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2020 Update: Beta Mu Chapter at Pearl River Community College

Beta Mu Chapter 2020

The Beta Mu Chapter inductees of the Alpha Delta Nu Honor Society presented an Educational Capstone focusing on Preventing the spread of Germs. There were 11 American Heritage Girls and 9 parents/leaders in attendance ranging from Kindergarten to adult. The Objectives: 1. Understand what germs are. 2. Be able to identify methods of how germs are spread. 3. Discuss and demonstrate ways to prevent the spread of germs. This was achieved with a skit showing the spread of germs by using germ powder and a black light, a demonstration using pepper in a bowl of water to show how soap is more effective in killing germs, and by teaching proper hand washing followed by black light to show areas missed.  We are very proud of the accomplishments of the Beta Mu inductees Pearl River Community College and look forward to seeing where their nursing careers take them!

QSEN News Update

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

OADN Sends Letter To Presidential Transition Team

OADN recently sent a letter to the Biden-Harris transition team, expressing the importance of community college nursing programs for our country’s nursing workforce and healthcare of our communities.

Read the letter here.

Nursing Community Monthly Roundup – December 2020

December 2020

NCC Supports Increased Investments in Nursing Education, Workforce, and Research

The Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) commends Congress for passing a COVID-19 relief effort and for supporting increases to Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and National Institute of Nursing Research in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. The NCC looks forward to working with the 117th Congress and incoming Administration as we continue to support our current and future nursing workforce in 2021 and beyond. For the NCC’s FY 2021 funding chart click here.

Message from the President, December 2020

Dear OADN Members:

As I write my first message to you as your newly elected President, I feel excited and at the same time overwhelmed. I am truly humbled and honored to be representing OADN as President for the next two years. While I am not sure what challenges are on the horizon, I do hope you can find some normalcy in the weeks ahead.

During my time on the OADN Board of Directors, I have had the opportunity to learn about OADN’s governance in preparation for my role as President and follow my passion of academic progression. I believe it is very important for all nurses to have the opportunity to advance their education. Academic progression provides the knowledge, clinical expertise, and confidence to reach dreams that might seem unattainable. Advancing our education helps us develop the wisdom we need to work with our patients, their family and support systems, our students, and coworkers.

As OADN’s President, my goal is to facilitate the implementation of the strategic plan which the board has worked so diligently to develop. I will work closely with CEO Donna Meyer, the Board of Directors, staff, and YOU to continue to move OADN forward. Priorities for the year will be to keep our COVID resource page up to date to provide valuable resources for you and to focus on our membership. You, our members, are our body. Without you there is no OADN. We are OADN! If you have suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me at laura.schmidt@oadn.org

I want to thank all of you who participated in our first virtual convention resulting in record attendance. I want to thank our speakers, sponsors, partners, exhibitors, and all those who assisted in making this convention a huge success. We have heard many positive comments. It took many hours of hard work and I truly appreciate everyone who helped. Remember, you continue to have access to these great presentations for the next 11 months. Virtual was certainly not our preference. I wanted to see each of you to hear your stories and learn about your experiences!

Thank you again for trusting me to represent you as your OADN President. I will do my best to continue to move our organization forward. Becoming President of a national organization was something I never thought I would do. When I started my career in Philadelphia as an associate degree nurse, this was never on my radar. We have much to accomplish this year. Most important, remember to take care of yourself, and as our US Surgeon General Dr. Adams said: remember the 3 W’s – wash your hands, wear a mask, and watch social distancing. We cannot continue to help others if we do not take care of ourselves!

My wish is that you and your families have a blessed holiday season!

Laura A. Schmidt, DNP, FNP-BC
President, OADN

Nursing Community Monthly Roundup – October / November 2020

October / November 2020

NCC Sends Letter to Next Administration’s Transition Team

On November 13, members of the Nursing Community Coalition sent a letter to the Biden-Harris Transition Team welcoming the opportunity to serve as a resource to the Biden Administration and outlining key priorities to promote America’s health through the nursing lens. In this letter, the NCC strongly encourages the Transition Team to include nurses in every step of the process, in all possible conversations, and among taskforces, commissions, committees, councils, and federal boards.

NCC Sends Letter to Appropriators Updating FY 2021 Funding Requests

On November 20, sixty-two members of the Nursing Community Coalition sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting at least $269.972 for Title VIII Nursing Workforce and Development Programs, as outlined in the House, and at least $177.976 for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) as outlined in the Senate Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. The NCC also reiterated their request for additional supplemental funding for these programs.

NCC Sends Letter to Congressional Leadership Reinforcing COVID-19 Priorities

On November 20, fifty-nine members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) sent a letter to Congressional Leadership reinforcing our shared COVID-19 priorities to be included in any pandemic legislative relief package before the end of the 116th Congress.

Events & Meetings:

  • The Nursing Community Coalition held their October Monthly Meeting on October 6, 2020
  • The Nursing Community Coalition held their November Monthly Meeting on November 3, 2020

External Presence

Nursing Community Website: Site Visits: 1,348 Top Sub-Page Visited: Advocacy & Engagement

Twitter: @RN_Community New Followers: 25 Total Followers: 1,521

Profile Visits: 256 Tweet Impressions: 13,954

Annual OADN Membership Included With Purchase Of CB COVID-19 Compliance

(October 2020) – The spread of COVID-19 is a stark reminder of just how critical highly educated, qualified nurses are to the health and safety of our country – which is why the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) and CastleBranch have partnered together to help protect and advocate for Associate Degree Nursing students nationwide.

Expanding on earlier negotiations between OADN and CastleBranch, which provided all nursing programs with no-cost access to CastleBranch’s TEAM (temperature and symptom monitoring) toolset, a one-year membership to OADN will now be included for all Associate Degree Nursing programs who purchase an advanced CB COVID-19 Compliance managed services package. Advanced managed services packages may include iQ (isolation and quarantine), Contact Tracing and COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Tracking, which can be used to help programs implement their COVID-19 safety plan, mitigate the risk of COVID-19, protect faculty, and help students return to clinical experiences. As a member of OADN, programs will join a nationally recognized organization and leading advocate for the advancement of associate degree nursing.

“The COVID-19 crisis underscores how important the Associate Degree Nursing pathway remains to our healthcare workforce. These programs ensure that all communities across the country have access to safe, high-quality nursing care.” said Donna Meyer, CEO of OADN. “Our partnership with CastleBranch will allow us to provide nursing programs the tools they need to protect their students and faculty, and their membership will allow OADN to continue to advocate on their behalf across the entire country.”

To respond to the COVID-19 crisis, CastleBranch developed and launched CB COVID-19 Compliance, a software as a service, managed service platform designed to help organizations mitigate the risk of COVID-19. Including temperature and symptom monitoring (TEAM), quarantine and isolation protocols (iQ), diagnostic test tracking and contact tracing, the application is designed to protect people from the threat of infectious disease while helping organizations manage the logistical, legal and liability challenges when implementing their COVID-19 safety plans.

Associate degree nursing programs will be given the opportunity to join OADN at no additional cost with the purchase of a CB COVID-19 Compliance package that includes, at a minimum, the temperature and symptom monitoring tool (known as TEAM), and the isolation and quarantine protocol (known as iQ). The cost of membership will be covered for one year and is available to both existing and new members of OADN.

“OADN is absolutely essential in its work to advance Associate Degree Nursing education, programs and students. Its ability to advocate for nurses is critical at a time when nurses are needed now more than ever,” said Greg Larnder, president of CastleBranch. “We stand together with OADN as we both look to protect the safety and wellbeing of nursing students and faculty everywhere.”

Message from the CEO, October 2020

Dear OADN Members:

Over the past years, OADN has been a major advocate of academic progression to ensure that the associate degree pathway remains viable. In 2017, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program concluded, and the National Education Progression in Nursing (NEPIN) collaborative was formed. The OADN Board of Directors realized the extreme importance of the work on academic progression and supported OADN being involved. OADN is represented on the Leadership Alliance of NEPIN and the OADN Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serves as the fiduciary and convener for the collaborative.

I recently asked NEPIN National Program Director, Tina Lear to provide an update on their work. Tina, along with Mary Dickow, OADN’s Director of Leadership Development, will be presenting at the upcoming OADN virtual convention. You can attend their presentation by registering here.

Donna Meyer, MSN, RN, ANEF, FAADN, FAAN
CEO, OADN

OADN Appoints Hoffman As COO

(September 30, 2020) – The Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) is pleased to announce Bryan Hoffman’s appointment to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) position at OADN effective August 2017. Bryan previously served as OADN’s Deputy Director since 2017. The COO role will oversee financial processes, business and advocacy strategy, communications and marketing, educational programming, and event management.

Chief Executive Officer Donna Meyer stated, “Over the past three years Bryan’s innovative skills have been instrumental as OADN moved from a management company to independent association. He has progressively taken on more of the operations and advancement of the organizational mission. In addition, Bryan has been a catalyst in the creation of new member experiences and programming as well as playing a key role in the redesigned website and image for the organization.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve our national community of nurse educators in this new role,” says Hoffman. “The OADN Membership’s commitment to student success and patient care inspires me on daily basis. I look forward to working with all of our members to strengthen our community and help all of our nurse educators achieve their goals at the local, state and national levels.”

“The Board of Directors is excited to see this important recognition of Bryan’s contributions to the organization” said Board President Donna Spivey. “We look forward to our ongoing work with Bryan in the advancement of OADN’s strategic direction.”

Bryan’s previous work directly relates to the importance of the associate degree in nursing pathway and the mission of OADN. As Deputy Director for OADN and the OADN Foundation, Bryan served as the chief operations official responsible for coordinating business strategies in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan. Before joining OADN, Bryan has worked directly on scalable nursing education transformation in the United States. As Program Manager from 2011 to 2017 for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Academic Progression in Nursing Program, or APIN, he worked with the American Hospital Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, AARP, OADN, and numerous state-level organizations to advance education opportunities for nurses nationwide. Through this work, Bryan first became acquainted with the OADN Membership and tremendous work they do in preparing the nursing workforce of this nation.

Prior to his work on national nursing issues, Bryan served as a technical advisor and subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development, where he specialized in gender policy for local governance and civil society capacity building – with regional experience in the Middle East and West Africa. Bryan has lived abroad in Damascus, Syria and Bologna, Italy. He holds a master’s degree in international health and development from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. Bryan earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio Wesleyan University. He lives in Seattle, Washington where he enjoys all that the great Pacific Northwest has to offer.

CastleBranch Releases CB Roll Call To Help Protect Educators From COVID-19

OADN advocates to secure no-cost access for all healthcare educators 

(September 21, 2020) – Infectious disease screening and compliance management company CastleBranch is building on its groundbreaking efforts to help protect people from COVID-19 with the release of CB Roll Call, designed specifically to protect educators. This new tool helps educators identify students who are clear of COVID-19 symptoms, and those who are not, before they step foot inside a classroom, and is being donated at no cost to healthcare educators as a result of negotiations between CastleBranch and the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN).

“Throughout this difficult COVID-19 pandemic, the entire healthcare education community has been working tirelessly to overcome dangerous interruptions to critical clinical education. It’s incumbent upon all of us to provide a safe, healthy teaching environment for faculty to pass on their knowledge to the next generation without fear of endangering their lives when doing so,” said Donna Meyer, CEO of OADN.

An educator’s primary role is to educate – not to screen students for possible COVID-19 symptoms and exposure while maintaining compliance with state and federal privacy laws. But with student populations across the country experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, educators are at a higher risk of exposure now more than ever. These educators need protection – especially those in healthcare, who are tasked with developing the next generation of lifesaving healthcare professionals.

CB Roll Call is designed to help educators mitigate this risk by providing visibility into the health and wellness of a classroom before educators and students arrive. The online application, used in conjunction with CB COVID-19 Compliance, compiles daily wellness records for participating users, including temperatures recordings, symptom reporting, travel and exposure attestations. Based on the recorded data, an educator is then given visibility into which students are symptom- and exposure-free of COVID-19, which ones are not symptom- or exposure-free, and enables them to make the best decision for the health and safety of themselves, their classroom and their family. The tool, designed by a company with over 20 years of experience as a consumer reporting agency and infectious disease screening organization, is also built to ensure compliance with all relevant state and federal privacy regulations.

“Becoming an essential worker means you should be protected like an essential worker,” said Brett Martin, CEO of CastleBranch. “As essential workers, educators are now on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, which is why we want to make sure they have the resources they need to protect themselves, their classrooms and their communities.”

To learn more about how CastleBranch can help, visit discover.castlebranch.com/covid-19-resources/ or call or email us at 888.723.4263 ext. 1066, covid19@castlebranch.com