In August 2011, we sent out a Member Needs Assessment Survey for the 2011-2012 Greater Kansas City Chapter of AACN. The survey asked about continuing education needs, chapter community involvement, networking opportunities, and communication. In just a few weeks, we received over 70 responses! Your thoughtful responses were reviewed at the September Board Meeting to help plan future programming and services. We would like to share some of the more interesting results of the survey with you!
Our GKCC colleague with the longest AACN national membership is 39 years. Wow! On average, our members have been part of the AACN organization for 15 years;; which is indicative of the amazing depth of collective experience our chapter holds.
Our chapter's mission is to provide educational opportunities and scholarship support. 67% of you wanted one to four continuing education (CE) offerings per year. 60% of you thought that each CE offering should be at least 4 to 6 hours. In the past, we have made an effort to focus on obtaining national speakers;; however, the survey showed that you value qualified local speakers equally, if not more. The most requested CE topics were: Ventilator Management, Advanced 12-Lead ECGs, How to Submit for a Beacon Award, Sepsis, Applying Evidence Based Practice at the Bedside, Interpreting Research, Leadership Topics, New Innovations/Clinical Trends in Technology, Advanced Hemodynamics, CV Pharmacology Update. All of this information will help us with future programming efforts.
We also offer several scholarships to help fund certification costs, NTI travel costs, Visions Symposium cost, research grant, and academic pursuit. We were interested in your familiarity with these scholarships, and reasons for not applying. The majority of the respondents had "no need for the scholarship"; therefore, had not applied. Since approximately 25% were not aware of the scholarships, we will make an effort to advertise through your hospital representatives, website, and other modalities. We want every member to take advantage of this opportunity!
You spoke loud and clear about the need for meaningful Certification Recognition! We have at least 60 members affiliated with our chapter that have a current CCRN or PCCN certification. We appreciate your feedback. The Board has been discussing plans to provide meaning recognition.
We recognize that providing avenues for chapter networking is important for active participation within the chapter. We asked you to rate the importance of the various networking channels. The most important method was through the Chapter Newsletter via e-mail, followed by the website. A quarterly meeting on chapter updates would also be well-attended. Some were also interested in social functions, but hardly anyone felt it was necessary to attend the monthly board meeting!
Our Communications Chair has worked hard to provide interesting information in our Chapter Newsletter. We received excellent feedback on additional content to improve this newsletter. Formal recognition of members in the news through a member highlight, member achievements, and/or recognition of instructors who volunteer their time to teach the review courses and consortium classes are all very good suggestions. An addition of a regular column on evidence-based practice tips and practice alerts is also a good idea. Most of all, our members expressed that a Calendar of Events with early notification would be very helpful.
Our website is still in its infancy, and we have discovered over the past year, what works and what does not. As a result, you can look forward to a revamp of the website with up-to-date information that will serve as your one-stop-shop for all things related to GKCC AACN.
Professional development is very important to the Chapter. A significant number of respondents expressed interest in being part of a planning committee for classes/events, and/or mentoring new nurses into the critical/progressive care field. We are also pleased that at least 10 of you are interested in being a local speaker for future CE offerings, as well as a goal of presenting (podium or poster) at NTI. Our board officers and long-time chapter members have an amazing depth of experience with national presentations at NTI. We would be honored to mentor those interested in pursuing these goals. To respect anonymity, the survey did not have an option for you to give us your name and contact information if you were interested in any of the above professional development opportunities. Please e-mail us at aacn.gkcc@gmail.com so we can get in touch with you. The ball is in your court!
GKCC belongs to Region 14, which serves Kansas and Missouri. Along with all of you, our hearts go out to the areas that
have been turned upside down by all the floods and tornadoes that have wreaked havoc in our Region this year. We are inspired by all of the stories of bravery demonstrated by our colleagues. Our community service project for 2011-2012 will focus on helping the critical care/progressive care nurses in Joplin, Missouri. Stay tuned for more information on how YOU can assist in this endeavor! Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. We look forward to serving you.
-Akiko Kubo, President-Elect
Our GKCC colleague with the longest AACN national membership is 39 years. Wow! On average, our members have been part of the AACN organization for 15 years;; which is indicative of the amazing depth of collective experience our chapter holds.
Our chapter's mission is to provide educational opportunities and scholarship support. 67% of you wanted one to four continuing education (CE) offerings per year. 60% of you thought that each CE offering should be at least 4 to 6 hours. In the past, we have made an effort to focus on obtaining national speakers;; however, the survey showed that you value qualified local speakers equally, if not more. The most requested CE topics were: Ventilator Management, Advanced 12-Lead ECGs, How to Submit for a Beacon Award, Sepsis, Applying Evidence Based Practice at the Bedside, Interpreting Research, Leadership Topics, New Innovations/Clinical Trends in Technology, Advanced Hemodynamics, CV Pharmacology Update. All of this information will help us with future programming efforts.
We also offer several scholarships to help fund certification costs, NTI travel costs, Visions Symposium cost, research grant, and academic pursuit. We were interested in your familiarity with these scholarships, and reasons for not applying. The majority of the respondents had "no need for the scholarship"; therefore, had not applied. Since approximately 25% were not aware of the scholarships, we will make an effort to advertise through your hospital representatives, website, and other modalities. We want every member to take advantage of this opportunity!
You spoke loud and clear about the need for meaningful Certification Recognition! We have at least 60 members affiliated with our chapter that have a current CCRN or PCCN certification. We appreciate your feedback. The Board has been discussing plans to provide meaning recognition.
We recognize that providing avenues for chapter networking is important for active participation within the chapter. We asked you to rate the importance of the various networking channels. The most important method was through the Chapter Newsletter via e-mail, followed by the website. A quarterly meeting on chapter updates would also be well-attended. Some were also interested in social functions, but hardly anyone felt it was necessary to attend the monthly board meeting!
Our Communications Chair has worked hard to provide interesting information in our Chapter Newsletter. We received excellent feedback on additional content to improve this newsletter. Formal recognition of members in the news through a member highlight, member achievements, and/or recognition of instructors who volunteer their time to teach the review courses and consortium classes are all very good suggestions. An addition of a regular column on evidence-based practice tips and practice alerts is also a good idea. Most of all, our members expressed that a Calendar of Events with early notification would be very helpful.
Our website is still in its infancy, and we have discovered over the past year, what works and what does not. As a result, you can look forward to a revamp of the website with up-to-date information that will serve as your one-stop-shop for all things related to GKCC AACN.
Professional development is very important to the Chapter. A significant number of respondents expressed interest in being part of a planning committee for classes/events, and/or mentoring new nurses into the critical/progressive care field. We are also pleased that at least 10 of you are interested in being a local speaker for future CE offerings, as well as a goal of presenting (podium or poster) at NTI. Our board officers and long-time chapter members have an amazing depth of experience with national presentations at NTI. We would be honored to mentor those interested in pursuing these goals. To respect anonymity, the survey did not have an option for you to give us your name and contact information if you were interested in any of the above professional development opportunities. Please e-mail us at aacn.gkcc@gmail.com so we can get in touch with you. The ball is in your court!
GKCC belongs to Region 14, which serves Kansas and Missouri. Along with all of you, our hearts go out to the areas that
have been turned upside down by all the floods and tornadoes that have wreaked havoc in our Region this year. We are inspired by all of the stories of bravery demonstrated by our colleagues. Our community service project for 2011-2012 will focus on helping the critical care/progressive care nurses in Joplin, Missouri. Stay tuned for more information on how YOU can assist in this endeavor! Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. We look forward to serving you.
-Akiko Kubo, President-Elect
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