In 2009, the National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) celebrated 20 years of growth as a specialty organization, culminating in the publication of a greatly expanded Scope and Standards of Nursing Professional Development. In light of this, the Board conducted an organizational assessment to formulate a plan that would ensure that progress is made over the coming year and move us forward in the coming decade. The NNSDO Board of Directors met in February 2010 to map out a new strategic plan for 2010, as well as a visionary strategic direction for the next 3 years. It was an aggressive plan, but in 1 day, our objectives were to:
* Have a common understanding of "where we are today" and what obstacles are facing the organization.
* Build a greater understanding of "where we are coming from" and, most importantly, why there is a reason for change.
* Collectively define the strategic vision on "where we want to go in the future."
* Outline the top four to five goals that provide the underpinnings to achieve our overall strategic vision for 2010.
* Identify the initial "first steps" under each goal to launch the initial effort toward each goal.
* Identify and take accountability for the critical success factors (what absolutely what must go right to achieve these goals) for 2010.
* Provide a broad brush "end game" for the next 3-year strategic vision, which will serve as the overall strategic map going forward for NNSDO.
It was an amazing experience! We have an incredibly experienced and vibrant Board, and with the aid of an expert facilitator, the ideas swirled about the room. We devoted time determining where we are and why we needed to change. We recognized what was great about the organization: the pioneer spirit of the founder and initial Steering Committee, the collective and growing expertise of members, the continued solvency of the organization, and positive and willing volunteers for committees and task forces, to cite a few-all highly valued for the success of any organization. We then stepped back and asked the hard questions: Are we living up to our potential? Do we as an organization reach all our specialty constituents? Are we seen by other organizations and disciplines as the "go-to" source for nursing professional development? How well do we communicate both internally and externally? We have improved our Web technology to a degree, yet communication technologies are exploding; have we kept up?
Using the tenets of alignment, transparency, and accountability, we conducted an in-depth strategic planning session. It was intense, but by using the Scope and Standards for Nursing Professional Development as the cornerstone, the vision statements for where we want to go in the future came into focus, and specifically for 2010 and 2013.
NNSDO VISION FOR 2013
By 2013, NNSDO is recognized as the most influential nursing professional development authority across all healthcare disciplines providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based education, resources, and research support that meets the needs of its more than 10,000 members worldwide.
NNSDO VISION FOR 2010
In 2010, NNSDO will establish itself as the most influential authority and thought-leadership body for nursing professional development, through focusing our efforts on data-driven outcomes grounded by a comprehensive knowledge base. By doing so, NNSDO will become a leader in the nursing professional development community influencing other disciplines in health care by fully engaging our membership.
We believe that these vision statements will guide us in transforming the organization. The primary strategic goals for 2010 are focused on five pillars or goals. The first goal is a newly defined partnerships plan. To ensure appropriate future placements of resources and efforts, NNSDO seeks to identify specific partnerships that align with NNSDO's strategic plan and vision. The second goal is to develop a comprehensive outbound marketing plan that establishes NNSDO's presence and involvement in social media and also promotes and increases NNSDO's visibility as the premier nursing professional development thought-leadership body. The third is to provide comprehensive membership support through an ongoing analysis of membership demographics and assessment of educational needs, implementing improved member outreach campaigns, and funding special projects. The fourth goal is to engage membership by redesigning the infrastructure through shared governance. This includes moving the current Board and committee structure to a shared decision-making model. Bylaws, workflow, and communication plans will be formulated as well as new leadership and succession planning strategies for talent management. The final goal is to become the knowledge repository (evidence based) for nursing professional development. Several pathways are underway. Foremost is the development of a comparative outcomes database from which national nursing professional development metrics can be tracked. A Public Policy Task Force is completing work for the inaugural NNSDO Public Policy Agenda. Work is underway for a grant program to promote sharing of expert knowledge; the Products and Services Committee is working on developing and enhancing nursing professional development resources; and there is increased emphasis and funding of nursing professional development research through the American Nurse Foundation and the NNSDO Research Committee.
With the top five goals identified, the Board developed the first steps to launch an initial effort to reach the strategic vision. Critical success factors were identified to ensure that obstacles to successful implementation are averted. The Board is aggressively developing detailed work plans to meet 21 specific, measurable, aligned, relevant, time-based (SMART) goals. Many of these activities will be in progress and will be presented to the membership at the July 2010 business meeting in San Diego. Given the congruence and engagement of members, NNSDO will influence the development of the specialty for the next decade. We need feedback from you. Please plan to be there!
Sandra Bruce, MSN, RN-BC
President