As promised during the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) 2015 Business Meeting, the Strategic Plan for 2016-2018 was unveiled. The Board of Directors is very excited by the transformative nature of ANPD's new strategic plan. ANPD is moving beyond simple improvement of past performance toward a new future limited only by the imagination and energy of its members. The strategic plan allows ANPD to realize its vision, "ANPD is the thought and practice leader for nursing professional development."
ACHIEVEMENT OF VISION/MISSION
Strategic plans address the questions: (a) What is the organization's purpose (mission)? (b) Where does the organization want to be in the future (vision)? (c) How do we achieve our mission and vision (plan)? As mentioned earlier, ANPD's vision is to become "the thought and practice leader for nursing professional development." The organization's mission is advancing "quality health care by defining and promoting nursing profession development practice." ANPD's mission and vision have already been written and disseminated. The ANPD Board of Directors developed a plan to ensure that ANPD continues its mission while moving toward its vision. This plan has four foci, each with a corresponding goal: (1) Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Role Delineation-NPD practitioners will be identified as a value added leader in health care; (2) Managing Transitions-NPD practitioners will be recognized as leaders in nursing transition into practice; (3) Leadership-ANPD will enhance its position as the educational leader for NPD; and (4) ANPD Value Proposition-ANPD will strengthen its value to NPD practitioners and be recognized as their preferred membership organization. Each goal has established specific measurable objectives, tactics to achieve these objectives, measures, planned monitoring of progress within a set time frame, and assigned primary accountability.
NPD ROLE DELINEATION
The goal of NPD practitioners being identified as value-added leaders in health care is operationalized with six objectives:
1. Disseminate findings from the Role Delineation Study.
2. Update NPD Scope and Standards.
3. Disseminate findings from NPD Value Demonstration Project.
4. Complete the evidence-based practice study with the Center for Transdisciplinary Evidence-Based Practice at the Ohio State University and Elsevier.
5. Endorse standardized competencies for NPD practitioners.
6. Standardize methods to quantify return on investment of educational programs and activities.
The first objective is well under way. The NPD Role Delineation Study (Warren & Harper, 2015) was presented at ANPD's 2015 convention, and abstracts have been submitted to share these finding with other professional organizations. A publication is also in the planning. The Scope and Standards work group is using Warren and Harper's (2015) findings in their update of the NPD Scope and Standards and creation of the NPD Practice Model. The second research study, the NPD Organizational Value Demonstration Project (Aucoin, Warren, & Harper, 2015), was also presented at convention. It will be presented at other select conferences and will be published. Other studies and projects are in a variety of stages. They include standardized methods to quantify return on investment of educational programs, and standardized competencies for NPD practitioners that incorporate themes from the revised NPD Scope and Standards and the Role Delineation Study.
MANAGING TRANSITIONS
For the overarching goal that NPD practitioners will be recognized as leaders in nursing transition to practice (TTP), there are three measurable objectives:
1. Support NPD practitioner roles related to TTP programs such as newly licensed nurse graduate residencies, APN residencies, fellowships, and preceptorships.
2. Promote interprofessional continuing education and collaboration.
3. Provide NPD practitioners with resources to facilitate organizational transitions such as new care delivery models and structural changes.
The first objective, supporting TTP programs, will begin with a gap analysis to determine the state of TTP and transition in practice programs for various patient care settings including, but not limited to, acute care, home health, public health, and long-term care. This will be followed by a position statement on the importance of a dedicated preceptor role in transitions to practice. One of the tactics for achieving the second objective will be assessing ANPD membership on the integration of interprofessional continuing education into their programs and disseminating the results. Webinars will be planned to describe current interprofessional continuing education practices and suggest strategies for the future. Another tactic will be defining simulation and its use by interprofessional teams. The term collective competence will be defined and explored as a possible goal of interprofessional training. In order to achieve the final objective of facilitating organizational transitions to include new care delivery models and structural changes, ANPD will perform national/global environmental scanning and share findings with the membership using a variety of communication tools. Using these findings, ANPD will develop needed educational products and tools to better equip NPD practitioners to facilitate positive transitions within their organizations.
LEADERSHIP
ANPD will enhance its position as the educational leader in NPD by achieving the following objectives:
1. Maintain solid fiscal health, increasing reserve funds to more than 1 million dollars.
2. Increase long-term investment funds to 1 million dollars.
3. Create a framework to support the spirit of inquiry for NPD.
4. Create a framework to support the development and dissemination of white papers, position statements, and other ANPD products.
5. Establish ANPD as a professional organization leader and innovator.
6. Implement leadership development programs for NPD practitioners.
7. Develop a succession plan for continued board and committee leader growth and development.
The first two objectives of increasing our financial strength to support our leadership goal are moving forward. The ANPD Board of Directors finished 2015 by approving a long-term investment plan. A Spirit of Inquiry Task Force has formed, with a goal of creating a framework to support systematic inquiry for NPD. The work has begun on defining a white paper, a position statement, and their appropriate use. Definitions and usage is just the first step. The next step will be creating the process for development, review, and endorsement of the white papers and position statements. The fifth objective requires our national presence as an organization. Tactics to achieve this are to align with other organizations. An example of aligning with another organization is ANPD becoming an organizational affiliate of the American Nurses Association. Another tactic to achieve this objective is the establishment of guidelines for partnerships with other organizations. Tactics to achieve the sixth objective begin with exploring models and possible partnerships for an interactive online leadership course. The final leadership objective of developing a succession plan for ANPD begins with defining ANPD leadership roles and developing role descriptions, including skill sets needed, and outlining required commitments. Developing future leaders both for ANPD and for the practice of NPD is a high priority for ANPD.
ANPD VALUE PROPOSITION
ANPD will strengthen its value to NPD practitioners and be recognized as their preferred membership organization. There are three objectives under this goal:
1. Provide educational products and services that address needs of NPD practitioners from novice to expert.
2. Maintain American Nurses Credentialing Center provider unit accreditation, meeting quality outcome measures for the provider unit and NPD.
3. Support preparation of graduate level nurses to practice NPD.
The first two value proposition objectives are ongoing. ANPD needs to ensure that it is poised to meet the educational needs of the entire NPD skill spectrum from novice to expert. Too often, graduate preparation for the NPD practitioner is limited to the academic nurse education curriculum. ANPD will explore the need for a standardized curriculum for NPD practice. ANPD strengthens its value to members by meeting the educational needs of all levels of NPD practitioners.
WHAT NEXT?
The strategic plan is an important step in the transformation of ANPD to "the thought and practice leader for nursing professional development." In order to achieve our vision, the plan must be implemented. Implementation takes place from 2016 to 2018 and will require active engaged members. There will be numerous opportunities for members to participate. Please be alert for calls for volunteers willing and able to serve on task forces or in other capacities. This is an ambitious and transformative plan. It will require the imagination, creativity, and energy of the membership to take ANPD into the future.
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