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A Welcome from Barbara Resnick, Editor
OFFICIAL SECTION OF THE
American Assisted Living Nurses Association A Welcome from Barbara Resnick, Editor I hope you will all join me in welcoming the American Assisted Living Nurses Association (AALNA) as our new affiliated association. This addition to the Geriatric Nursing family will provide us all with the expert input and knowledge of a group of nurses who have been a part of developing assisted living (AL) and whom we can all work with to grow this industry and the nursing involvement and management of AL. My hope for AALNA is that Geriatric Nursing will provide an important resource and help the AALNA members to bring to their AL facilities the latest and greatest clinical knowledge and nursing research, as well as policy, legal, and pharmacy updates. 0197-4572/08/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2008.08.007
Hello Everyone and Welcome to the American Assisted Living Nurses Association Kathleen McDermott, BSN, RN, CALA, National Executive Director of AALNA Autumn is traditionally a time to renew your spirit and refresh your outlook. It is a time for new experiences and change. We at AALNA are thrilled to be a part of those changes at Geriatric Nursing, which will include AALNA as its assisted living (AL) component. This transformation is in keeping with the metamorphic changes and challenges of the AL nurse. Starting with this issue, we would like to develop a partnership with you, the readers. Sharing our knowledge of AL nursing, our experiences, and our ideas, we can collaborate and promote a partnership that will ignite AL nursing and provide us with winning solutions. This is also a branching out for AALNA. Our mission is to promote successful nursing practice in AL that will benefit both nurses and residents. This mission is the foundation of our association, which was founded 6 years ago in California by
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 29, Number 5
a small but passionate group of AL nurses who had a vision that our field would be recognized as a specialty practice. We realize assisted living is a growing and important service for our elders, their families, and the leaders who serve them. Our purposes at AALNA is to share evidence-based best practices, improve information dissemination on current state-specific regulatory requirements, promote an active interest in AL nursing practice among professionals, provide access to nationwide network of AL nurses, and to develop and maintain credentials of specialty practice that include a certification examination. It’s time to mainstream the message: AL nursing is a specialty. My journey into the wonderful world of AL nursing began by learning about life when I least expected it. An unplanned snowstorm prevented my daughter’s Girl Scout troop leader from delivering the handmade hearts to a local AL. Seeing the disappointment in my daughter’s face and the glue and glitter on her hands, we decided to brave the weather and take the drive. We knocked on door after door and were received with smiles and sometimes tears. I walked away at the end of the day knowing that something inside of me had changed, that there were lessons for me to learn from this wonderful generation we call our seniors. I have had the privilege of serving seniors for 6 years as an area director of resident care for Sunrise Senior Living. I oversee the clinical and regulatory standards for 10 communities in the Northeast. Before joining, Sunrise I worked in multiple acute and long-term settings and was employed for 15 years as a project manager for AT&T. I have presented at the ‘‘Top Gun for Assisted Living Nurses’’ program in New Jersey, which recently won the Assisted Living Federation of America award for best program 2008. I am also co-chairperson for the New Jersey State Chapter of AALNA, am currently working with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to broaden the scope and responsibility of the Certified Medication Aide, and am the National Executive Director of AALNA. AALNA is a board member of the Center of Excellence in Assisted Living.
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American Assisted Living Nurses Association A Welcome from Barbara Resnick, Editor I hope you will all join me in welcoming the American Assisted Living Nurses Association (AALNA) as our new affiliated association. This addition to the Geriatric Nursing family will provide us all with the expert input and knowledge of a group of nurses who have been a part of developing assisted living (AL) and whom we can all work with to grow this industry and the nursing involvement and management of AL. My hope for AALNA is that Geriatric Nursing will provide an important resource and help the AALNA members to bring to their AL facilities the latest and greatest clinical knowledge and nursing research, as well as policy, legal, and pharmacy updates. 0197-4572/08/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2008.08.007
Hello Everyone and Welcome to the American Assisted Living Nurses Association Kathleen McDermott, BSN, RN, CALA, National Executive Director of AALNA Autumn is traditionally a time to renew your spirit and refresh your outlook. It is a time for new experiences and change. We at AALNA are thrilled to be a part of those changes at Geriatric Nursing, which will include AALNA as its assisted living (AL) component. This transformation is in keeping with the metamorphic changes and challenges of the AL nurse. Starting with this issue, we would like to develop a partnership with you, the readers. Sharing our knowledge of AL nursing, our experiences, and our ideas, we can collaborate and promote a partnership that will ignite AL nursing and provide us with winning solutions. This is also a branching out for AALNA. Our mission is to promote successful nursing practice in AL that will benefit both nurses and residents. This mission is the foundation of our association, which was founded 6 years ago in California by
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 29, Number 5
a small but passionate group of AL nurses who had a vision that our field would be recognized as a specialty practice. We realize assisted living is a growing and important service for our elders, their families, and the leaders who serve them. Our purposes at AALNA is to share evidence-based best practices, improve information dissemination on current state-specific regulatory requirements, promote an active interest in AL nursing practice among professionals, provide access to nationwide network of AL nurses, and to develop and maintain credentials of specialty practice that include a certification examination. It’s time to mainstream the message: AL nursing is a specialty. My journey into the wonderful world of AL nursing began by learning about life when I least expected it. An unplanned snowstorm prevented my daughter’s Girl Scout troop leader from delivering the handmade hearts to a local AL. Seeing the disappointment in my daughter’s face and the glue and glitter on her hands, we decided to brave the weather and take the drive. We knocked on door after door and were received with smiles and sometimes tears. I walked away at the end of the day knowing that something inside of me had changed, that there were lessons for me to learn from this wonderful generation we call our seniors. I have had the privilege of serving seniors for 6 years as an area director of resident care for Sunrise Senior Living. I oversee the clinical and regulatory standards for 10 communities in the Northeast. Before joining, Sunrise I worked in multiple acute and long-term settings and was employed for 15 years as a project manager for AT&T. I have presented at the ‘‘Top Gun for Assisted Living Nurses’’ program in New Jersey, which recently won the Assisted Living Federation of America award for best program 2008. I am also co-chairperson for the New Jersey State Chapter of AALNA, am currently working with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to broaden the scope and responsibility of the Certified Medication Aide, and am the National Executive Director of AALNA. AALNA is a board member of the Center of Excellence in Assisted Living.
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