As 2014 draws to a close, we look back and evaluate OAAPN activities for the year. This has been a time of tremendous coalition building, particularly in our pursuit of full practice authority. We plan to introduce full practice legislation in the next general assembly, hopefully during the first quarter of 2015. This effort has pulled together the wills and talents of a large number of individuals, both within and outside of OAAPN.
To name just a few, we extend many thanks and congratulations to Christine Williams, our full practice authority committee chair. Her stalwart and consistent labors over many years and in spite of personal adversity have culminated in this cohesion of forces that brings us to where we are today. We also extend heartfelt thanks to Mary Jane Maloney, our government relations committee chair and leader of our “Dream Bill” team, for her efforts in successfully moving APRN initiatives forward. A hearty thanks also to Angela Scardina for her chairmanship of our hugely successful Statewide Conference.
Finally, we are grateful for the energies and excellent direction provided by the OAAPN Board of Directors. It is the collective wisdom of this creative group of individuals that keeps us moving in the right direction.
We also acknowledge and express appreciation for the many organizations that have worked with us to develop and refine our objectives and methods. Among these are the Ohio State Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the Ohio Clinical Nurse Specialist Associations, the Ohio Action Coalition, the Ohio Nurses Association, the Ohio chapters of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, as well as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners; and our institutional colleagues, including Metro Health and the Cleveland Clinic. We look forward to our continued partnership in all things advanced practice nursing, and any omission of mention in thanks in no way reflects our lack of gratitude.
To our members, thank you for your involvement and engagement and spirit of volunteerism. We note and appreciate the efforts of many volunteers, from board members to bloggers, key persons to committee members. We encourage those of you who have yet to volunteer to do so, and soon! We need more key persons who are willing to communicate and develop helpful relationships with their legislators, particularly as a full practice reality looms larger. We need more bloggers/writers, to educate the public about advanced practice nursing. And more! Getting started is easy; simply send an e-mail to info@OAAPN.org and say you want to volunteer, and thank you in advance!
Finally, we close out the year with a thank you to our excellent contractors, the ones who assist us with their expertise in areas in which we have little. This includes Laura Carter and Julie White and the crew in the OAAPN office; Andrew Minton and Stephen Neilson and the lobbying team at Byers Minton and Associates; Joel Kessel and Jennifer Lefkowitz and our PR team at Kessel Communications; Megan James, Lisa Moore and Ashley Allison and our social media team at Mj2 Marketing Consultants; and finally, Jeana Singleton, our legal counsel at Brennan, Manna and Diamond LLP.
Looking forward to 2015!