- Email: [email protected]
Partners in preventing blindness
President’s Message Carol Ruehl, RN, CRNO, President
Partners
in preventing
blindness
An opportunity
to build a coalition
with Prevent Blindness
America offers ASORN members a way to increase our visibility while we perform a valuable service to the community.
Learn more about this project at the
annual meeting.
appy twentieth anniversary ASORN! This annual meeting will be a time of celebration for us as we reminisce about our very first meeting, recognize our charter members, chronicle our growth and development, and explore our future in these changing health care times. Our future is dependent, in part, on the recognition of the ophthalmic registered nurse’s role and value on the ophthalmic health care team. Toward this goal of increasing our recognition, I would like to tell you of a chance meeting that I hope will have a positive impact on ASORN. Last September, I shared a taxi ride with Richard Hellner, who was also in Washington, D.C., attending the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s National Eye Care Forum. Our conversation in that 30-minute ride had nothing to do with our meeting agenda but instead focused on our two organizations-ASORN and Prevent Blindness America (formerly known as the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness). We paralleled our organizations’ major concerns. For ophthalmic nurses, the concern is a lack of recognition in comparison with other specialty nurses. For Prevent Blindness America, it is the lack of recognition of the importance of vision care.
INSIGHT
The Journal
of the American
Prevent Blindness America is an organization familiar to most of us in ophthalmic nursing as a leader in the field of vision screening and eye health and safety education. They have published their work and goals in Insight. Prevent Blindness America has national reach and a reputation for effective programs that save sight. Their medical and scientific advisory committees comprise many of the leading researchers and practitioners in eye care today. After returning home, I arranged a follow-up visit with Mr. Hellner and his staff at their new home office in Schaumburg, Illinois. Previously, they were headquartered in New York, N.Y. We continued the dialogue we had begun on that half-hour taxi ride in hopes of developing a “winwin” collaborative arrangement between our organizations. At last year’s annual meeting in Atlanta, I asked a number of members what they knew about Prevent Blindness America. I heard only positive comments. In fact, two members, Von Best Whitaker and Linda Herrman, have been closely associated with Prevent Blindness America for a number of years. My hope was that ASORN could foster and increase the involvement of our membership in Prevent Blindness America, and
Society of Ophthalmic
Registered Nurses, Inc.
Volume
Reprint requests: Carol Ruehl, RN, CRNO, 67 35 N. Ozark Ave., Chicago, IL 6063 7. Insight 7 996;2 7:73-4. Copyright 0 7 996 by the American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses. 1060- 735X/96 $5.00 + 0 72/l/75914
XXI, No. 3, September
1996
73
Ruehl in return ophthalmic nurses would be highlighted to the public and media through involvement with Prevent Blindness America. As Prevent Blindness America prepares to launch its new, comprehensive adult vision screening program, ASORN has been invited to participate. We are uniquely qualified to become certified Prevent Blindness America vision screeners and instructors nationwide. Just as ASORN has local chapters, Prevent Blindness America has nationwide affiliate chapters, many close to our own. The opportunity to volunteer can come from individuals or chapters. ACORN, the Chicagoland chapter, under the enthusiastic leadership of President Nancy O ’Brien, has begun a pilot program whereby members are becoming certified vision screeners and educators. I think most of us would agree that ASORN will be better able to meet our goals if armed with a higher profile of visibility and community relations. One of the quickest paths to these ends is through partnership. When we team up with like-minded organizations such as Prevent Blindness America, we bring combined experiences, connections,
and resources to work. We can more than double our impact through joint efforts. There are many advantages for ASORN members to become involved as partners in Prevent Blindness America vision screenings. As a community relations activity, vision screenings bring ophthalmic registered nurses the visibility and recognition we need to heighten public awareness of our field and services. This would provide a tangible display for us in the arena of wellness and preventive care, which is so prominently focused on today. On Sunday afternoon during the annual meeting, we will hold our first-ever “Town Meeting” in conjunction with the Anniversary Celebration Tea. President Nancy O ’Brien from the Chicagoland chapter will report on their experiences and efforts with Prevent Blindness America thus far. Be there to share the excitement as ASORN and ophthalmic registered nurses carve the future. What does the future hold? It is too soon to tell...but at the very least...you’ll want to stay tuned! See you in Chicago!
ASORN Board of Directors 1996. L to I?, Carol Ruehl, President; Marcia Hert, Secretary/Treasurer; Camille Servodidio, Director; Sally Whitton, Annual Meeting Director; Mary Merchant, Strategic
74
Volume XXI, No. 3, September 1996
INSIGHT
Cennie Mason, Past President; Plan Director; Jean Hill, Director.
The Journal of the American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses, Inc.
Partners
in preventing
blindness
An opportunity
to build a coalition
with Prevent Blindness
America offers ASORN members a way to increase our visibility while we perform a valuable service to the community.
Learn more about this project at the
annual meeting.
appy twentieth anniversary ASORN! This annual meeting will be a time of celebration for us as we reminisce about our very first meeting, recognize our charter members, chronicle our growth and development, and explore our future in these changing health care times. Our future is dependent, in part, on the recognition of the ophthalmic registered nurse’s role and value on the ophthalmic health care team. Toward this goal of increasing our recognition, I would like to tell you of a chance meeting that I hope will have a positive impact on ASORN. Last September, I shared a taxi ride with Richard Hellner, who was also in Washington, D.C., attending the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s National Eye Care Forum. Our conversation in that 30-minute ride had nothing to do with our meeting agenda but instead focused on our two organizations-ASORN and Prevent Blindness America (formerly known as the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness). We paralleled our organizations’ major concerns. For ophthalmic nurses, the concern is a lack of recognition in comparison with other specialty nurses. For Prevent Blindness America, it is the lack of recognition of the importance of vision care.
INSIGHT
The Journal
of the American
Prevent Blindness America is an organization familiar to most of us in ophthalmic nursing as a leader in the field of vision screening and eye health and safety education. They have published their work and goals in Insight. Prevent Blindness America has national reach and a reputation for effective programs that save sight. Their medical and scientific advisory committees comprise many of the leading researchers and practitioners in eye care today. After returning home, I arranged a follow-up visit with Mr. Hellner and his staff at their new home office in Schaumburg, Illinois. Previously, they were headquartered in New York, N.Y. We continued the dialogue we had begun on that half-hour taxi ride in hopes of developing a “winwin” collaborative arrangement between our organizations. At last year’s annual meeting in Atlanta, I asked a number of members what they knew about Prevent Blindness America. I heard only positive comments. In fact, two members, Von Best Whitaker and Linda Herrman, have been closely associated with Prevent Blindness America for a number of years. My hope was that ASORN could foster and increase the involvement of our membership in Prevent Blindness America, and
Society of Ophthalmic
Registered Nurses, Inc.
Volume
Reprint requests: Carol Ruehl, RN, CRNO, 67 35 N. Ozark Ave., Chicago, IL 6063 7. Insight 7 996;2 7:73-4. Copyright 0 7 996 by the American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses. 1060- 735X/96 $5.00 + 0 72/l/75914
XXI, No. 3, September
1996
73
Ruehl in return ophthalmic nurses would be highlighted to the public and media through involvement with Prevent Blindness America. As Prevent Blindness America prepares to launch its new, comprehensive adult vision screening program, ASORN has been invited to participate. We are uniquely qualified to become certified Prevent Blindness America vision screeners and instructors nationwide. Just as ASORN has local chapters, Prevent Blindness America has nationwide affiliate chapters, many close to our own. The opportunity to volunteer can come from individuals or chapters. ACORN, the Chicagoland chapter, under the enthusiastic leadership of President Nancy O ’Brien, has begun a pilot program whereby members are becoming certified vision screeners and educators. I think most of us would agree that ASORN will be better able to meet our goals if armed with a higher profile of visibility and community relations. One of the quickest paths to these ends is through partnership. When we team up with like-minded organizations such as Prevent Blindness America, we bring combined experiences, connections,
and resources to work. We can more than double our impact through joint efforts. There are many advantages for ASORN members to become involved as partners in Prevent Blindness America vision screenings. As a community relations activity, vision screenings bring ophthalmic registered nurses the visibility and recognition we need to heighten public awareness of our field and services. This would provide a tangible display for us in the arena of wellness and preventive care, which is so prominently focused on today. On Sunday afternoon during the annual meeting, we will hold our first-ever “Town Meeting” in conjunction with the Anniversary Celebration Tea. President Nancy O ’Brien from the Chicagoland chapter will report on their experiences and efforts with Prevent Blindness America thus far. Be there to share the excitement as ASORN and ophthalmic registered nurses carve the future. What does the future hold? It is too soon to tell...but at the very least...you’ll want to stay tuned! See you in Chicago!
ASORN Board of Directors 1996. L to I?, Carol Ruehl, President; Marcia Hert, Secretary/Treasurer; Camille Servodidio, Director; Sally Whitton, Annual Meeting Director; Mary Merchant, Strategic
74
Volume XXI, No. 3, September 1996
INSIGHT
Cennie Mason, Past President; Plan Director; Jean Hill, Director.
The Journal of the American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses, Inc.