Creating Bridges and Embracing Opportunities
Kari L. Schmidt, MS, RN-BC, ACC
©2015 Photograph by Rand Schmidt, used with permission.
"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude towards it. Every opportunity has a difficulty and every difficulty has an opportunity." —J. Sidlow Baxter
As
I stop and reflect on 2016, I take pause. What an incredible year for our
nursing professional development (NPD) specialty! I am truly in awe of the
impact of ANPD and our members—the impact on nurses, patients and families. We have embraced the opportunities unique to NPD.
Dr. Susan Bindon challenged us in her closing address at the 2016 ANPD
convention, “Building Bridges: One Question at a Time.” I reflect on continuing
to meet that challenge and create bridges and embrace opportunities.
Through
the leadership of Drs. Mary Harper and Patsy Maloney, our Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd
edition was published in July 2016. The Scope and Standards is the result of four
task forces, evaluating the evidence that impacts our practice and guides us
for the future. Input from ANPD members provided valuable feedback as the Scope
and Standards were finalized. Significant changes to the Scope and Standards were
featured in the opening session at the ANPD 2016 Annual Convention. Those of us
who attended that session were also energized by the comments and call to
action as Persephone
Munnings of Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, and the University
of The Bahamas, spoke during the comments portion of the session. Drs. Harper and Maloney shared
insights and examples of practical application in the Scope and Standards of Practice column in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, beginning with the
May/June 2016 issue. If you have not yet had the opportunity to read this
column, I very much encourage you to do so—these are our standards.
I
have the honor of facilitating some of our ANPD Certification Preparation
Courses across the country. I met so many inspiring NPD practitioners last
year, who approach their practice with enthusiasm and passion. I was humbled to
see how course participants shared examples of how they apply evidence-based practice,
and how they brainstormed ideas to help and support other participants—new
colleagues they had just met, but would now have in their networks.
As
Co-Editor with Dr. Susan Bindon for the Journal
for Nurses in Professional Development, we see the research our NPD colleagues
are conducting—literally across the globe. The 2-part series on return on
investment for NPD has become core to planning for many of our NPD colleagues. This
series was published in the May/June and July/August 2016 issues of the Journal.
Dr. Bindon and I also have the opportunity to mentor new authors, and see their
competence and confidence grow as they are actively engaged in the publishing
process for the first time. Their enthusiasm energizes me.
The
spirit of inquiry and collegiality at the 2016 convention, Aspire to Inspire, was amazing. In Pittsburgh, the city of bridges,
I could see bridges being built in new professional relationships throughout
convention. I attended the concurrent session featuring the panel of some of
the authors for the ANPD text Leadership
in Nursing Professional Development: An Organizational and System Focus. Again,
I took pause at the wealth of expertise of the panel members. We truly were aspiring
to inspire at convention.
As
a charter member of ANPD, I am proud and humbled to be part of our NPD specialty
and our organization. We continue to grow as a specialty—nurturing each other
and advocating for our specialty. We will take that energy and expertise into
2017, and the 2017 ANPD Annual Convention as we Aspire to Transform. We will continue to create bridges and embrace
opportunities.
References
Harper, M.G.
& Maloney, P. (2016) Nursing
professional development: Scope & standards
of
practice, 3rd Ed. Chicago: Association for Nursing Professional Development.
practice, 3rd Ed. Chicago: Association for Nursing Professional Development.
Opperman, C.,
Liebig, D., Bowling J., Johnson C.S. & Harper, M. (2016). Measuring return
on investment for professional development activities: A review of evidence. Journal for
Nursing Professional Development, 32(3), 122-129.
on investment for professional development activities: A review of evidence. Journal for
Nursing Professional Development, 32(3), 122-129.
Opperman, C.,
Liebig, D., Bowling J., Johnson C.S. & Harper, M. (2016). Measuring return
on investment for professional development activities: Implications for practice. Journal
for Nursing Professional Development, 32(4), 176-184.
on investment for professional development activities: Implications for practice. Journal
for Nursing Professional Development, 32(4), 176-184.
Smith C.M.
& Harper, M.G. (2016). Leadership in
nursing professional development:
An
organizational and system focus. Chicago: Association for Nursing Professional
Development.
organizational and system focus. Chicago: Association for Nursing Professional
Development.
