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.
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.
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
(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.”
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.
(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.
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
Clinical Learning Opportunities with the American Red Cross
View the recorded webinar: Clinical Learning Opportunities with the American Red Slides
Password: 1^=JZ3MB
The American Red Cross Academic Service-Learning (ASL) opportunities fit well with Associate Degree Nursing programs. This presentation for OADN members addresses ways that ASL volunteers can serve communities –to help ensure a diverse and adequate blood supply, help communities prepare and respond to disasters and provide case management for members of the military, veterans and their families. There are new volunteer opportunities due to the COVID-19 environment and these vary by location.
Objectives
• Discuss Academic Service-Learning (ASL) in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities to serve communities with the Red Cross.
• Describe ASL processes and resources for nursing students and nurses in the Red Cross.
• Appreciate the importance of engaging nursing students with national voluntary organizations in disaster response.
• Discuss American Red Cross Nursing and its efforts to build community resilience.
REGISTER | Click here to read about how your program can partner with the Red Cross for Clinical Learning
Presenters:
Linda MacIntyre, PhD, RN, PHN
Chief Nurse American
National Red Cross
As Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross, Dr. Linda MacIntyre provides leadership for nurses and other health professionals across the organization. Dr. MacIntyre provides vision, direction and support in meeting the Red Cross mission. She oversees health professional volunteer recruitment, engagement and recognition, and provides oversight for Academic Service Learning. As Chief Nurse, Dr. MacIntyre represents the Red Cross and collaborates with federal and civilian health and nursing organizations, government agencies, universities, hospitals and other key stakeholders. Dr. MacIntyre participated in community coalitions and was a member of the Medical Reserve Corps Steering Committee in Kansas City. She was the director of community health and youth for the Red Cross Greater Kansas City Region and engaged students from 10 universities and colleges. She was responsible for disaster health response across five counties and convened a forum for community partners to improve disaster preparedness, response and recovery through collaboration. Dr. MacIntyre served on the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters from 2014-2018. Dr. MacIntyre serves on the Federal Nursing Service Council, the Advisory Board of Disaster Medicine Fellowship for Indiana University Department of Emergency Medicine and the American Journal of Nursing Editorial Board. She taught community health nursing at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and previously worked as a residential social worker in a children’s home in England. She has a BA in Theology from Westminster College, England and a PhD from UCSF.
Tener Goodwin Veenema, PhD, MPH, MS
Professor of Nursing and Public Health
Visiting Scholar
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Tener Goodwin Veenema, PhD, MPH, MS, is a Contributing Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a Professor of Nursing and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the Center, she leads research projects to explore health systems optimization and healthcare worker protection during disasters and large-scale biological events. She also serves as an Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism). As an internationally recognized expert in disaster nursing and public health emergency preparedness, she has served as senior scientist to the DHHS Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), Department of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). An accomplished researcher, Dr. Veenema has sustained career funding over 2.2 million dollars, is a member of the Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness at the National Academy of Medicine, and is an elected Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, the National Academies of Practice, and the Royal College of Surgeons, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Veenema is editor of Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness for Chemical, Biological and Radiological Terrorism and Other Hazards, 4th Ed., the leading textbook in the field. Dr. Veenema received the Florence Nightingale Medal of Honor (International Red Crescent, 2013) the highest international award in Nursing for her professional service in disasters and public health emergencies. She received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award (2017), was selected Visiting Research Scholar to Torrens Disaster Institute (Australia, 2017) and New York University (2018,) and received a lifetime achievement award from Columbia University School of Nursing (2019).
On September 11, sixty-one members of the Nursing Community Coalition sent letters to both the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee urging them to support and advance S.997/H.R.2056 – the United States Cadet Nurse Corps Recognition Act of 2019. This legislation recognizes nurses who served as members of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps During World War II and provides them with honorable discharges, medal privileges, and burial benefits.
On September 30, fifty-three members of the Nursing Community Coalition sent a letter to Congressional Leadership and key Committees expressing support for the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act (S.4396/H.R.7945) and encourage its inclusion in the next COVID-19 legislative relief package. This legislation would provide vital federal investments to ensure nursing education pipelines remain strong, not only during COVID-19, but in future public health challenges as well.
We know you are all very busy with the launch of the fall semester and realize this year the semester looks very different than the past as programs continue to develop strategies in the new norm of COVID. OADN is here as a resource through our COVID-19 landing page. Even more importantly coming soon is the annual convention: Vision 2020: ADN Educators Leading the Way.
We have made modifications in this year’s convention to ensure that the most timely and relevant sessions are made available to your programs. As COVID-19 has changed our lives, it has also changed the demands placed on us as nurse educators, requiring creativity and innovation of an unprecedented level. Amidst these challenges, our nation is also confronting longstanding pain that results in severe economic and health disparities, affecting patients, students, and faculty alike. We have listened to your needs as well as your faculty and students by planning some exceptional sessions. Although we will miss seeing you at convention, the OADN virtual convention is a wonderful opportunity for more faculty to attend at a substantially reduced cost. We encourage you to view the program and register!
OADN Organizational Update
Over the past few months, the Board of Directors has been assessing the OADN governance and operational structures as well as processes. One area of focus has been reviewing the vision and mission to ensure the mission and vision represent the true work of OADN. After much discussion, the Board approved a revised mission and vision. The Board believes the statements better represent OADN’s strategic directives and the work we do to represent and advocate for the associate degree pathway in support of faculty and students.
Updated mission: OADN is the national voice and a pivotal resource for community college nursing education and the associate degree pathway.
Updated vision: To expand networks that promote leadership, collaboration, and advocacy to further enrich nursing education and the communities we serve.
Additionally, modifications have been made with OADN staff positions of Bryan Hoffman and Mary Dickow. Bryan has been named Chief Operating Officer. In his new role, Bryan he will oversee budget development and monitoring, business and advocacy strategy, communications and marketing, educational programming, convention management, and website support. Bryan’s outstanding skills and talent are a perfect fit for this timely change to the OADN organizational structure. Mary’s new title is Director of Leadership Development. In this role Mary will focus on OADN’s strategic initiatives related to leadership development for nursing education. Both Bryan and Mary demonstrate exceptional senior leadership and are true assets to OADN.
Wishing you a very successful and safe fall semester and please take care.
Donna Hedges PhD, MBA, MSN, CNE, RN
Director, Nursing Services
ABSN Program – Orbis Education
Adjunct Professor, RN to BSN Program (Online)
Schreiner University
OADN Board Director – Southwest Region
(August 5, 2020) – We live in challenging times. Covid-19 has revealed the harsh realities of being on the frontlines of a global pandemic and the vulnerabilities of our healthcare system. As the number of cases escalates in parts of the United States, we continue to witness the perseverance, courage, and dedication of nurses and all members of the healthcare team and most sadly, the physical and psychological suffering of so many people. The pandemic has also caused unprecedented challenges to nursing education. As Dr. Pam Jeffries so accurately stated, “The silver lining of this pandemic is that it’s made us move forward to do something different” (2020). With little preparation and a tremendous amount of work to accomplish in a short period of time, nursing faculty transitioned didactic and clinical courses to the online environment. Faculty and students were asked to “think outside the box” and resoundingly, they have.
As we enter the fall semester, academic leaders, faculty, and students are facing uncertainty as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and college policies and procedures will dominate how educational content is delivered. In many cases, students will continue to learn in the online environment whether or not they intended to pursue this mode of delivery. In addition, the lack of available clinical placements within hospitals will necessitate the use of simulation and virtual simulation to augment clinical hours. If students are permitted to practice skills within on campus labs, social distancing, adequate PPE, and disinfecting procedures will be paramount. While these measures are critical to the safety of faculty and students, the need for fewer numbers of students and increased numbers of lab sections will be necessary. Academic leaders will be faced with the dilemma of how to meet state board requirements for graduation, students will be anxious about their readiness for NCLEX and for transition into practice, and healthcare systems will be faced with the need to strengthen preceptorships and internships designed to facilitate new graduates’ transition into practice. There is no shortage of complexity as we collectively seek to answer these issues in the best interests of our students.
Reflecting on the lessons we have learned, and the challenges that we still face, one thing is certain: nursing faculty and students must be flexible and resilient. The world of nursing education has dramatically changed. Yet there’s another silver lining in all of this: we also have changed. Having been pushed “outside the box”, faculty have demonstrated creativity and perseverance driven by their dedication to educating our future nurses. Nursing students have pressed on despite the paradigm shift in their educational journey and have advocated for continuing to be at the bedside to provide care and to assist the nursing staff. Deans and Directors have strategized through uncharted waters to meet this tidal wave of change and have entered into multi-level discussions to address educational requirements. Despite this intense work, the road ahead is still a bit unclear. In all of this, however, OADN unquestionably believes that ADN academic leaders, faculty, and students have what it takes to blaze the path forward.
As I hear nurses share their experiences and read the social media posts of students I have taught in clinical settings, I have decided that nurses are not superheroes. Nurses are extraordinary human beings who are profoundly dedicated to providing care to people in the worst of times. Nurses are exhausted, they are grieving, and they are afraid – yet they remain at the bedside providing the only light their patients will see in the darkness that is Covid-19. The symbolic lamp we carry is the light within ourselves and that light is passed from faculty to students. This is the essence of nursing and is precisely why we will continue to persevere through this pandemic and the next.
Jeffries, P. (2020). Nursing simulation: What have we learned from the pandemic. Hord Coplan Macht.
On August 31, members of the Nursing Community Coalition sent a letter welcoming the new National Institute of Nursing Research’s (NINR) Director, Dr. Shannon Zenk. The NCC has a long tradition of working with NINR by promoting the work of nurse scientists, advocating for investments in research and future researchers, and sharing the Institute’s foundational work to improve healthcare delivery across the care continuum. The NCC looks forward to meeting, sharing our collective priorities, and working with the new NINR Director.
On August 18, Fifty-eight members of the Nursing Community Coalition reiterated in a letter to House and Senate Leadership and key Congressional Committees outlining their shared priorities for any COVID-19 legislative package working its way through Congress. These requests include bolstering efforts to protect all nurses on the front lines, increasing funding for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs, supporting nursing education infrastructure and research, strengthening investments in public health, and promoting access to telehealth. The timing of resending this letter was great as Senate Republicans released another legislation proposal, known as the ‘skinny’ bill, later in the day on August 18.
