2012 was a very exciting and busy year for the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD). Over the course of the year, milestones included changing the association's name from National Nursing Staff Development Organization to ANPD to ensure alignment with the Scope and Standards for Nursing Professional Development (2010), hosting an outstanding annual convention in Boston and rolling out the first phase of a new member-focused Web site. These milestones do not just happen. They are the result of a dedicated, 100% volunteer board. In this update, the current ANPD Board will be introduced.
The ANPD President is Kathleen Dunn-Cane, MS, RN-BC. Kathleen comes to us from her longtime career in the U.S. Air Force. Currently, she is based at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where she is the Chief of Clinical Operations, Air Combat Command. Kathleen brings 16 years of experience in nursing professional development (NPD) to her role. When asked what her most poignant learning was this past year, she reflected on the opportunity she had to lead a medical mission in Peru, which required her to get to know the local customs and traditions to facilitate her team's ability to provide better care. Kathleen's passion in NPD is working with junior staff members enhancing their current skill level. Kathleen is working diligently to position ANPD to ensure that NPD specialists are recognized for the vital and valuable role they bring to all aspects of nursing.
President Elect is Mary Harper, PhD, RN-BC, who is currently National Clinical Faculty Coordinator for Western Governors University. Mary brings 15 years of experience in NPD to her role. As Mary works with staff nurses around the country and mentors them to coach students in the clinical setting, she is continually amazed to learn that nurses often do not see themselves as qualified to teach others in the clinical setting. I often find that many nurses want to work with students but question their own practice and whether they're using the latest evidence-based practice. This is just one of the reasons Mary is passionate about ANPD meeting the needs of its membership for support in areas such as networking, evidence, data, and so on. Mary believes NPD is a relatively young specialty and NPD specialists often struggle to take credit for and articulate their value. Her desire is for ANPD to provide the resources to promote professional development within the specialty. Mary is looking forward to the day when ANPD achieves its vision of being the thought leader and resource for NPD throughout the world.
The current Secretary is Gen Guanci, MEd, RN-BC. Gen is a consultant with Creative Health Care Management. She brings over 25 years of experience in NPD and is currently serving her second term on the Board. Gen works with national and international healthcare organizations as they take the journey to create a culture of nursing excellence. Gen's commitment to NPD is driven by Florence Nightingale's belief that the day we stop learning is the day we go backward. Gen's vision for NPD is to create a culture where NPD specialists articulate the outcomes of their work as opposed to just the productivity in their work. Gen lives in the Boston area where she is also on the Board of New England Brittany Rescue.
Ann Colvin, MSN, RN-BC, is the Treasurer, charged with the oversight of ANPD finances. As Treasurer, Ann works diligently to ensure ANPD remains a financially solvent association. Ann is currently an advanced nursing coordinator at the University of Alabama Hospital. Ann brings 28 years of experience in ANPD to her role. Ann's most poignant learning this past year was learning her dominant strengths and talents, how she can apply them to improve her performance and how to work with individuals who may have differing strengths and talents than hers. Passionate about NPD, Ann wants ANPD to be known as the pathway to professional development and for ANPD to be the forerunner in producing informational and educational services and products that help individuals and organizations achieve nursing excellence. Ann's vision for ANPD is for it to become the organization that "when it speaks, everyone listens."
Director-at-Large Joan Warren, PhD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, is the Director of Nursing Research in a Baltimore area healthcare system. Joan has been involved in NPD since the early 1990s. Joan believes in the professional advancement of nurses through formal education, certification, or professional nursing ladders to facilitate success in their careers. She fully supports the Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing call for actions such as motivating nurses to return to school for advanced degrees, nurse residency programs, lifelong learning, and leadership. When asked what she thought was ANPD's most pressing concern, she stated that it is the inability to show empirical outcomes about the worth, value, and impact of the NPD role in hospital settings. Joan strives to elevate NPD's visibility and image among academicians and leaders of nursing professional organizations to ensure ANPD is recognized as the thought leader for NPD.
Debianne Peterman, PhD, MSN, RNC-NIC, NE-BC, Director at Large, is the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, New York. She is a thoughtful and articulate leader who brings her passion in advancing NPD to her Board role. Like other members of the Board, Debianne has a vision for ANPD to be the thought leader for all aspects of NPD. In her role on the Board, Debianne works with several groups including the Education Committee and the Exhibitor Advisory Group.
The third Director at Large is Sara Levin, MSN, RN-BC, who is currently the Manager of Nursing Professional Development & Research at North Shore University Health System in Chicago, Illinois. Sara is the former Chair of the Convention Content Planning Committee and has over 12 years of experience in NPD. Sara mastered the skill of time management this past year because she works full time and is an EdD doctoral student and both her daughters were married within 4 months of each other. When asked what she thought is ANPD's most pressing concern, she shared that she wishes that all members would tell others about ANPD and the value that they bring to the practice of NPD.
The fourth Director at Large is Susan Bindon, DNP, RN-BC. Susan is currently an assistant professor at the Institute for Educators at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Susan brings over 14 years of experience to her role on the Board. Susan sees that the collective wisdom of National Nursing Staff Development Organization's, and now ANPD's, history, membership, board, and professional partners is a powerful force that can truly create change for continued future success. She loves working with novice educators to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence in a new specialty. Susan believes ANPD needs to continue to share, present, and publish successes and lessons learned in a high-quality, practical manner. NPD specialists need to be aware of, translate, and use current evidence that is available and push for evidence-based ideas and solutions to problems that we all face, regardless of setting.
One thing is clear about the current ANPD Board members[horizontal ellipsis]they share a passion for the specialty and a compelling vision for the future. It is apparent that each member is focused on ANPD becoming the thought leader for NPD and individuals being able to articulate that NPD is a strong contributor to the outcomes of all organizations.