Spirit of the Season Lives Year-Round

The holiday season shines a light on generosity and altruism, as many embody the spirit of the season by devoting time and resources to assist those in need. There’s a sense of personal fulfillment that comes from helping others, and I believe that sense of fulfillment lives large in those of us who have found our calling as nurse practitioners.

With Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror and Christmas on the horizon, the season of giving is well under way. Everywhere you look are examples of commitment to generosity and devotion to family and community. I know for certain that many of you are or will be engaged in activities this month to extend those gifts to others. But I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a close-knit circle of like-minded professionals for whom the spirit of the season resonates year-round.

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AB 890 Outreach – For many, the holiday mindset means taking some time to recharge in advance of the coming new year. For CANP’s Board of Directors, chapter leaders, and staff, the next several weeks represent crunch time in preparation for our biggest priority in 2020 – helping Assembly Bill 890 advance through the legislative process.

The proposal to remove antiquated barriers and allow California NPs to utilize the full extent of their education and training to provide high-quality care was held last spring in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and declared a two-year bill. As such, it is eligible to be reconsidered by the committee when the Legislature returns to Sacramento on January 6. However, the committee only has until January 24 to approve the bill. Barring that outcome, the bill will not advance.

Following the action by the Appropriations Committee, CANP leaders immediately engaged in analyzing the outcome, and have continued to work behind the scenes on procuring additional support in preparation for the January deadline. As part of that strategy, CANP collaborated on the formation of Close the Provider Gap, a coalition of organizations formed to advocate on behalf of AB 890.

While that effort continues at the organizational level, another pivotal aspect of the campaign – as always – is the individual efforts on the part of CANP members to urge support from their members of the Legislature.

Since forming the coalition, we’ve streamlined our online Grassroots Resource Center to focus on the highest priority actions we’re asking members to undertake, and we’ve provided some new tools and tips to assist in your efforts. Meanwhile, chapter leaders have participated in a series of conference calls detailing the latest strategies for maximizing the impact of grassroots outreach. Not sure how to get started? Contact CANP or your chapter President for more information.

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In the Giving Mood – Aside from developments over AB 890, the new year will be additionally critical on the political front due to the elections taking place next November. On the state level, that means elections in all 80 Assembly districts and 20 of the 40 State Senate districts. This magnifies the important role that the CANP Political Action Committee (CANP PAC) plays in our political efforts.

The CANP PAC is a bipartisan effort dedicated to supporting state legislative candidates. PACs are established so that contributions from a number of individuals can be aggregated into one fund that is then used to make contributions to support a particular cause or candidate. A well-funded PAC helps us show strength in numbers and a commitment to engage in the political process.

While we’ve seen a recent surge in our PAC fund, contributions continue to be vital. Just a $100 contribution from each of our more than 4,000 members would provide an incredible boost to advancing our advocacy priorities. Learn more about the CANP PAC, and please consider making a contribution today.

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Cause for Celebration – Another National Nurse Practitioner Week has come and gone, and we want to express our thanks to all of you who marked the occasion, whether through outreach to spread NP awareness, local events to honor our contributions and celebrate with colleagues, or even some combination of the two.

Special thanks to those CANP chapters who shared their NP Week activities via social media, such as the Golden Gate/San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, the Greater Pasadena Chapter, the Tri-Valley Chapter, and the Orange County Chapter. See more NP Week activity on Twitter by searching the hashtag #NPWeek.

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Madame Mayor – Our congratulations go out to Beth Haney, former CANP President (2012-2014), who last week became the Mayor of Yorba Linda. Beth was first elected to the City Council in 2016, and was appointed to a one-year term as Mayor during the council’s December 3 meeting.

For those of us who know and have worked with Beth, her achievements as a civic leader come as no surprise. While her role as an elected official means that a wide variety of issues command her attention, she remains a staunch advocate for nurse practitioners. As the current President of CANP, I am incredibly proud to count Beth Haney among my predecessors and role models.

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Hometown Conference – I’m especially excited that our 43rd Annual Educational Conference will take place in my hometown of Riverside. If you’ve never been, let me assure you that there is no shortage of incredible things to see and do in the heart of the Inland Empire. High on that list is the iconic Mission Inn, a National Historic Landmark which throughout its nearly 150-year history has played host to numerous U.S. Presidents, historical figures and celebrities. The Mission Inn will be the site for our annual Friday Night Event, taking place March 20.

Our jam-packed agenda includes more than 60 educational sessions, symposiums and workshops. That includes six “pre-conference” sessions taking place Wednesday, March 18 (a new addition to the agenda for 2020). Headlining the event will be keynote speaker Susan Hassmiller, Senior Scholar-In-Residence at the National Academy of Medicine, and Senior Adviser for Nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

While it’s still more than three months away, the big event will be here before you know it. Mark your calendars for March 18-22, and be sure to register by December 20 to take advantage of early discount rates.

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Honoring NP Excellence – Another guaranteed conference highlight will be the presentation of CANP’s Bridging Health Care Needs Award, which recognizes nurse practitioners who are active as a catalyst for positive change in the health care system, and who demonstrate the value of the care nurse practitioners provide to their patients.

Over the last two months, we’ve sent communications soliciting nominations for this prestigious honor in advance of the December 9 nomination deadline. The next step in the process will be for the Awards Committee to evaluate the nominees utilizing objective scoring tools and determine a recommended recipient. That recommendation will then be sent to the Board of Directors for approval. The recipient will be announced during a general session presentation at the conference.

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More Events Ahead – Looking a little further into the calendar, the coming year will also feature the biennial meeting of the House of Delegates (HOD), the legislative and policy-making body of our Association.

The 2020 HOD meeting takes place May 11 in Sacramento. In addition to consideration of resolutions to amend CANP’s bylaws, this year’s meeting will also feature elections for President Elect, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, and Vice President of Finance for the 2020-22 term of the Board of Directors.

In preparation for the HOD meeting, be on the lookout for the call for board nominations (coming later this month), the call for delegates (in mid-January), and the call for resolutions (in early February).

One day later, on May 12, we’ll gather again in Sacramento for Lobby Day 2020, our annual opportunity to show our strength at the State Capitol through face-to-face meetings with legislators. Developments at the State Capitol in the early months of 2020 will shape the Lobby Day agenda. Save the date and be on the lookout for further details as they evolve.

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Tools Under Development – It’s been a little over a year since we launched a new version of our website at canpweb.org, and new annual conference site. We continue to make refinements to our online portals to better serve our NP community.

One such refinement in the planning stages is an enhanced set of online tools for chapter leaders – similar to what existed on the previous version of our website, but better. These tools will ease the process of posting chapter events, distributing chapter communications, and tracking membership.

An ad-hoc committee of chapter leaders has been formed to guide the process. The committee met earlier this month, in part to finalize a survey that will be sent to all chapter leaders to collect their feedback regarding their experience with the previous system and desired enhancements. The end result will be a robust set of tools influenced by those who use them most.  Stay tuned for more details.

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Momentum Continues – In late summer, we announced that CANP had reached the 4,000-member mark for the first time in the organization’s history. In just about three months since then, we’ve seen an additional 8 percent increase to more than 4,300. Meanwhile, our engagement with members and prospective members is surging in other ways, evidenced by the fact that we just topped 5,000 followers on Facebook.

While we’re always brainstorming new ways to grow membership, perhaps the best tools we have are our members themselves. Among the many things for which we are grateful at this time of year, we appreciate all the work that each of you do to help spread awareness of CANP. Our NP community grows stronger every day, thanks in no small part to your efforts.

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Consolidated Connections – You may have noticed that you are now reading part of the November-December edition of Connections. The consolidation of the November and December editions into a single issue is among the many steps taken this year to enhance the quality of the publication. These also include the formation of the Editorial Committee to help guide the content, and the enlistment of Stephanie Jordan as Managing Editor to expand our capacity for bringing you timely, compelling stories of the many ways in which NPs are serving their communities.

We hope you’ve been enjoying the way in which our signature publication has evolved this year, and we look forward to continuing our growth on all fronts in 2020.