NJCCN 20th Anniversary
NJCCN Honors Senator Joseph F. Vitale, Chair of the NJ Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens (SHH), and Dr. Geri Dickson (Posthumous). The Center was created from the vision of Dr. Geri Dickson.
Melanin Magic Mixer
For the first time, Middlesex Regional Black Nurses Association is hosting the Melanin Magic Mixer on Thursday October 27th, 2022 from 6 pm – 8 pm with the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) NJ for. Please save the date and register! The evening will consist of networking with other New Jersey Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, a financial education workshop, dinner and wine! Tickets are only $15 & registration is on eventbrite here.
Senate Bill 2825
Senate Bill 2825 introduced by Senator Vitale was passed out of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on June 23rd. It is a comprehensive package to address nurses and nursing workforce issues ultimately to support the care of NJ residents. We hope other legislators will support this bill.
This bill establishes certain requirements and initiatives related to nurses; transfers oversight of certified nurse aids from the Department of Health to the Board of Nursing and appropriates $26.7 million for Nurse Residency Program, Nursing School Expansion Grant Program, Nurse Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health Support, Preceptor Tax Credits and funding for the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing (NJCCN). It also establishes mandatory Workforce and Training Program Surveys. It requires each hospital in the State to establish a Nursing Workplace Environment and Staffing Council (NWESC).
The following provided testimony in support of the bill. They include:
· Edna Cadmus, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Executive Director, NJCCN and Clinical Professor, Rutgers School of Nursing. Click HERE to read Dr. Cadmus’ testimony
· Susan Salmond, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Professor & Executive Vice Dean, Rutgers School of Nursing and Director, NJ-NEW
· Maria Brennan, DNP, RN, CPHQ, Consultant and NWESC Commission Member
· Susan Cholewka, MBA, Executive Director, ONL NJ
To read more about Senate Bill 2825 go to https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2022/S2825.
National Forum Annual Conference
The National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers 2022 Annual Conference will bring together in-person and virtual modalities to fully engage nursing and healthcare leaders throughout the country. Participants will share cutting edge models of practice, data analytics and innovations in nursing education to change the nursing workforce game and address the critical workforce development issues facing our nation. To submit abstracts click HERE.
In Memory of Dr. Geri Dickson, Inaugural Executive Director
Dr. Geri Dickson quietly and comfortably passed away last week in her home in Madison, Wisconsin, and nursing lost one of its 21st century pioneers. Geri, a former faculty member at Rutgers Nursing, was instrumental in transforming an RWJF-funded project, Colleagues in Caring, into the permanently state-funded New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing.
Geri, as the Inaugural Executive Director of the Collaborating Center, tirelessly reached out to state legislators, presented before legislative committees, and worked with State Senator Joseph Vitale to gain support for the Center until funding was legislatively approved in 2005. She ensured that the mission of the Collaborating Center was secured – to collect nursing workforce data for New Jersey, provide evidence-based policy recommendations to strengthen and sustain New Jersey’s nursing workforce, ensure sufficient educational capacity at our schools of nursing, increase the diversity of the nursing workforce, and to form collaborative partnerships between academic nursing and our practice partners.
I was privileged to work with Geri over the years. Having the privilege to learn from Dr. Dickson during the Colleagues in Caring Grant and her advocacy for the Center gave me the opportunity to follow her lead and build upon the foundation she laid for the future of nursing. I am ever indebted to her. Nursing across the state has benefited from the work she did to make this Center a success. She will be greatly missed but her legacy continues. Dr. Edna Cadmus, Executive Director NJCCN.
LPN Workforce in New Jersey
Watch this video to learn the results from a recent research study conducted to understand the current practice of LPNs in New Jersey by describing and comparing the perceptions of LPNs and LPN employers about their roles and job functions across settings.
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