Georgia Nurses Foundation reflects on 25 years by leading the future.

Some 25 years ago, our colleagues had the foresight to found the Georgia Nurses Foundation. This philanthropic arm of the Association and its members has been instrumental in instilling leadership and value to the nursing profession in the state for more than a quarter of a century.

Today, the Foundation sits reflecting on its past while looking to the challenges of the future. That's why past-president, Tim Porter-O'Grady, EdD, RN, FAAN, created the Georgia Nursing Leadership Initiative. Under the direction of President, Dr. Lynda Nauright, the Foundation and its members will bring leadership to the challenges that face the profession of nursing.

Critical Action Priorities

Nursing will be recognized as a core business of the health care system through the following actions:

1. Agencies will recognize that Georgians receive the majority of their health care services from nurses.

2. Nurses will participate in decision-making processes that affect patient care or nursing.

3. Rewards, benefits, and retention processes will indicate that health care agencies value their nurses.

4. Technological advances will be incorporated into nursing practice and nursing education.

5. Agencies will recognize that nurses have different needs depending on their practice setting and specialization.

6. Schools of nursing, health care agencies, and regulatory agencies will collaborate in the education of nurses.

7. A multicultural practice approach will be evident with faculty, students and in the practice setting.

9. Evidence-based learning and evidence-based practice models will be created and applied in clinical practice and educational settings.

10. New/revised programs for the seamless transition of students from education into professional practice will be established.

Nursing is considered the frontline of health care delivery. Nurses work in every health care setting and community throughout the United States. Nearly 3 million nurses currently practice in the United States making nursing the single largest health care provider in the country. Ninety-two thousand of theses nurses practice in Georgia.

There is today, however, a growing disparity between the supply of nurses and the increasing demand for nursing services. Shifting demographics, emerging opportunities, changing workplace circumstances, reduced resources for health care, emerging technologies and therapeutics, and a growing demand for health care has had a dramatic impact on the availability of nursing resources. All of these factors converge to create challenges for the nursing profession in the state of Georgia.

The Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF) has assumed the responsibility for generating a call to Georgia nursing leadership to begin the process of constructing an agenda for the profession of nursing within the state of Georgia. Called the Georgia Nursing Leadership Initiative, this call has gathered a variety of nursing leaders from a wide range of practice, policy, administrative, academic, association, and government roles. Through a collective deliberation process facilitated by the GNF, nursing leaders have specified issues of concern to Georgia nurses and a framework for focusing subsequent plans of action.

The white papers for this project identify the priority issues as perceived by leaders in the profession across the state. These white papers also address critical future issues in nursing by anticipating them and preparing for them in a proactive way. Leaders within the state have a chance to make a substantial difference for the practice of nursing in Georgia and for the health of the citizens of Georgia. For more information and to read the white papers, visit www.georgianurses.org.

Certainly none of these initiatives can be addressed by nursing in isolation.

Nursing must utilize the many resources and expertise that are available from policy makers, legislators, sociologists, economists, and health care administrators. Nursing partnerships with providers, other disciplines, and health care leaders are critical in creating a sustainable place for nursing in providing health care for the future and also in adequately addressing the problems and concerns of both nursing and health care for the foreseeable future. It is the role of the GNF to create a forum for exchange where partners can gather in safe space for dialogue and for achieving solutions around the issues identified. The board of the Georgia Nurses Foundation hopes that these white papers will serve to inform the profession and its partners of the issues and be a catalyst for action for nursing in the state of Georgia.