Education and Volunteering

This month is the big push before our annual Forum being held in San Antonio, Texas. I do hope you are able to come and see the educational and networking offerings this year. We have had a tremendous reponse and I look forward to meeting with you at the end of this month!  An email blast has been sent to the membership with a "Willingness to Serve" form. There are many dynamic individuals in our midst that have so much to offer to all of our membership. Please consider helping YOUR organization. This is an excellent opportunity to broaden your network of legal nurse consultants. We are very excited to offer our first webinar (this month) providing an orientation to our Chapter Leaders. Our National Board member Julie Dickinson, will be leading this informative session. We recognize that with the right tools leaders can excel and we hope this offering is one you find beneficial. I leave you today with one of my favorite quotes from Sir Winston Churchill " We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".  Sharon

Membership Voting has Begun

As you opened your ballot you can see the Board of Directors is keeping current with trending in regards to board size. You will also notice one of our most valued board members, Beth Diehl-Svrjcek resigned. It is a loss for AALNC but, at the same time we are excited with Beth's new position. She was selected to become the lead Nurse Practitioner at Johns Hopkins. Since Beth recently completed her DNP in this area, this was a goal she reached-sooner than we expected! It was a very difficult decision for her to make and we wish her all the best as she reaches continued levels of success. All of our best to you Beth.

Starting the Year Off Right!

As I told you a few weeks ago our Research Committee submitted a proposal The Relationships Among Documented Care Errors, Never Events, and Malpractice Claims and Type of State APRN Practice Environments to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of The Future of Nursing:Campaign for Action program. The research committee has been informed this proposal is a first round finalist! We are now being reviewed By the Funders' Community to await determination if we are selected to proceed forward with a full proposal. Again thanks to the entire committee and we will await hopefully continued exciting developments. Sharon

New Happenings

Hopefully you have all seen the Salary Survey results published on our website. This is information hot off the presses. We had a 24% response rate-which is excellent. The Board knew we needed updated data and this should be a member benefit! Your Board is meeting to determine this year's activity going forward. We will need volunteers in several areas including Education, the Journal and others. If you are interested in actively working on the National level in a committee format please email me at smcquown@flbranson.com. The Forum being held in San Antonio this year has already had an almost 40% registration rate so, do not forget to register and join us in March 2012. I hope all of you can attend for the networking, education and State of the Association address. On the Research front we have applied for a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More to come on this exciting opportunity and a thanks to our entire research committee, chaired by Kathleen Ashton. We are also finalizing the results from our Education survey to share with you as well. In short a busy month of activities to further YOUR organization. Thanks for the opportunity to serve you, the members. Sharon

2011 The Closing of a Year

Dear Members,
This time of the year is the best time for reviewing where we have been and where we are going! My blog does not reflect the amount of activity of your Board, numerous volunteers, as well as staff at SmithBucklin. Some of our accomplishments include: Website platform move with added features such as printing an invoice on the spot (give us your feedback), Multiple successful Webinar features throughout the year, Offering of free "So You Want to Be an LNC" through out the year with 150+ participants each time-my thanks to Barb Boschert, Beth Zorn and Karen Huff-my co presenters, Partnership w/IAFN leading to a quarterly Webinar series through September of 2012, Increasing our visibility by attending the national Critical Care and Emergency Nurses conferences leading to growth in our prospect lists, Finalizing our position statement with TAANA on Criminalization of Human Errors as well as our current Salary Survey, which is underway. Any member of AALNC will be given access to the results of the salary survey free as a member benefit. Have you renewed your membership? We are continuing our partnership with DRI-the Voice of the Defense Bar through on going conference involvement. Our Bylaws have been updated and approved by you-our membership. As a Board we are crafting a Strategic Plan for the organization for the coming years. Our Forum to be held in San Antonio March 30-31, 2012 will not disappoint, thanks to Debbie Pritts and her committee. I stated in my President's speech at the Forum this past March that the focus for this year will be on the nuts and bolts of this organization. I think you will agree we have gone beyond that threshold with this partial list of accomplishments.  We as a Board take the responsibility you have bestowed upon us with respect and a critical eye to the future. I will keep you posted as we go forward into 2012. For your personal holiday celebrations to come this month, the Board and I wish you the best. Sharon

Legal Nurse Consulting Educational & Networking Forum 2012

Greetings! I am honored to be in the role as your new President of AALNC. We completed a fantastic Forum in Baltimore, showcasing the new footprint of our conference. For the first time we were sold out. Thank you Committee, headed by Mary Kay DeGeorge. We have received and reviewed the attendees surveys and they are being scrutinized for further advancement at our Forum for 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. Our 2012 Committee is already at work with Debbie Pritts as our Chair. The Board continues to work hard to represent you. In recent weeks we have exhibited at NTI (Critical Care National Conference), in order to make contact with other individuals interested in our organization.Being a critical care nurse it was great to meet with so many dynamic nurses! Our webinars continue to be of interest to members and non members alike. Our social media presence is advancing to help all of you no matter where you live, be in touch. We continue to examine our budget to advance our mission of education with cost effectiveness and member coverage in mind. There will be guest bloggers this year to cover different topics of interest to you. So, let me hear from you with thoughts and ideas. Thank you for this opportunity.

AALNC Announces Webinar Series with the American Bar Association

Hi Everyone,
We have been working with the American Bar Association to plan a joint webinar.  I am pleased to announce that a 2 part series on Elder Abuse & Neglect is scheduled for this summer.  Part 1 will air Monday June 13th at 12 noon central.  Part 2 will follow on Tuesday July 19th, also at noon central.  Lynda Kopishke, AALNC Past President, is representing AALNC as our speaker for this event.  ABA speakers include a defense attorney and plaintiff's attorney.  AALNC will provide nursing CEs for this session.  Please look for more information about this series on the AALNC website in the near future. 

Karen

Karen J. Huff, BSN RN LNCC
AALNC President