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October 2014 Newsletter Bullets

Posted over 10 years ago by Regina Sanders

This announcement has 1 attachment:
FNPN_Sept_Oct_2014_FNPN_New_Bullets.pdf (1.5 MB)

Good Morning!
We would like to bring you up to date on what's new in your own backyard of Florida. In this newsletter you will find the following:

Contents
  • FNPN Elections
  • FNPN Conference Update
  • Legislative Update
  • Shining Stars
  • Around the State and Around the Nation
  • Education Updates
  • Membership Update
  • Job Announcement
  • FNPN PAC Update
  • News You Can Use

Quote of the Month:

"Life is only as good as you decide to make it. So stand up, be bold, and don't let everyone else define it."
― Unknown

FNPN Elections

It is time once again to begin the election process for the Florida Nurse Practitioner Network. This year, our President, Second Vice President in charge of Education, and Treasurer positions will be nominated and voted on. Nominee must be a full dues current member in good standing

For those that may wish to run, the positions of President, Vice President of Education and Treasurer hold the following responsibilities:

President shall:

Be the chief elected officer and shall preside over meetings of the FNPN and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors; Recommend individuals to do special projects to further the work of the FNPN; Recommend ad hoc committees; Be an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominating Committee Serve as a representative of the organization.

Second Vice President shall:

Oversee educational programs and conferences for the FNPN; Assume other duties as assigned by the President.

Treasurer shall:

Be responsible for the fiscal soundness and integrity of the organization; Oversee the preparation and implementation of the annual budget; Oversee records of all debits and credits of the FNPN; Ÿ Maintain checking and credit accounts, make deposits and write checks as required; Report an overview of expenditures, balances and foreseeable monetary needs to the Board of Directors quarterly; Complete and maintain any financial documents as required by law and as assigned by the President; Oversee fund raising as directed by the President and Board of Directors.

Nominations for elections begin now until closure on October 31, 2014. The slate of candidates will be announced the first week of November. Ballots will be sent November 30, 2014 electronically or by mail if requested to each active member of the council for return no later than December 21, 2014. Once again, if you are interested, we highly encourage your involvement as we continue to grow in numbers and building bridges within our community!

Sincerely,

The Nominating Committee:

FNPN Post Conference Update

The Florida Nurse Practitioner Network would like to thank our distinguished guests who joined us at the 2014 conference "Freedom to Practice-Charting our Course". This was the 11th Annual Conference that FNPN has sponsored and yet again the Conference was an incredible success.

Above: FNPN would also like to give a special thanks to our keynote speakers. Barbara Safriet, Dr. Tay Kopanos, and Dr. Jeff Bauer.

Above: President Doreen Cassarino and Vice President of Legislation Jean Aertker award Representative Pigman with the "Legislator of the Year" award. FNPN would like to thank Representative Carey Pigman for participating and answering questions at the conference "Fireside Chat". The Fireside chat was such a huge success, FNPN hopes to make it an annual event.

We would also like to thank our corporate sponsors, participating exhibitors and distinguished speakers. Without your support, the conference would not have been the success that it was.

Above: Jeanne Abdu and Arlene Wright congratulate this year's raffle winner Vicky Brooks. All three are representatives of the local group Southern Gulf Coast NP Council. Vicky won an IPad Mini donated by ENP Network.

Once again, we thank you for attending the 2014 Florida Nurse Practitioner Conference, and we look forward to putting the invaluable information put forth by our participants to good use, as we work toward overcoming the challenges of our current health care system.

Legislation Update

Jean Aertker-VP Legislation

Dear FNPN Members:

We need your help. Last legislative session was exciting to see the WorkForce House Bill move through the House and passed. However, 28 House legislators voted AGAINST our bill. We need to know why and go and meet them now and convince them that the bill (which will run again) is a win for Florida health care and their constituents. Are you up to the challenge? Buddy team this and let's make it happen. It is up to us to get their attention and have the chat at home, not in Tally during session. One-on-one at the home district, not carrying signs or spearheading a march-they do not have the best outcome! Face to Face chat to debate the issues. The time is now to make an appointment with your legislator and go to meet them live and in person.

We know you are busy, but your professional career depends on this. We have the "Talking Points", "The NP Fact Sheets", "voting info about the legislator" and you have your passion and stories to tell them. No different than explaining to a patient what you do and your role in their healthcare. It's simple, and we need to do it.

The cities were Legislators voted against our House bill are these and we need our NPs to help do a legislative visit are in:
  • Ft. Walton Beach
  • Ponte Vedra Beach
  • Keystone Heights/Palatka
  • Alachua
  • Daytona Beach
  • Maitland/Longwood
  • Lady Lake
  • Orlando
  • Cocoa
  • Palm Bay
  • Vero Beach
  • Tampa
  • Sarasota
  • Boca Raton
  • Port St. Lucie
  • West Palm Beach
  • Lantana
  • Deerfield Beach
  • Lauderdale Lakes
  • Miami Gardens
  • Miami Beach
  • Miami

If you can help and reside in one of these cities, please contact Dr. Jean Aertker, DrAertker@gmail.com, your Legislative Chair and let me know what House and Senate Districts you live in – it's on your voters card or check the www.MyFlorida.com website on the legislative page to get that information. I am counting on you all to go and visit your legislators and help convince them that our bill must pass and that NPs can help Florida meet our future health care challenges. They must hear from constituents not outsiders! I am doing "Ask" will you as well? For all you do every day caring for so many, we thank you!

Find your elected officials/districts Here

Shining Stars:

Three FNPN Members Selected for AANP Future Leaders Program

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the largest national professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties, is pleased to announce that FNPN President Dr. Doreen Cassarino, DNP, ARNP, Naples, FL; Dr. George Peraza-Smith, DNP, ARNP, Co-Chair of the Florida NP Coalition, Tampa, FL; and Amanda Chaney, MSN, ARNP, FNPN Legislative Representative in Jacksonville and Mayo Clinic Liver Transplant NP have been selected to participate in the prestigious AANP Future Leaders Program.

The newly launched 12-month program is designed to develop the next generation of NP leaders through a variety of initiatives that will provide a broad vision of the NP role in the current and future health care environment. Those selected for the program are relatively early in their NP careers, serving in clinical, administrative, and education roles, with demonstrated potential to assume increasing national leadership both within AANP and throughout the nation.

The three FNPN Members will join 15 other participants in early October in Naples, Florida for an initial two-day formal training focusing on leadership development and other components of the program. Visit aanp.org for more information about the AANP Future Leaders Program.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. The mission of AANP is to lead NPs in transforming patient-centered health care. AANP works to: promote excellence in NP practice, education and research; serve as a resource for NPs, the healthcare community and consumers; and be a leader in the national and global community. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP represents the interests of the more than 192,000 primary, specialty and acute care NPs practicing in the U.S. today.

For more information, visit www.aanp.org. To locate an NP in your community, go to www.npfinder.com

Around the State and Around the Nation

Practice Updates: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Screening

Several resources for ARNPs are available online for your review and use with patient education or practice update.

Education Updates:

10th Annual West Palm NP Clinical Conference
Friday, October 17, 2014 at 6:30pm ET in Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Florida Hospital Cancer Institute Oncology Nursing Conference 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 7:00am ET in Orlando, FL

Skin, Bones, Hearts & Private Parts CME Conference
Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 7:00am ET in Lake Buena Vista, FL

Job Announcements!

There have been many new job postings around the state on our web site at www.fnpn.org for those of you that may have an interest. On our new website, the most recent postings are on the front page. A new feature will allow postings to be visible for 90 days. Please feel free to pass this along to your colleagues who may be interested in it as well, or who may have an interest in finding out more about our network. For those of you that have found jobs on our website, please be sure to let us know!

Do you know an employer who might find the FNPN Job posting a worthwhile site? If so, please be sure to tell them about the website and the fact that on average 20 or more jobs are posted each month. The traffic to our website is incredible and we have more and more folks seeking employment through this site than ever before. Let them know you saw it on the FNPN Website!

Membership Update

Pamela Johnson-Membership Chair

Dear Members,

In order for us to have our voices heard in Tallahassee, we will need to increase our membership, at the same time working hard to retain current members. One of our goals this year will be to actively work on recruiting new members to FNPN to make our organization stronger.

Renewal Reminder-Membership in FNPN runs on an annual basis Jan-Dec. Please renew your membership today. Membership in FNPN can be as a group or individual member.

Individual members belong and receive many benefits as part of their membership-frequent communication during the legislative session (or special sessions), a paid lobbyist based in Tallahassee, access to posted job opportunities, access to posted upcoming conferences and many more benefits. If you belong to your local NP group you are not an FNPN member until you join FNPN individually, group and individual membership are two separate levels of membership. I encourage you to visit our newly redesigned web page today www.fnpn.org and while you're there you can renew online.

Group Presidents- please renew today and continue to be an integral part of our growing organization. We value our group members as this creates a vital network of NP groups throughout the state. These groups help disseminate information about trends, issues and changes impacting NP's at the state and national level. As a group member we will also assist with conference planning and obtaining approval for CEU's if offered. We will also assist with promoting your conferences and activities and can provide assistance or link you with support in web design.

FNPN now has several options for membership:

  • $75.00 - New Member /Renewing
  • $50.00 - Student / Retired Member
  • $120.00 - NP Group Member
  • $120.00 - Organization Member

As the Chair of the Membership Committee I am always open to suggestions and new ideas. If you have any questions, please contact me. This year, when joining/renewing, we also ask you to consider 'bringing a friend' to the registration table and helping build our organizations to where they should be. With the numbers of Advanced Practice Nurses nearing 15,000 in Florida, we should have a strength that can overcome any push from our medical community. We hope you will let us nurture that side of you if you need it and engage those around you to do the same. Please be sure to contact us should you have questions about legislation, membership, education and more. Our Executive Assistant, Regina, is always available either by phone, computer and even skype!

FNPN PAC Update

As voters, we are in a position to support the candidate of our choice by promoting their campaign not only on Election Day but by participation and promotion of the candidate's campaign promises.

Advanced practice nurses in Florida have not been able to practice to the full extent of our scope of practice and education because of political restrictions imposed on us in the House and Senate.

Our PAC committee will be traveling throughout the state to raise money and participate in fund raising efforts to build OUR VOICE in the Florida political arena. We will also support the candidates that support our issues by monetary contributions to their campaigns.

We need your help! Money is Power!! A brilliant legislative session is expected and we are closer than ever to reach our goals. We have a lobbyist working with us. We are well informed and networked in Tallahassee. She keeps the constant flow of information current. We cannot achieve our goals with this disruption of policy and politics! Without you, your patients, family and community support we are invisible. Become a member of the FNPN PAC Committee.

Consider your commitment to our profession. We are ARNPs in private practice, hospital settings, colleges, universities and clinics throughout the state! We are YOU !

If each person in our membership donated $10 and asked 5 more people to donate $10 we would be on our way to political success! We have a membership of 4,300 ARNPs in Florida. We are solid, we are YOU!

To make a contribution please click here

News You Can Use

The Florida NP Network has taken the next step to keep our members informed. Keep abreast of changes in your practice around the state and around the nation. You can join us today on Facebook under Florida Nurse Practitioner and Twitter under FloridaNP. We hope to hear from you.

Send us your articles

It is wonderful to spotlight Nurse Practitioners and highlight happenings in your area. Please submit names and events to floridanpnetwork@gmail.com. FNPN newsletter welcomes your input!

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