to apply.

The OADN Foundation is also committed to recognizing individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedicated service in the promotion of associate degree nursing education and practice. We are proud to offer an opportunity to express gratitude and appreciation for a valued colleague, trusted mentor, visionary leader, and steadfast champion of associate degree nursing through nomination for one of the Foundation’s three honorary awards:

Bobbie Anderson Leadership Award: Named in honor of OADN’s first president, Bobbie Anderson. Mrs. Anderson joined with other state leaders in nursing to organize the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. She helped ensure the delivery of quality health care through her dedication and tireless efforts in promoting associate degree nursing education and practice. This prestigious award is given annually to an educator or nursing program administrator who has demonstrated exceptional leadership within his or her institution, community, and at the state and national levels.

Elsevier Educator of the Year Award: Each year, this award is given to one exceptional educator that uses innovative teaching strategies, motivates students to perform at their highest level, collaborates cooperatively with colleagues in the college and/or clinical setting, and demonstrates meaningful participation in professional and community activities.

NurseThink New Educator of the Year Award: This award is given to a nurse who is new to the role of educator with less than three years of experience teaching nursing students in both clinical and classroom instruction. Nominees should exhibit exceptional teaching skills, passion for the role of nurse educator, and a demonstrated commitment to the profession and students.

New in 2023 –Online OADN Foundation Nominations & Applications To streamline the annual OADN Foundation Call for Awards, Scholarships and Grants, I am pleased to announce we have revamped the application process and transitioned to a new, online format, powered by Survey Monkey Apply. Please visit the OADN Foundation page at Foundation – OADN, click the link for the award, scholarship or grant opportunity of interest to read step-by-step instructions, as well as detailed eligibility and criteria requirements. You will find a direct Survey Monkey application link under the instructions for applicants’ section. We strongly encourage applicants and nominators to read the instructions carefully, gather all required materials and thoroughly edit them before submitting an online application. The 2023 OADN Foundation Call for Awards, Scholarships and Grants Submission Deadline is June 15, 2023. All award, scholarship, and grant recipients will be acknowledged and presented with their respective awards at the 2023 OADN Convention, Turning the Tide of Nursing Education, November 15th – 18th at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego, California.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our valued partners and all of you who have donated to the OADN Foundation. Your financial contribution is making a direct impact for our faculty and students who embody the excellence of the associate degree pathway. Together, we are helping to meet OADN’s vision of expanding networks that promote leadership, collaboration and advocacy and further enrich associate degree nursing education and the communities we serve.

 

 

 

Christy Dryer, DNP, RN, CNE
President, OADN Foundation

Nursing Community Monthly Roundup – January 2023

OADN continues our federal advocacy on your behalf as a member of the Nursing Community Coalition, where we work to ensure that nurses are supported and that nursing education is funded.

NCC Welcomes 118th Congress
On January 11, the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) welcomed Senators and Representatives to the 118th Congress and outlined our shared priorities of investing in Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs and supporting nursing research. The NCC looks forward to working with the new Congress to support our current and future nursing workforce.

Message from the Leadership – February 2023: Amplifying Your Voice in the Social Mission of Nursing Education

Happy New Year!  I trust 2023 is off to a great start for everyone.  At the OADN Headquarters we are fully engaged and working on our organizational strategic direction plan, which the Board of Directors developed last February. While all three strategic direction priorities are equally important for our organizational health and success, I would like to highlight what I believe is one of OADN’s most important member benefits: advocacy.  As you know, OADN is the national voice and a pivotal resource for community college nursing and the associate degree pathway. You, our extraordinary members, embody this mission of OADN through the work you do each day at your colleges to cultivate a robust nursing workforce that reflects the rich diversity of the communities you serve. Advocating for you is paramount to our ongoing efforts to engage in, and strengthen, inter-professional collaborations that collectively advance community college nursing education and amplify the voice of associate degree nursing.

My esteemed predecessor, OADN CEO Emeritus Donna Meyer, worked tirelessly to ensure OADN had a seat at every national table where education and health care policy decisions impacting associate degree nursing programs were made. Promoting diversity and inclusion in the nation’s nursing workforce to improve health equity for our patients and our communities is central to the advocacy work we do at OADN. To achieve this, OADN partnered with the George Washington University and Fitzhugh Mullan Institute’s Social Mission Alliance, which is a national movement focused on transforming health professions education to advance health equity.  In 2019, OADN and SMA collaborated to assess the feasibility of adapting the Social Mission Metrics Initiative (SMMI) Self-Assessment Survey, which had been disseminated to baccalaureate and masters’ levels nursing programs, to ADN programs. The OADN Social Mission Task Force assisted with the development of the SMMI Self-Assessment Survey for ADN programs, and a small pilot program for OADN program members launched in 2021. Now, we have an unprecedented opportunity to capture much needed data on health equity in associate degree nursing programs through dissemination of the SMMI Self-Assessment Survey to all OADN program leaders across the country.

We see the significant impact our ADN graduates have in our communities and how they are uniquely positioned to address the social determinants of health and health inequities through their nursing practice. However, we do not have national data on social mission in associate degree nursing education, which is essential in any effort to drive meaningful change. As OADN President Karen LaMartina, stated “This data will help amplify the voice of community college nursing education and call attention to the importance of the associate degree pathway in addressing racial and social inequities and address the social determinants of health affecting the communities we serve across the country.” Over the next few months, we will be sending out communications about the SMMI Survey for Associate Degree Nursing with an urgent request that our OADN member school leaders participate in this important and timely initiative. You may ask, what’s in it for me?  Great question! SMMI survey participants will be provided a mechanism to assess their individual program’s social mission as well as a benchmark tool to compare it with national norms. This data may be used in your own institutional self-study for annual reports to your national nursing accrediting body.  As you know, many of the national nursing accrediting bodies have specific criterion that must address how programs meet these criterion/elements in their curriculum. Having this specialized social mission data for your program will allow you to identify strengths and development opportunities while also meeting your programmatic accreditation needs.

I understand that time is our most valued commodity, so I would like to thank you in advance for your participation with the SMMI Self-Assessment Survey when it launches in the coming weeks. Your contribution to this critically important effort will generate the data we need for OADN to strengthen our advocacy role in promoting the value of the associate degree pathway as an entry point into the nursing profession. It will also amplify our collective voice and impact by demonstrating how essential community college nursing programs are to our nation’s health care workforce.

With heartfelt appreciation,

 

 

 

 

Rick García, Ph.D., RN, CCM, FAAOHN, FAADN
Chief Executive Officer
OADN and OADN Foundation

2022 Update: Beta Mu Chapter at Pearl River Community College

Pearl River College, Beta Mu Chapter Picture

During the Fall 2021 semester, the Alpha Delta Nu students of the Beta Mu Chapter at Pearl River Community College (PRCC) created a recruitment video for their ADN nursing program to be shown to potential incoming nursing students. Students wrote the scripts and spoke on academic classes, admissions, clinicals, student activities, and experiences. The following semester, Spring 2022 inductees prepared a handwashing service project for children under the age of 5 in the PRCC On-Campus Daycare.

Students taught the children how to properly wash hands with soap and water, learned a handwashing song, and then used a black light lamp and UV reactive gel to show the children if they washed their hands appropriately. Children were also given a pamphlet prepared by the students with coloring pictures and the song lyrics to bring home to their parents.

2022 Update: Joliet Junior College, Delta Nu Chapter

Joliet Junior College Zoom Call

During the academic year 2020-2021, ADN provisional students continued the development of our Joliet Junior College Department of Nursing Peer Mentoring program. During Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, the third semester provisional ADN transitioned seamlessly to virtual peer mentoring due to Covid pandemic campus restrictions.

Virtual peer mentoring was provided using the Teams virtual platform with ADN students leading small group discussions as well as creating a video each semester titled, “ADN Peer Mentors Share their Favorite Tips for Success in Nursing School (Volumes 1 & 2).” These videos have been posted on the Nursing Simulation and Skills Lab Canvas Course home page (Learning Management System) and combined current views of are over 200 times (and counting). Both semesters provided information on the following topics during small group “Study Buddy” virtual meetings: evidence based application-level study strategies; identifying learning styles; NCLEX practice question strategies and interpretation; time management and organization; stress and test anxiety strategies. Students created multiple learning tools including PowerPoints and handouts. In total, 57 first year nursing students attended 14 ADN student led Peer Mentoring Study Buddy virtual sessions. Perhaps most importantly during the pandemic, ADN peer mentors provided support and an important source of connection during the online nature of this year with campus restrictions on in-person learning.

Nursing faculty supported attendance at the peer mentoring sessions by providing course point(s) for working with an ADN Peer Mentor. Each semester, mentees and the ADN student mentors completed surveys to evaluate the Peer Mentoring program. Results demonstrated a high level of satisfaction from both groups, as well as a desire to continue and expand the program. Suggestions from these surveys are incorporated by the new ADN students each semester in a continual quality improvement process. Additionally, induction eligible students mentor incoming third semester ADN provisional students in the development of the next peer mentor project. Each semester, ADN students complete a written report of their project including evaluation data.