The year 2008 will bring many transitions in our lives as American Academy of Nursing members and as citizens of our various nations. The November 2007 annual meeting saw the induction of our first international members—from Canada, China and the United Kingdom. This is an important transition for us, as a formerly United States-oriented organization, and recognizes the global reach of nursing’s role in transforming health. The theme of the 2008 annual meeting is “Health: A Bridge for Global Peace.” This could not be more fitting for the growth of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) as an international body.
The annual meeting was also the time for a transition in leadership. We celebrated the tremendous growth in our programs and outreach during the term of Dr. Linda Burnes Bolton, who continues to serve as a leader in the initiatives to reduce health disparities and in the technology initiatives to improve nursing workflow. I am honored to step into the Presidency and to continue this tremendous momentum for AAN in this time of rapid health care change. In future messages I want to share with you the work that our expert panels and commissions are doing toward our mission of transforming healthcare policy and practice through nursing knowledge.
The forthcoming presidential elections in the United States provide an opportunity for our members and those of our partner nursing organizations to raise the health care reform issue once again. We have been increasing the visibility of nursing solutions through our Raise the Voice campaign, now generously funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We are pleased that Dr. Donna Shalala will continue to chair the advisory board for this initiative. We envision many nursing contributions to a much-reformed health care system, in collaboration with several organizations. We sponsor senior policy fellows jointly with AARP and with the Institute of Medicine. We partner with the Hartford Foundation in improving geriatric nursing, and with the American Nurses Association in quality and safety initiatives.
Finally, we are embarking on an operational transition. As our programs and policy initiatives have increased over the past 2 years, we recognized the need to consolidate both operations and policy in the Washington, DC, office. Therefore, beginning January 1, 2008 all contacts will be handled through staff in Washington. The website and web/email contact (info@aannet.org) will not change, nor will the Washington office email, telephone and FAX contact numbers. The telephone number in the Milwaukee office will be forwarded to the Washington office for several months, beginning January 1. Considerable transition planning and execution has occurred over the past few months, overseen by the Board and a joint transition team from the Milwaukee and the Washington offices. My deepest thanks to our colleagues at Executive Director, Inc. (EDI), the Milwaukee management firm who launched our growth. We anticipate a smooth transition during December 2007 and January 2008, and give special thanks to Pat Ford-Roegner, our CEO, and the staff in the Washington office.
I look forward to serving the membership and the wider nursing community over the next 2 years.
Reprint requests: Dr. Pamela H. Mitchell, University of Washington, Box 357265, Seattle, WA 98195-7265.
1Pamela H. Mitchell, RN, PhD, FAAN, FAHA, is an Associate Dean for Research, School of Nursing; The Elizabeth S. Soule Professor of Health Promotion, School of Nursing; Adjunct Professor, Department of Health Services; SPHCM Director, Center for Health Sciences Interprofessional Education at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
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