New Hampshire Nursing News - December 2021

Page 16 • New Hampshire Nursing News December 2021, January, February 2022
2021 Commission on Nursing Practice Annual Report
The Commission on Nursing Practice (CNP) had
another successful year. The CNP has been consistently
supported by Carol Allen, Jamye Cutter, Shelley
Friedman, and Holly McCormack. The CNP welcomed
the addition of Bonnie Crumley Aybar. Erika Corbett
resigned from the commission citing COVID-19 impact
on work and family obligations.
Throughout the year, the commission provided
education related to nursing practice and nursing
practice issues to the nursing community as follows:
Student Nurse of The Year Award and Career Fair:
Facing another year of restrictions related to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the CNP got creative and prepared
a virtual event. We were able to purchase a venue and
planned live and recorded events which allowed students
to view all portions of the program for up to a week.
Buy-in from the schools of nursing was solicited and 206
registered with 167 attending the live webinar. We also
obtained sponsors for the event, including Dartmouth
Hitchcock Medical Center, Cheshire Medical Center,
New Hampshire Hospital, Cottage Hospital, Concord
Hospital, Encompass Health, Granite State College, Home
Health and Hospice Care, Advanced Nursing Education
Workforce at University of New Hampshire, Prudential
Insurance, Rivier University, Southern New Hampshire
University, Chamberlain University and Salve Regina
College, University of Rhode Island, Wentworth Douglas
Hospital, Speare Memorial Hospital, Brattleboro Retreat.
The 2021 Student Nurse of the Year award was presented
to Julie Williams from Rivier University. Seven senior
nursing students were nominated by their faculty, each
with impressive accomplishments, displaying a passion
for nursing care for New Hampshire citizens. Other
students who were nominated include: Faith Farnum and
Alexandra Stroup from University of New Hampshire,
Emily Hackert from River Valley Community College,
Elizabeth King and Katherine Visich from Massachusetts
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Haley
Wakefield from Plymouth State University.
Spotlight on Nursing 2020:
This year’s spotlight on nursing was canceled due to
COVID restrictions for an in-person event. There was
consensus that nurses were “Zoomed-out” and planning
for another virtual event would not be beneficial.
However, the CNP planned for developing a Webinar
Series to be started in the fall 2021. The series will focus
on the topic of Social Determinants of Health and will
include an overview of the Healthy People 2030 goals,
followed by applications for clinical practice within
various practice areas, such as VA-Ambulatory care,
Home Care, Long Term Care as examples.
NHNA Spotlight on the Health Nurse and Scholarship:
We were not able to offer nursing scholarships this year
as we were not able to offer a fund-raising event for
the scholarship. Alternative venues for raising funds for
scholarship will be incorporated in events planned late
2021 and throughout 2022.
Annual Meeting and Nursing Conference:
The CNP has assisted with planning the Annual Business
Meeting, which is scheduled for November 10th, 6pm-
7:30pm and will be hosted on line to allow virtual
attendance. The Commission members do not have a
specific assignment.
The CNP will review the award nominations and select the
awardees for the upcoming Business Meeting. Nomination
deadlines were extended. The awards are as follows:
• Rising Star Award
• Champion of Nursing Award
• Distinguished Member award
• President Award
Other NHNA CNP Accomplishments:
The CNP applied for a grant to participate in First Line.
The objective is to disseminate their infection control
curricula. The grant was awarded in September.
The CNP worked with the NHNA President Carlene
Ferrier to review goals and objectives for the next
strategic plan.
Progress on 2020-2021 Objectives:
1. Identify and evaluate trends, developments, and
issues in nursing practice and disseminate that
information.
a. Publish position statements, white papers, and
articles to promote best-practice.
b. Present conferences on timely nursing topics.
Progress to Date: The Commission put the activity
of position statements on hold. Work in progress to
create a webinar series.
2. Encourage and promote nursing advancement by
supporting lifelong learning.
a. Build a scholarship fund.
b. Create and develop criteria for awarding
scholarships.
c. Celebrate achievements among nurses and student
nurses.
Progress to Date: Healthy Nurse Scholarship Fund
was created in 2018. Because of COVID restrictions,
there was no fund-raising event in 2020, leaving
us without a scholarship offering for fall 2021.
Alternative venues for raising funds for scholarship
will be incorporated in events planned late 2021 and
throughout 2022.
The Commission reviewed nominations and selected
winners for NHNA nursing awards in 2021. The
awards include Rising Star Award, Distinguished
Member Award, and Champion of Nursing Award.
3. Seek out and participate in opportunities where
current health care issues are brought to light.
a. Participate in bimonthly ANA’s Organizational
Affiliate, Nursing Practice and Work Environment
conference call.
b. Review the NEMSD continuing education certified
programs list periodically.
c. Utilize summary of feedback from events to
improve future program offerings.
d. Optimize professional and personal diversity
among commission members and NHNA
members.
Progress to Date: Participation in NHNA orientation.
Call for volunteers to serve on the CNP were
requested. Seven applications were accepted as of
9-21-2021.
Respectfully submitted:
Carol Allen, EdD, MSN, RN,
Chair, Commission on Nursing Practice