Exhibiting at American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA)

Dear AALNC Members,

This year, our association is exhibiting for the first time at the American Health Lawyers Association's annual meeting in New York City.  AALNC Board members Susan Carleo, RN CAPA (Director at Large) and Varsha Desai, BSN RN CNLCP LNCC (President Elect) are representing our association.  As pictured below, they are educating the attorneys and other attendees about AALNC, the LNC Locator, and LNCC board certification.

Warmly,

Julie Dickinson

President, AALNC

Julie.dickinson@aya.yale.edu

860-208-6670

Awareness Initiatives

Dear AALNC Members,

In my last blog post, I relayed that AALNC was exhibiting at the Critical Care Nurses’ conference in Denver.  Later this month, the association will be exhibiting at AHLA (American Health Lawyers Association) in New York City.  I therefore want to share more information with you about AALNC’s awareness initiatives, how they tie into the association’s strategic goals, and how they benefit the association and you, as members.

AALNC’s strategic plan contains two objectives related to awareness:  raising clinical nursing and legal/attorney awareness.  Both have benefits for AALNC members as well as for the association.

To further the first objective, the AALNC Board of Directors chose to exhibit at National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI/AACN) which was held in Denver in May.  Kim Beladi RN BSN LNCC, AALNC Director at Large, represented the association.  This event was attended by over 6,000 nurses from across the country, and Kim educated attendees about legal nurse consulting, AALNC, the LNCC^© board certification, and much more.  In addition, Patricia Davis MSN RN, AALNC Director of Programs; AALNC Education Committees; Wendie Howland MN RN-BC CRRN CCM CNLCP LNCP-C LNCC, Editor of the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting (JLNC); and the  JLNC Editorial Board are identifying ways our association can partner with clinical nursing associations on joint educational programing.  All of these clinical nursing awareness initiatives benefit the association by exposing potential members and/or potential customers to the specialty practice of legal nurse consulting and to our organization, mission, LNCC^© certification, and various products and services.  Increased members and customers translates into enhanced networking opportunities at the Forum and in the LNC community, richer discussions on social media, more job opportunities (e.g. insurance companies, LNC firms, subcontracting), even greater educational opportunities, more results when using the LNC Locator^©, etc. - all of which are valuable to AALNC’s members.

To further the second objective, AALNC will be exhibiting at the AHLA (American Health Lawyers Association) annual conference in New York City at the end of June.  Susan Carleo RN CAPA, AALNC Director at Large, and Varsha Desai BSN RN CNLCP LNCC, AALNC President Elect, will be representing the organization.  Comprised of over 12,500 members, AHLA’s focus is on legal issues in the healthcare field.  Because of the high concentration of attorneys at this conference who work on the types of claims in which LNCs can add value, exhibiting at this conference was an easy decision for the AALNC Board of Directors.  It offers the most return on investment for legal exhibiting, which is traditionally very expensive.  This is AALNC’s first time exhibiting at AHLA, and the Board is excited to see what opportunities and relationship may grow from this.  Furthermore, the AALNC Board will be strategically placing the LNC Locator^© ad in legal publications and websites as an additional means to increase attorney awareness.  These initiatives help to promote our specialty practice and provide an opportunity to illustrate the value LNCs can bring to attorneys and their cases.  These, coupled with increased awareness and usage of the LNC Locator^© tool, lead to more work opportunities for AALNC members.

Enjoy your summer!

Warmly,

Julie Dickinson

President, AALNC

Julie.dickinson@aya.yale.edu

860-208-6670

AALNC is exhibiting at the Critical Care Nurses conference in Denver!

Dear AALNC Members,

The NTI 2014 Critical Care Exposition is being held this week at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and is attended by approximately 6,000 - 7,000 nurses.  AALNC Director at Large, Kim Beladi RN BSN LNCC, is exhibiting for AALNC!  This is part of our strategic plan to position AALNC as the industry leader by improving visibility to the clinical nursing community.

If you are attending the expo, please stop by AALNC's booth (#1167)!

Warmly,

Julie Dickinson

President, AALNC

Julie.dickinson@aya.yale.edu

860-208-6670

Goals and Initiatives

Dear AALNC Members,

As promised in my last blog post, I want to share with you the goals of the AALNC Board of Directors for the year ahead.  We will be working on the following in accordance with AALNC’s strategic plan:

• Increase the number of annual Journal issues
• Conduct a focus group to identify the educational needs of seasoned LNCs
• Roll out the first phase of the new online course
• Develop the second phase of the new online course
• Exhibit at the NTI (critical care nurses) conference this month in Denver
• Continue the free educational webinars about legal nurse consulting
• Explore ways to partner with other nursing organizations
• Evaluate the AALNC website to identify ways to make it more user-friendly and make the information more readily accessible
• Exhibit at AHLA (American Health Lawyers Association) in June in New York
• Pursue strategic placements of our LNC Locator ad
• Present to National Association of Legal Assistants
• Continue position on ABA’s Health Law Section’s Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Taskforce
• Continue position on DRI’s Nursing Home / Assisted Living Facility Litigation Seminar Steering Committee
• Continue position on DRI’s Medical Liability and Health Care Law Seminar Steering Committee
• And much more!

To accomplish these objectives, we are fortunate to have many talented volunteers who generously give of their time and expertise.  Leading these volunteers and driving our initiatives are the chairpersons and other association leaders listed below.  I would like to thank each of these individuals for their efforts and contributions to AALNC, and I look forward to working with them during the coming year.

• ALNCCB:  Anne Meyer
• Director of Programs:  Pat Davis
• Finance Committee:  Mary Sussex
• Forum Committee:  Carol Walsh
• JLNC Editorial Board:  Wendie Howland
• LNC Online Course Taskforce:  Karen Huff; Sharon McQuown; Mary Sussex; Elizabeth Zorn; and myself
• LNCC Review Course Task Force:  Karen Huff
• Nominating Committee:  Varsha Desai
• Products & Services Committee:  Erin Gollogly
• Research Committee:  Dana Jolly
• Scope & Standards of Practice Taskforce:  Elizabeth Zorn
• Webinar Committee:  Marjorie Pugatch

Lastly, and in line with AALNC’s focus on providing quality education, I am pleased to share with you that AALNC’s Provider Accreditation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation has been extended by an additional two years.

Warmly,

Julie Dickinson

President, AALNC

Julie.dickinson@aya.yale.edu

860-208-6670

New Beginnings!

Dear AALNC Members,

It was wonderful seeing so many of you this past weekend at AALNC’s annual Educational and Networking Forum in Denver!  As usual, this year’s conference was outstanding and energizing, and the quality of the education and networking events was exceptional.  Congratulations to the Forum Committee, led by Cyndi Maag, for a job very well done!

The Forum is a time of transition for the AALNC Board of Directors, as we thank those who are rotating off and welcome those who are coming “on board,” so to speak.  It is my privilege to introduce the 2014-2015 AALNC Board:

•          President: Julie Dickinson, MBA BSN RN LNCC

•          President Elect: Varsha Desai, BSN RN CLNC CNLCP

•          Past President:  Elizabeth Zorn, BSN RN LNCC

•          Secretary-Treasurer: Mary Sussex, MBA BSN RN-BC LNCC CNLCP

•          Director-at-Large:  Kimberly Beladi, RN, BSN, LNCC

•          Director-at-Large:  Susan Carleo, RN, CAPA, LNC

•          Director-at-Large: Debra Pritts, RN LNCC

I would like to extend my gratitude to Sharon McQuown and Kathy Ferrell, our two outgoing board members, for their service to AALNC and for their valuable contributions to our association.  AALNC is fortunate that they are both remaining involved in AALNC projects, and I appreciate their time and dedication.

I would also like to welcome Kim Beladi and Susan Carleo, our two new Directors-at-Large.  I am excited to begin working with them and know they will both be valuable additions to the Board.

Lastly, a heartfelt “Thank You!” is owed to our Past President, Elizabeth Zorn.  She has dedicated an extraordinary amount of time, not only over the past year but throughout her career, to AALNC and the specialty practice of legal nurse consulting.  As she shared in her State of the Association address in Denver and in her last blog post, AALNC had many accomplishments during the past year.   AALNC has thrived under her leadership, and I am deeply grateful for her ongoing contributions to making AALNC the premier association for legal nurse consultants!

During my closing remarks in Denver, I discussed the goals of the AALNC Board of Directors for the coming year.  I will share those in my next blog post, but I do want to impart one closing thought that I conveyed in Denver.  It’s an exciting time to get involved in AALNC!  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me or info@aalnc.org.  We have numerous opportunities for LNCs of all experience levels and availability.  It takes a village to run AALNC, and we would not be where we are today without the collective talents of our many, many volunteers and our staff.  It is my great honor to work with these extraordinary individuals every day, and I look forward to the year ahead!

Warmly,

Julie Dickinson

President, AALNC

Julie.dickinson@aya.yale.edu

860-208-6670