2023 Summer GAPNA Newsletter Volume 42 Number 2

A Thriving Chapter Leadership

By Michelle Moccia

 “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
– John C. Maxwell.

The Chapter Leadership “Sweet 18” continues to lead, support each other, share creative solutions to help increase membership engagement, and discuss educational initiatives to influence positive approaches to older adult care. The Chapter Leaders host annual conferences, quarterly educational meetings, DNP student poster events, student activity night, and celebrate Nurse Practitioner Week. Moreover, this group gives back to its members through research and APN student scholarships and recognizes its members through Excellence in Clinical Practice and Leadership Awards.

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Guests on the monthly agenda included Midge Bowers (Liberty Chapter) of the Nominating Committee, Brette Svennson (Georgia Chapter) of the Awards Committee, Alice Bonner (IHI, Senior Advisor for Aging;) Chair:  “Moving Forward: Nursing Home Quality Coalition” Moving Forward Coalition; and introduction of the KAER toolkits by Jennifer L. Pettis, MS, RN, CNE (GSA).

Brette also gave an overview on how to use Zoom Webinar for virtual meetings and encouraged hiring a conference coordinator to help with the logistics of hosting a conference. After hearing from our leaders, a short tutorial on how to use Zoom Webinar would be helpful. Brette Svensson (Georgia) and Carrie Fernald (Carolinas) offered their expertise to help guide the session. We will reach out once we have decided on a session date and time. Leaders can find additional resources on the Zoom website! View all Zoom tutorials.

A Chapter funding event on the “Elderly Neurobehavior Disorders Educational Webinar” was held on January 18th, with over 140 GAPNA members attending. This free event served as a chapter funding opportunity. The ten chapters most well represented in attendance, with at least five members present, will be eligible for $500, with the top attending chapter earning $1000. The Great Lakes Chapter won with 15 chapter members in attendance. Congratulations to all the winning chapters!

Shoutouts this quarter included:

  • Suzanne Ransenhousen (Delaware Valley) won Excellence in Professional Advancement from Leading Age!
  • Kara Adam (Wisconsin) and Christy Kroboth (Liberty) passed the GS-C exam and are among our newest Gerontological Certified Specialists!

I want to thank Chapter Leaders who contributed items to the Chapter Conference planning toolkit and the Great Lakes Chapter of GAPNA for their work on the initial Conference Toolkit created in 2010. Their work was instrumental in helping shape the contents of this toolkit. A special thanks to the Task Force Members: Aparna Gupta (National Director at Large, Past President of Liberty Chapter), George Peraz-Smith (Florida Gulf Coast Chapter), and Meghan Cash (GAPNA Member Engagement Coordinator) for their assistance and creativity. 

Best,

Michelle Moccia, DNP, ANP-BC, GS-C
Chapter Chair
mocciamichelle@gmail.com