Chicago Area Association of Neonatal Nurses News

CAANN Supports March of Dimes March for Babies

Deanna Speicher — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:22:05 GMT

As we have done in the past, CAANN is supporting our active members that are participating in the March of Dimes March for Babies. Once you have registered for the March and created your web page, please email your page address to treasurer@caann.org and we will make a $10 contribution to your account. We look forward to supporting you and hope to see many of you at the various March locations!

NANN Spring Break Membership Drive

Deanna Speicher — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:18:02 GMT

For a limited time, NANN is offering a $35 discount on your annual membership dues for first-time NANN members. This offer expires on April 15, 2010, and most likely will not be extended. Annual dues are normally $99. Information about NANN can be found at their website, www.nann.org. The discount is only being given if you join by telephone by calling Member Services at 800-451-3795.

Also, if you mention that you are a member of the Chicago Chapter, you will receive an additional $5 discount. That brings your total discount to $40!

If you are interested, please hurry so that you don't miss this exciting offer!

Melissa White, APN/NNP-BC, Winner of NANN 2008 Special Interest Group Leadership Award

Deanna Speicher — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:43:42 GMT

Congratulations to Melissa White, APN/NNP-BC

Winner of NANN 2008 Special Interest Group Leadership Award

Melissa White was described by her nominator as being, "a real triple threat - Her clinical skills, both technical procedures and fund-of-knowledge are superb. Her parent interactions are a model for her colleagues, both NNPs and MDs. And her academic achievements are superb." Melissa is a neonatal nurse practitioner at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital where she is also Manager of the NNP Program in the Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Melissa is a leader and role model for nursing and has an extraordinary record of service to her profession.

Lisa Festle, Winner of NANN 2008 Robyn Main Award for Clinical Excellence

Deanna Speicher — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:25:34 GMT

Congratulations to Lisa Festle, RNC, MSN, CCNS

Winner of NANN 2008 Robyn Main Award for Clinical Excellence

Lisa Festle, MSN RNC-NIC CCNS has been a neonatal nurse for over 20 years and currently works at Loyola University Medical Center's Level III neonatal intensive care unit in Maywood, IL. In addition to her responsibilities in the NICU, she serves as the Co-Coordinator of the NICU Education Council and also the NICU Magnet Committee.

Those who nominated her describe her as "paying exquisite attention to every detail when providing care."

Lisa is Master's prepared and certified as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and uses this knowledge to care for the sickest of patients. She has chosen to remain at the bedside sharing her compassion with her patients and their families.

2009 March of Dimes March for Babies

Deanna Speicher — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:20:55 GMT

CAANN would like to thank those of you who participated in the 2009 March of Dimes March for Babies. Nine members responded to CAANN's challenge to participate and each received a donation of $10 into their banks from CAANN.

Despite the best efforts of all those that participated, the March of Dimes March for Babies is $3 million short of its fundraising goal! Several million dollars in research grants funded by the March of Dimes have already been cut and that looks to be just the beginning if additional funds aren't raised. The March of Dimes says that if every participant donated an additional $20, the goal would be met. If you were a participant or if you know someone that was, please consider making an additional donation of $20 to help the March of Dimes meet its fundraising goal so that they can continue to support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. If you would like to donate, the link to the March of Dimes March for Babies site on our home page is still active.

Neonatal Infection Update

Deanna Speicher — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:33:44 GMT

Eighty members and guests attended CAANN's Neonatal Infection Update on February 3, 2009, in the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center. Our speakers included Kenneth Alexander, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and Terri Russell, DNP, APN/NNP-BC, Coordinator of the NNP Program at Rush University College of Nursing and NNP at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. Topics included "Sorting Out Antibiotics: A Systematic Approach to Antibiotic Selection," "Problem Infections in the NICU," and "Nosocomial Infections: Killing the Bugs or Improving the Procedures?"

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 19, 2009, at Loyola University Medical Center. We will be discussing Ethics in the NICU.

Christmas Cookie Bake at Loyola Ronald McDonald House

Deanna Speicher — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:57:53 GMT

CAANN Board Members Kathy Miceli, Julie Dahl, Barb Hering, Lisa Festle, and Deanna Speicher braved the snow and cold to bake Christmas cookies at the Ronald McDonald House at Loyola University Medical Center on the evening of December 3, 2008. Everyone had a great time. Dozens and dozens of delicious holiday cookies were made and the place smelled wonderful!

Photos from this last year

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:53:28 GMT

Volunteering at Ronald McDonald House

Congratulations to Lisa Festle, RNC, MSN, CCNS

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:15:26 GMT

Winner of NANN 2008 Robyn Main Award for Clinical Excellence

NCC Certified Nurses and NNP Credential Changes

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:46:04 GMT

National Nurse Practitioner Credential Changes

New Credentials effective May 1, 2008

RNC-NIC(for RN's certified in Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing)

RNC-LRN(for RN's certified in Low Risk Neonatal Nursing)

For Neonatal Nurse Practitioner's:

The American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) put out a formal proposal to national nurse practitioner certifying bodies to change nurse practitioner credentials to a standardized national format. ANCC carefully reviewed the impact of changing the credentials, exploring how the credential could have the most impact on the nurse practitioner profession and their recognition in the health care system. The title APRN is used in over 17 states to recognize advanced practice nurses. They felt a change could provide for a nationwide consistency and simplification for the public and state boards of nursing.

Over 6,000 advanced practice nurses were surveyed in the fall of 2006. The survey results indicated that they felt simplification of credentials, recognition of the role of the NP and recognition of the specialty was needed. A follow up survey of 4700 nurse practitioners was completed to choose the specialty and role combination credential.

The recommendation by the ANCC is that the following credential and format be used by all certifying bodies:

The use of NP (Stresses the role): NP

The use of the specialty (example: neonatal nurse practitioner): NNP

The use of BC for board certification (equality with our physician partners):

NNP-BC

Some nurse practitioners already use these credentials in their practice. The change was made in hopes that all certifying bodies would use the same credentials which would simplify things for the state boards of nursing. It provides uniformity for the public, our patients and their families. The use of "board certified" is already recognized and accepted by the public because of its use by physicians. It allows individual certified NPs to have their specialty area designated within their certification credential and provides some consistency in credentialing titles. Both the National Certification Corporation (NCC) and the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC) have moved to the designation of BC with the designated specialty. It is hoped that the remaining certification organizations will also move in this direction. NCC will distribute new certificates with the new designation to all NCC certified individuals. NNP-BC and WHNP-BC will reflect the official designation of NCC certification effective May 2008.

Eligibility Changes to take NNP exam

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:41:07 GMT

Eligibility Changes with the National Certification Corporation (NCC)

The National Certification Corporation (NCC) has reviewed Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) programs since 1980 when the first certification program began. This review was developed because at that time national accreditation for NP programs did not exist. With the publication of the Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) incorporation of the national Guidelines into the formal accreditation process, NCC made the decision to no longer approve or review programs. Programs are now accredited by the accrediting agencies by means of a formal accreditation process.

The accreditation organizations CCNE and NLNAC formally incorporated the national criteria into their accreditation process in 2005. This provided a much needed independent third party review. This change is impacting advanced practice nurses who graduated from programs before 2005 and have not obtained certification. Graduates prior to 2005 may have attended programs that incorporated the national criteria, however, inconsistencies in program curricula and among students in the same program were not uncommon. At this time, there is no standardized format to identify programs that might have been compliant with the national guidelines prior to 2005.

For reasons outlined above, individuals who graduated from a program prior to 2005 will no longer be eligible to take or retake the NCC NNP exam. All certified advanced practice nurses who graduated from programs prior to 2005 can maintain their certification, however, if their certification lapses they will not qualify for recertification. The only way to qualify would be to go back to a NP program that meets current NCC requirements and earn a master’s or post-masters. Although we feel it is essential that CCNE and NLNAC develop certification criteria for those advanced practice nurses who attended programs prior to 2005, they have not published a statement to address this issue at this time.

NCC reviewed this change, considered the fact that NCC certification exams are entry level examinations, and made the decision to put a time limit on certification. Individual NPs have the professional responsibility to pursue certification in a timely fashion. Effective 2010 NPs will have a maximum of 3 years from the date of graduation to become certified through NCC.

Thank You For Donations

Deanna Speicher — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:05:15 GMT

In a note dated March 4, 2008, Jodi Gaski, RN, BSN, CNOR, of the AORN Chapter 1411 Community Outreach Project, which has sent 185 care packages so far to deployed nurses, wrote:

Dear Julie and CAANN Members,

Thank you so much for your generous donations to the Good Morning boxes. Your contributions help keep our care packages going out and show your appreciation and support for deployed nurses.

God bless our troops!

Thank you again for joining us in supporting them.