To the Regional and Affiliate Presidents:

During this year’s Annual Conference, I made rounds to each of the Regions/Affiliates meetings along with President-Elect Phyllis Bonham, Center for Clinical Investigation Director Donna Bliss, Executive Vice President Nicolette Zuecca and Executive Director Pete Pomilio. We regret we missed a few of the Regions/Affiliates meetings because of the amount of time we took in our travels to and from each meeting. I thought I would update you and your Region/Affiliate on the information we shared that might be pertinent at this time.

1. Center for Clinical Investigation: CCI Director, Donna Bliss, informed us that we had a record number of grant proposal submissions this year. The 2008 grant awardees were announced at the general Research session on Sunday of the conference and will be posted on the CCI page of the WOCN website. The four grant awards, the most we ever have had so far, will all be offered again next year; so Donna was able to make the call for proposals at the conference’s Research session. Information about the call for research proposals and application materials are being standardized by CCI and will be posted on the CCI page of the website. The deadline for submission of applications and proposals will be in early February 2009. Donna encouraged attendees to consider submitting a proposal and to take advantage of the grant preview service that CCI offers during the fall. CCI has provided all updates to the webmaster and they should be up shortly. CCI is also working on a toolkit for submitting a grant proposal as another resource to support member interested in submitting a proposal to our grants program. It should be ready by the end of the calendar year. There is a new program associate of CCCI, Kristine Christopherson. Her email is chris038@umn.edu and her contact info is also on the website.

2. Outcomes Research: President Elect, Dr. Phyllis Bonham is leading a task force charged by the WOCN Society Board of Directors to develop a request for proposals (RFP) for an outcomes research study. The task force members include Dr. Janice Beitz, Director Kate Lawrence, and Dr. Susan Steele. The Outcomes Research Task Force has been meeting since May 2008 to outline the purpose and objectives for the project. The planned release date for the RFP is on or before December 31, 2008 with an anticipated funding date of October 2009. The plan is for a 2-year funded research study October 2009-October 2011. Our members and our leadership understand the importance of evidence that supports the impact of the WOC nurse on patient outcomes. We have heard from members who need data to support their positions in their health care settings. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the impact of WOC specialty nursing practice on the quality and cost of care to identify the contributions of WOC nurses to the health care system, justify utilization/integration of WOC specialty care across health care settings, and provide evidence for future research trajectories. The specific aim of the research is determine if care delivered by WOC specialty nurses improves patient outcomes. Research proposals will be solicited to address specific patient outcomes related to WOC care. Priority consideration will be given to the research project that provides the most comprehensive data across the spectrum of WOC nurse practice and settings that are relevant to the research objectives.

3. Bylaws Amendments: The WOCN Society has grown to over 4600 members. As such the WOCN Society Board of Directors has taken a look at how we do business. One important housekeeping task that requires membership involvement is a review and revision of our current bylaws. In keeping with the state of Illinois where the Society is incorporated, we need to update several sections of the bylaws to be compliant with Illinois law. One area that requires our attention is the percentage of voting members that are required to vote on elections and bylaw amendments. Our current 25% is high by national standards and to accomplish this percentage the Society has spent money and resources to get the vote. The Board is still discussing the change from 25% to a reasonable number, but the Board will make a recommendation to the Society members that will be lower than the current 25%. In the next few weeks each member will receive information on the proposed bylaw amendments. We will provide you will the current bylaw, the suggested amendment and the rationale for the amendment. While the Board will be making a recommendation on a number that will be achievable based upon past elections and the national norm, keep in mind that the percentage of voting members will be worded so that “at least” the proposed number will constitute a vote of the membership. Everyone can vote, and while some do not we need to make the minimal number one that can allow the Society to conduct business. We will not be proposing an amendment that will prevent all that want to vote to do so.

Thank you,
Jan Colwell
WOCN Society President

Keep Your Information Current!

The WOCN Society wants to reach you with all the benefits it offers, so now is a good time to be sure the WOCN Web site has your most up-to-date information. If you have had a change of address, work address, email, etc, please take a moment to update your online profile.

First, go to www.wocn.org.

You will need to log in with your existing membership.

Once you are logged in,

• scroll down to the "Membership" section
• click on the link that says "Edit Your Information."
• click the links to the left marked
  • "Name and Address,"
  • "Phone and E-mail"
  • "Profile Information."
• Make sure all your information listed there is current and accurate.
• Finally, don't forget to confirm you have identified your region.

Now, just save the changes, and you're all set.

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