Members speak up! Strategic planning process identifies priorities for the association.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A successful Thought Leaders Forum was held on January 12, 2009 at the Association headquarters. Nursing leaders representing both long-term and acute care practice sectors, education, government, and administration were invited to participate in a strategic thinking exercise. Participants were asked to collaborate in identifying ways to strategically capitalize on the strengths of NANB/nursing, take advantage of new opportunities while overcoming the challenges facing the Association and the profession in the next 3-5 years.

The group identified a series of initiatives that the Board could consider during its planning deliberations. To gather further member input, NANB hosted a series of Town Halls around the province during February and March and launched an online member survey February 2, 2009.

Members are encouraged to participate in the online survey until the end of March 2009. This survey is web based, anonymous and voluntary. If you would like to participate, please send us an email at [e-mail], indicating 'request survey', your name, email address and registration number.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Strategic Plan will be presented to members during the 2009 Annual Meeting.

Online Registration Pilot Project

NANB initiated online registration renewal in the fall of 2005. However, registered nurses (RNs) who participated in payroll deduction of their registration fee by their employer were not able to utilize the online service. In order to address this issue, NANB initiated a pilot project in October 2008 with the former River Valley Health Authority (RHA 3) to enable RNs on payroll deduction to renew their registration online.

The pilot went very smoothly and this access will be extended to all other RNs on payroll deduction in the fall of 2009. Since approxi mately 60% of our members are on payroll deduction this provides a significant opportunity to enhance member service and improve the efficiency of the renewal process and registration data collection.

Nursing Archives & Artifacts to be Available Online

NANB recently donated the archives and artifacts of the NB Nursing History Museum to the NB Museum in Saint John, NB. Arrangement and description of the artifacts and archival material is expected to be available in May 2009 at www.nbm-mnb.ca.

Once completed, you are invited to view the nursing archives and artifacts in person at the NB Museum during public hours Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00-16:30, located at 277 Douglas Avenue, Saint John, NB. For additional information, phone [phone] or email [e-mail].