Spring is nearly upon us, bringing the promise of renewal and growth. In the same way, the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) is reenergizing our strategic plan to actualize the mission to ensure optimal care for all people. Although considered a living document with frequent updates, the strategic plan is formally revisited and revised every 2 years. This process includes a review of the current state, developing new goals, and ensuring the organization is aligned for success. To be deemed the official strategic plan, it must include the approval of the Board of Directors but, more importantly, the affirmative vote of the STN membership at large. This is STN's opportunity to springboard the vision of being the premiere trauma organization worldwide.
In October 2022, the STN Board began the process of strategic plan revision by updating the content to reflect accomplishments and progress. The 2022 strategic plan pillars included advocacy, knowledge sharing, leadership, research, alliance building, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. STN members should be very proud of the advancements to the organization and the continued growth of our services to meet and often exceed expectations. A recap of these accomplishments will be presented as a component of the Membership Meeting at TraumaCon in Denver, CO, on March 30, 2023.
To begin the new strategic plan revision process, STN's Board of Directors participated in an educational session called ForesightWorks, a program established by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation to empower association leaders to create a culture of foresight in their organizations (Rhea, 2018). The program envisions a future in which association leaders are not only aware of potential changes ahead but also actively engaged with their organizational leadership, staff, members, and peers to plan for and create opportunities from these changes (Rhea, 2018).
A fundamental concept for strategic plan success is foresight. Foresight is a structured process for discerning, analyzing, and acting on potential futures (Rhea, 2018). Foresight is different from trending. Trending knowledge is helpful but can only tell you what people are doing now-not what you may need to know to prepare for the future. Foresight is a purposeful practice of environmental scanning and planning for change. Future thinking includes continuous reflection on the questioning of new information and what that information could mean for your work (Rhea, 2018). Concerning STN's future, we must use foresight to forecast new uncharted horizons and be prepared for those occurrences. According to the ASAE ForesightWorks program, this new information includes incorporating evidence-based drivers of change (Rhea, 2018).
Drivers of change are divided into six thematic groups: content learning and knowledge, data and technology, demographics and membership, economic conditions, society and politics, and workforce and workplace (Rhea, 2021). There are 50 key disruptors identified by ASAE ForesightWorks, recognizing particularly relevant challenges to today's organization. The list of identified drivers is updated to reflect the current research and environmental scanning. The STN Board fully explored two drivers of change during the Board education: anticipatory intelligence and volunteering. Discussions addressed supporting trends, notable data points, strategic insights, and taking action. In addition to the in-person education, the Board continued the exercise with monthly blog discussions, focusing on additional drivers.
The principles of foresight and relevance for trauma nursing were highlighted in the November 2022 STN Newsletter and then expanded upon within every monthly newsletter. December's STN newsletter focused on the driver of Empowering the New Workforce, and January's newsletter addressed Declining Trust. Key concepts for foresight were shared with every STN Committee and SIG Chair in efforts to drip the knowledge to the members as the strategic plan work occurred. The intense strategic planning and foresight initiatives occurred continuously based on these principles.
The updated STN strategic plan will continue to undergo evaluation and finesse, with the goal of Board approval in March and the presentation and membership vote as a component of the Membership Meeting at TraumaCon 2023. I encourage everyone to review the proposal and make future-focused decisions to continue to push STN's initiatives and goals.
In every Presidential message I authored in the Journal of Trauma Nursing, I incorporated a reference to time, exploring the concepts of the past, the present, and the future. The ongoing success of STN is only limited by our imagination but will not occur without visionary planning. Let's all take some time to be future-focused. Think of what new and exciting opportunities lie ahead for our organization and the trauma nursing profession! Challenge members to raise expectations and use purposeful foresight to develop objectives successfully. Get involved, provide input, and share your knowledge. Together we are better, and by being a future-focused organization, our boundaries are limitless.
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