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A Message From the Chief NurseNurses, Although hurricane season hasn't been as problematic as last year (keep your fingers crossed), emergency preparedness planning is still in high gear. I've been involved in a number of meetings and activities to continue the development of the disaster response role of the Senior Health Official for HHS. RADM Richard Barror and I have been assigned to Region VI headquartered in Dallas, Texas serving LA, TX, OK, AR, NM. We plan to travel to Texas and Louisiana to meet with State officials in October. Remember that readiness to respond is an essential role of the Commissioned Corps. We have yet to reach our goal of having all nurse officers qualified for basic readiness. Basic Readiness is a requirement for PHS officers and non-compliance may individually affect officers for promotion, special assignments, and retention. I urge all nurses officers to take the time to get and stay basic ready NOW Nursing Leadership and OutreachI had the opportunity to meet with the leadership staff of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses to discuss their initiatives and the role that critical care nurses contribute in emergency response. I also explored the potential for a partnership with a nurse led organization that specializes in providing mass immunizations. In addition I was invited to prepare comments for a meeting with nurse leaders from the Pan American Health Organization on our national response to the nursing shortage. I applaud the leadership of CAPTs Roberta Lavin, Lynn Slepski, and Kerry Nesseler who represented me at various conferences on disaster planning, emergency preparedness and nursing recruitment this past month. Recruitment and Career DevelopmentPHS is moving forward with a public awareness and recruitment effort for the Commissioned Corps. Several officers including nurses were identified to be highlighted as role models for this campaign. If you are on active duty and want to share your officer biography for the potential use of media visibility, please go to the Web site www.MyCCStory.org and complete the online officer biography intake form. If you are planning retirement, consider a “second leadership career” as an educator for the next generation of nurses. A “Troup to Teacher” congressional bill has been introduced to support the education of retired “armed services” to become a nurse educator and faculty in a nursing school. I am working with the Federal Nursing Chiefs to have this revised to include “uniformed services”. We were able to negotiate 10 U.S. Public Health Service positions for junior nurse officers to attend the CJ Reddy Leadership training program sponsored by the Army Nurse Corps. Nurses from NIH, IHS and BOP will be attending this career development opportunity next month. The Federal Nursing Service Chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, American Red Cross, VA and PHS met with the Acting Dean of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Graduate School of Nursing to discuss priorities for the graduate program. We currently have 13 PHS nurses (civil service and Corps) enrolled in the doctoral program and 5 enrolled in the nurse anesthetist program at the school. Individual agencies support long-term training for nurses to attend these programs. Currently the nurse officer strength of the Commissioned Corps is 1345. We had 7 calls to active duty and 4 separations this month. TransformationTransformation of the Commissioned Corps is proceeding with fervor and commitment. To date, changes include development of draft policies on force readiness, instituting defined deployment roles for Corps officers and working as deployment teams. The Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) is evolving its learning management system to enhance its online readiness and training program. All modules will be available so officers can meet basic readiness requirements as well as take courses for self development. However, note that between SEPT 1 and DEC 1, 2006 continuing education units will not be awarded through this system. Policy UpdateOCCFM has recently introduced the new electronic Commissioned Corps Issuance System (eCCIS) on the CCMIS web site. This system incorporates the former Commissioned Corps Personnel Manual (CCPM), Directives, Instructions, and updated Issuances. Specifics on the new system and an explanation of some of the objectives are available in the forward to the eCCIS (http://dcp.psc.gov/eccis/CCISForeword.aspx). Please become familiar with this system as it is the backbone of our operational policies. In conjunction with the introduction of the eCCIS, the Corps is also introducing a new management process for the consideration, development, and approval of official issuances. Some of the goals of the new management process include the transparency of policy issuance development and the active participation of the Corps leadership with broad-based representation by officers. To this end, OCCFM is forming a number of Working Integrated Policy Teams (WIPT). I had the opportunity to submit nurse nominations to serve on these policy teams. Please monitor the web site for policy changes and additional information about transformation. CommentWe have seamlessly moved from summer into the autumn season – a time to harvest our thoughts about where we have been and where we are going. I recognize that there are many competing demands on your personal and professional lives, and that many times you are asked to do more with less. Those are the times to reach out and give or receive support from your colleagues. Those are the times to hold fast to your commitment to make a difference in the lives of others and to “nurse” the nation to health one person, one population, one project, one activity at a time. Thank you for your dedicated service. Carol A. Romano, PhD, RN, FAAN |
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