Annual Membership Meeting Announcement
The Annual HPNA Membership Meeting will occur on Friday, March 27, 2009, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Austin Convention Center.
Please note that the membership will be asked to vote on the new mission statement of the organization (a bylaw change), which is proposed as follows: "Leading the way to promote excellence in the provision of palliative nursing care through leadership development, education, and the support of research in the field."
The current mission statement reads as follows:
HPNA promotes excellence in end-of-life nursing by:
a. promoting the highest professional standards of hospice and palliative nursing;
b. studying, researching, and exchanging information, experiences, and ideas, leading to improved nursing practice;
c. encouraging nurses to specialize in the practices of hospice and palliative nursing;
d. fostering the professional development of nurses, individually and collectively;
e. responding to the changing needs of HPNA members and the populations they represent; and
f. promoting the recognition of hospice and palliative care as essential components throughout the healthcare system.
As per Annual Membership Meeting announcement and this month's View From the Board, please find below talking points for your review and consideration when voting on the proposed mission statement.
Proposed mission statement:
"Leading the way to promote excellence in the provision of palliative nursing care through leadership development, education, and the support of research in the field."
* HPNA needs a mission statement that articulates our mission in a way that is clear, representative of our entire membership, and succinct enough to remember.
* HPNA provides support for the people who provide nursing care to patients and families with life-limiting illness by offering development of leadership skills, educational opportunities for growth and expansion of knowledge, and support of research in the field of life-limiting illnesses and symptom management during that illness and at the end of life.
* The National Consensus Project's Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care endorsed by HPNA create the framework for palliative nursing care.
* Palliative nursing care includes care given by APNs, RNs, LPNs, and NAs from the initial diagnosis of a life-limiting illness all the way through the end of life.
* Palliative nursing care includes the intensified interdisciplinary team approach of hospice as the disease progresses toward end of life.
* All nurses can benefit from the education and training afforded by HPNA to be better prepared to address the physical, psychosocial, and oftentimes spiritual expression of pain and discomfort in our care community. This phenomenon is expected to continue to escalate within HPNA, and palliative care nurses need to break down the silos of care to better serve our patients and families.
* Every person with a life-limiting illness can benefit from palliative nursing care; not every person with a life-limiting illness receives hospice care.
* Every hospice patient receives palliative care, but not every palliative care patient is eligible for hospice.
Additional Membership Benefit: Journal of Palliative Medicine (Letter From Jane Sidwell, President)
Beginning in January 2009, the Journal of Palliative Medicine (JPM) will be available to HPNA members online as an additional benefit of HPNA membership. At the same time, it then becomes another official journal of HPNA, along with our Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing! Additionally, you will also be able to subscribe to the (hard copy) JPM, if you choose, for reduced rates.
The HPNA Board initiated this partnership in direct response to your needs, as expressed in the recent membership survey, for a "more clinical journal" and a journal including "more nursing research" for greater appeal to advance practitioners. We anticipate that the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing will increasingly become our "clinical" journal; the JPM will include more nursing research. With the MEDLINE advantage of the JPM, I am confident that you will now experience even greater benefit in your HPNA membership!
We hope that you will find this expanded benefit of membership beneficial for you. And I hope that you might also inform your colleagues about this added benefit and encourage that they, too, "join HPNA"-THE Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association!
2008 HPNA Membership Survey
A hearty "thank you" to our 1995 HPNA members who participated in the May 2008 Web-based membership survey! The survey results have been disseminated to Standing Association Committees and were a critical piece in the strategic plan development that occurred during the October HPNA Board meeting. One immediate change is reflected in the monthly e-newsletters as survey comments indicated a need to focus more on the activities of the association and pertinent clinical information, as well as our new relationship with JPM. Beginning with the August 2008 issue of the e-newsletter, we included standing content such as "About Us," "Practice Matters," "HPNA Is Heard," and more. The 2008 membership survey results are posted on the HPNA Web site ("About Us" menu item, scroll to "Membership Survey").
HPNA Membership Fees
The HPNA Board of Directors reviewed the membership fees at their October 2008 Board meeting. They have determined that the membership fees will not be increased for 2009 because, in part, of the current economic environment.
As one survey respondent shared regarding reasons for being very satisfied with membership in HPNA: "Journal and other educational resources, networking abilities and having HPNA as a strong voice 'at tables' for hospice and palliative care. Options for continuing education, resources to guide practice."
The renewal date for your HPNA membership is included in the top line of your JHPN address label. Renew prior to that expiration date to avoid a lapse of membership benefits; your renewal of 1 or 2 years extends the current expiration date.
You, Too, Can Get Involved: 2008 Member Volunteers of the Association
The HPNA Board of Directors will be giving special recognition at the 2009 Annual Membership Meeting to the two HPNA members who have given "Above and Beyond" in volunteerism to the association in 2008. In total, more than 200 HPNA members have contributed nearly 3000 hours to the efforts of the HPNA mission through local chapter leadership, presentation of teleconferences, participation in a Standing Association Committee, review of products, and others. We thank you all for your contributions of energy, time, and spirit. Members who would like to volunteer for such future activities can do so by submitting a Project Volunteer Form, found in the "Members Only" area of the HPNA Web site.
National Consensus Project
Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association is proud to be the Administrative Home of the National Consensus Project (NCP) andwould like to share this exciting news.
The NCP has announced the first recipients of the Quality in Palliative Care Leadership Award. This award is presented annually to recognize organizations that have enhanced their palliative care services by implementing the palliative care principles espoused by the NCP for Quality Palliative Care and the National Quality Forum. The award is supported by the Mayday Fund, based in New York City.
The following nine organizations are the 2008 Quality in Palliative Care Leadership Award winners:
* Center for Comprehensive Palliative Care, Ocala, FL
* Community PedsCare, Jacksonville, FL
* Hope Hospice and Community Services, Fort Myers, FL
* Hospice of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH
* Motion Picture and Television Fund, Woodland Hills, CA
* Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital, Binghamton, NY
* Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY
* St Rose Dominican Hospitals Palliative Care Acute Care Program, Henderson, NV
* Thomas Palliative Care Program, Richmond, VA
Each of these programs will receive organizational recognition and a $2500 monetary award. A representative from each winning organization will also be invited to officially receive their award during the 2009 AAHPPM/HPNA Annual Assembly in Austin, TX, or the 2009 National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's Management and Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.
HPNA Chapters: A Place to Grow, Network, and Learn
More than a decade ago, the original organizers of the first chartered chapter of HPNA came together to plan regular meetings for educational and social purposes. Today, more than 685 HPNA members participate in a local chapter of HPNA. The tremendous growth of the chapter program is very evident.
A local chapter of the HPNA can afford its members numerous benefits through the efforts of a strong and committed Chapter Executive Board. Networking with mentors, peer support, and educational presentations are all common activities. The HPNA Board of Directors also helps to develop local leaders through its annual Leadership Weekend. Nursing team members coming together to grow, network, and learn have always been at the heart of the HPNA mission.
If you feel you have an interest in starting or joining a local chapter of HPNA, please visit http://www.hpna.org for additional information and details.
The following winners (and their research projects) have been awarded the STTI/HPNF End-of-Life Nursing Care Research Grant between 2004 and 2008: Amy Calvin, "Understanding of Advance Care Planning by Family Members of Persons Undergoing Hemodialysis"; Sanghee Kim, "The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Nurses' Ethical Decision Making Regarding End-of-Life (NEDM-EOL) Scale in Korea"; Debra Wiegand, "Withdrawal of Life Sustaining Therapy After a Life-Threatening Exacerbation of a Chronic Illness: The Family Experience"; Mary Judy Campbell, "Influence of Health Literacy and Attitudes on Completion of Advance Directives among Community-Dwelling Older Adults"; and Sarah A. Wilson, "Family Caregivers of Hospice Patients With Heart Failure."
Research like this is critical to quality end-of-life care. Nurses leading the research in principle investigator roles demonstrate to the healthcare community the value and significance of the nurse's voice and experience. HPNF is proud to be able to partner with STTI in making this opportunity available. It is one important way that HPNF promotes the profession!
Application information is available at http://www.stti.org and http://www.hpnf.org. Be a part of the nursing research wave!
Testing Windows for NBCHPN 2009 Computer-Based Testing
The NBCHPN continues to work with our professional testing company, Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP). The testing windows in 2009 follow the same pattern as in 2008 (March, June, September, and November). Please see the 2009 Candidate Handbook posted on http://www.nbchpn.org for further information.
2009 APRN and RN HPAR Applications Available
2009 Applications for renewal of certification through the RN Hospice and Palliative Alternative Recertification (RN HPAR) process are available. Advanced practice nurses due for renewal of certification must submit an APRN Hospice and Palliative Accrual for Recertification (APRN HPAR) packet to renew certification. The appropriate packet and application can be downloaded from http://www.nbchpn.org, or a packet can be mailed to you by calling the National Office at 412-787-1057.
2009 NBCHPN Certification Recognition Event
The NBCHPN will host its 8th Annual Certification Recognition Event during the 2009 AAHPM/HPNA Annual Assembly. The luncheon will be held on Thursday, March 26, 2009, from 12:45 pm to 2:00 pm at the Hilton Hotel in Austin, TX. Leslie Patry, manager of the certification program for the Canadian Nurses Association, will be the keynote speaker. Seating is limited to the first 250 registrants. Registration details are posted on http://www.nbchpn.org.
Optional inclusions in boxes as space is available:
(1) Educational Product: Practice DriverHPNA Practice Drivers help keep you up-to-date on evidence-based practice. They are summaries of research articles on a variety of clinical topics downloaded onto a flash drive for portability. Each article is succinctly condensed to give you just the information you need to practice. Included also is a list of Practice Points, which recap the "take to practice" points from the articles. A collection of three topics are selected each quarter and placed on the flash drive. Each topic is prepared as a PDF file, which can be printed and shared with colleagues. Educator colleagues are using them to provide evidence-based support during discussions of clinical practice. Look for a new Practice Driver each season of the year! Purchase online at http://www.hpna.org under "Multimedia" tab.
(2) Educational Service: Journal ClubHeld on the third Wednesday at 3 pm ET, the Journal Club provides nursing professionals from across the country the opportunity to meet to critically evaluate a journal article on a monthly basis via a teleconference. Each Journal Club is facilitated by a leader in the field of hospice and palliative nursing. Articles are provided before the session to allow all to participate in the call. The Journal Club is open only to HPNA and members at no cost. Call 412-787-9301 to register. Full listing of articles to be discussed can be found at http://www.hpna.org on the "Education tab/Teleconferences" tab.