As incoming president, I want to thank Sharon for her extraordinary service to AALNC, including being willing to serve an unprecedented second year as president so I could spend a year in the president-elect role, “learning the ropes.”

 I also want to thank our outgoing board members Marianne Hallas and Karen Huff, who both served consecutive terms on ALNCCB and then AALNC’s board of directors, for a combined service of more than 20 years in board roles! Fortunately for us, they have both agreed to remain involved in several AALNC initiatives.

 It is my first hand observation since coming on the board in 2010 that our association has thrived under both Karen and Sharon’s leadership, along with a cohesive, hardworking and dynamic board of directors, and very effective management company.

 As Sharon mentioned in her final blog, our annual forum in Chicago was a great success.  We will be analyzing all the feedback we receive in the coming weeks to make future forums even better, so for those of you who attended the forum, please take the time to submit your evaluations forms.

 Many thanks to the Chicago chapter who hosted this year’s forum. Their president, Dina Morgan, and many of the chapter members worked very hard this past year with our forum committee to plan several aspects of this event and of course, made special efforts to attend the forum and man the host chapter table during the forum. We greatly appreciate your efforts.

 Finally, a special thanks to the multiple former AALNC presidents who attended and/or spoke at the forum. Your continued involvement in AALNC is deeply appreciated and I think, demonstrates your ongoing commitment to AALNC and our specialty practice!

 Over the next few weeks, I plan to use this blog to share with you a bit of detail regarding AALNC’s strategic plan and our priorities this next year.

  I look forward to working with the board and our members this next year, and beyond.

 All for now.

 Beth (elzorn@faraci.com)

A FINAL THANK YOU

It is time as the dust settles from our fantastic Forum of 2013 to turn over the blog reins to your new President, Beth Zorn. It has been an amazing two years as your president. The members have been most gracious with their kind words. I have been especially touch by all of you who reached out to me after my various presentations about my photos and my legacy as an Ursuline graduate. I have tried to share myself to you so you knew my focus and beliefs. As you know, Ursuline's motto is "Serviam" and I have tried my best to serve others for as long as I can remember. I am richer in friendships and experiences as a result of taking those opportunities. The organization is in very good hands and I will remain on the Board one additional year. I hope the business meeting reflected our increased financial vitality and the positive feedback of all of our educational offerings. We will continue to work on other areas we discussed at our meeting: core competencies, membership and chapters. We have had so many positive highpoint this year: ANCC accreditation, increased reserves, excelling in educational offerings and others reflected in my past blogs. I am one person representing the members and a very hard working BOD this last two years. I thank my BOD, our partnership with SmithBucklin and our staff members.  It has been an enriching experience that can be yours IF you chose to accept ..the opportunity. I humbly thank you. Beth the reins are yours and I know the organization will continue to flourish!  Sharon      smcquown@flbranson.com.

FORUM SUCCESS April 2013

To all of those able to attend thank you for making this such a great conference. We were very close to a sell out, which is equivalent to financial success. Our keynote speaker Liz Jazwiec was excellent and attendees were talking about her the next day, yes Liz positively! We had some terrific vendors present who support our organization and we thank them as well. Our optional offerings for CEU's were well received and attended. What are your suggestions for topics for next year?? We need to hear from you-please email me with your thoughts. Chicago is a great city and the historically significant Palmer House was a great location. Our topics covered infection, nerve injury, toxicology, Daubert challenges, product liability litigation, brain injury and correctional medicine all in day one. The ALNCCB reviewed the practice analysis that leads to our creation of the certification testing--very interesting. We completed day two with lectures on demonstrative evidence, school nurse liability, writing a concise report, medicare set asides and nurse practitioner liability. We hope you will calendar next year's Forum in Denver, Colorado on April 4-5, 2014.  Thank you for the Forum's committee hard work this year and we will have another great year as Jeannie Autry turns over the Chair duties to Cyndi Maag. We shared our financial status at our business meeting and I gave my final State of the Association report. I will cover those topics in a separate blog before I sign off and turn this over to Beth Zorn your new President for 2013-2014. Thanks as always for the very kind reception I was given and your support over the last two years from the Forum attendees. 
Sharon      smcquown@flbranson.com.

Spring, Forum and Transitions

We are nearing our annual Forum start date in early April at the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. I hope you will take advantage of the offerings our Forum Committee has worked so diligently on, for your benefit! Are you new to the field and want to just sit down and and talk to someone more experienced? There is no better selection of networking opportunities than here. The President's reception is open to ALL attendees to met the leadership and fellow participants on Thursday night. I am completing my two year term and look forward to meeting you as I transition to the past president role. Have you checked the Friday lunch network event? Later that evening is our optional event-10 minutes from our hotel. Tavern on the Park will be a causal, relaxed time to meet and greet, perhaps consider a volunteer role and make those connections. Thank you to the Forum committee and the efforts each of them has lent to our organization! The Forum is only one of the areas we are working on currently. Your BOD (board of directors) will have their meeting Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning with a diverse amount of topics discussed including social media, our Journal, educational updates from our Director of Programs, as well as a review of our strategic plan and financial update. All this before the Forum begins! Our organization is in a healthy place and is a direct result of the strategic decisions made by the board you elected and our partnership with SmithBucklin-our management team. Thank you to David Schmahl, Kevin, Kristin and the rest of our SB team. We have succeeded in reaching many accomplishments this year a few of which include ANCC accreditation, a strong partnership with the AALNCB (the certification board) and revising our committee structure. I must also thank Karen Huff our past president and Marianne Hallas our DAL. Both agreed to stay in their positions and extra year to assist us with transitioning our BOD. They deserve recognition for sharing their skill set with us, just a little longer. I will share more in my talk on site and hope to post it here as well for those of you unable to attend. I look forward to Chicago and hope you feel this BOD have been the good stewards you expected for YOUR organization. Thank you for reading and let me know if you have any questions. Sharon  smcquown@flbranson.com.

2013-HERE WE GO!

A delayed Happy New Year must mean we are at full speed working for your organization. So you wonder what is the latest news we can share? Outstanding accomplishments include the completion of the ANCC accreditation ... a success. Our webinar series for the LNCC certification has been very well received with two sessions already completed and 1 for each remaining month of the year. The Forum for 2013 in Chicago is going very well with our registration numbers-remember we have sold out the last two years! I hope to see many of you there in person. We will be exhibiting at NTI, the Critical Care Nurses conference in Boston May 21-23. This is an ongoing part of our awareness initiative to collaborate with other nursing specialties. There has been a continued effort to revise the Scope & Standards as well as create our Core Competencies in a meaningful format for you. We are revising our On Line Course to better serve you with tasks, assignments and updated material. You will be seeing our Willingness to Serve form in the near future. This gives you the opportunity to consider giving of yourself for the betterment of the organization. Where does your interest take you: research, journal writing, educational products, publications, standards- a few of the opportunities that exist. Every day I am asked the question how do I make contact and become more involved? Volunteering helps the organization and yourself. If you are seeking work as an LNC this is an excellent way to have exposure to others who may need your services. We are already looking forward to the 2014 Forum!  The location will be announced on site in Chicago. How about sharing your wealth of knowledge and consider speaking at the Forum? The energy from the audience is a great feeling as you share your expertise. Perhaps you know of a speaker that we should know about? Let us know and our dynamic Forum committee will follow up on your suggestions. I am always available for questions and suggestions. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as President.
Sharon smcquown@flbranson.com.

Holiday Season 2012

The end of the year is almost upon us. This gives us time for reflection and thanks. This past two months has seen several events: finalization of our 2013 budget with a focus on our strategic plan, opening of registration for our Forum 2013 in Chicago, our new LNCC Review webinar series beginning in a few weeks, our ongoing webinar offerings, representation at the recent Alliance Nursing meeting in Tennessee and the Nomination committee interviewing and discussing the men and women who may be future leaders for your organization. Think of all the events in your life over the last year and reflect on where you are personally and professionally. I have been someone who was raised on the thought of volunteerism. Whether it was in Girl Scouts, candy striping or my high school alma mater where our motto is "Serviam", service to others-I volunteer. It has brought me a richness of professional and personal friends, contacts I use in my work on frequent basis and a sense that I contributed. At this time I wish to thank the staff the BOD works with daily: Kevin our executive director, Kristin our operations manager, the remainder of our staff and the BOD themselves- Karen, Beth, Julie, Kathy, Moniaree and Marianne. Some of these ladies have been serving you for several years working their commitments in with work and family obligations. We need to thank them. I want to also extend a thanks to David Schmahl the EVP + Chief Executive, Healthcare & Scientific Industry Practices. David has worked with us and has a vested interest in our organization. Through a cohesive approach our organization has done well this year and has an exciting future ahead. So how about you the reader out there?? Do you have an interest in learning, viewing a more global picture and networking on an even greater level? Then consider giving of your time and talent. In closing, for the holiday you choose to celebrate, I hope it is blessed. Sharon

FALL POTPOURRI 2012

Greetings! The BOD (Board of Directors) have been working hard and I wanted to share an update. We have completed our strategic plan looking three years out. This included a vision for the future, based on your feedback and the ever present financial review. The finance committee meets over several calls taking each cost center line by line for AALNC's annual budget. This is followed by a day long finalization meeting in person and ends in a presentation to the entire board. It is hard work and I thank all members of the finance committees for their efforts! We are focused on education for our members and anyone desiring knowledge about AALNC and Legal Nurse Consulting. The LNC Locator has been refreshed and is up. You can now upload your CV for prospective clients to review. We have a 12 part presentation webinar series geared towards the LNCC exam for those needing a review, beginning in January 2013. It is also a great chance to find an area of interest and learn more. Once a quarter in your member updates a high level financial overview is now included from our Treasurer, Julie Dickinson. Our webinar series will be strong for 2013 including additional topics besides the LNCC review course. We have continued to exhibit, most recently our past BOD member Beth Diehl-Svrjcek attended the Med Surg conference in Utah. We had tremendous interest and Beth was kept busy each day. This brings more potential individuals to our website, perhaps to our educational products in our bookstore as well as possible membership in our organization. We were excited to have AALNC represented to this group. Our annual Forum will be in Chicago April 4-6, 2013. Make sure you register as we have sold out the last two years! Our location at the Palmer will be an enjoyable one in the city. The Forum committee chaired by Jeannie Autry, has done a great job of procuring interesting and timely speakers and we thank them for the efforts. Our efforts are also being felt as we update our Scope & Standards and Core Competencies. These are two vital documents for our practice. We build on the prior versions and the talent many of you lended to that process for AALNC in the past. Our accreditation with the ANCC as a provider of quality education is exciting and our press release on our website reflects the significance of this honor. Nominations are under way for next years BOD and the committee is preparing to review the applicants. Membership renewal time is approaching so look for your info on line or by mail. We hope to continue to offer ongoing advantages to your membership. More to come, thanks for reading- Sharon