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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Transitions
Mikki Meadows-Oliver, President and Fellow, PhD, RNTransitions are a central concept in nursing(Schumaker &Meleis, 1994). Schumaker andMeleis de-fine transitions as movement from one state to anotherand note that transitions can be developmental, situa-tional, or health-illness. As nurses, we are quite familiarwith transitions. We help our patients through variouslife transitions—transitions to adulthood, transitionsto parenthood, and transitions through various stagesof chronic illnesses. As nurses, we also experienceour own transitions. We may experience transitionsfrom one professional role to another or even the tran-sition from our professional life into retirement.
For many persons, this end of the academic year isa season of transition—transitioning from being amaster’s or doctoral student into the advanced prac-tice nursing workforce. If you are currently transition-ing to the workforce or even just wish to changepositions, I encourage you to use NAPNAP’s CareerCenter, which may help you find a job. The CareerCenter lists positions from around the United Statesin settings from private practice to inpatient hospitalareas. If you are looking for a position, check outthe Web site at http://careerconnection.napnap.org/home/index.cfm?site_id=4356.
NAPNAP’s Career Resource Guide is an excellentmanual that is helpful for all nurse practitioners,both novice and experienced. It covers topics rang-ing from searching for a job and the interview proc-ess to topics for contract negotiation. The CareerResource Guide includes other important practice in-formation such as provider numbers and informationabout malpractice insurance and reimbursement.Best of all, it is available for FREE. Please visit theNAPNAP Web site to view the Career Resource Guide
Correspondence: Mikki Meadows-Oliver, PhD, RN, Yale
University School of Nursing, 100 Church St South, PO Box 9740,
West Haven, CT 06536-0740; e-mail: [email protected].
J Pediatr Health Care. (2014) 28, 197.
0891-5245/$36.00
Copyright Q 2014 by the National Association of Pediatric
Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights
reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2014.01.003
www.jpedhc.org
at http://www.napnap.org/PNPResources/Practice/CareerResourceGuide.aspx.Like many of you, I am currently making my own
transition. This is my last President’s Message for theJournal of Pediatric Health Care, as I will be transition-ing from president of NAPNAP into the role of immedi-ate past president and welcoming Mary Chesney, PhD,RN, CNP, into the role of NAPNAP president. This yearhas been wonderful and fulfilling. I have learnedmany new things, networked with wonderful people,and worked hard to move NAPNAP forward.I am grateful that I was provided with the opportu-
nity to serve NAPNAP at one of the highest volunteerlevels. I previously served in several volunteer posi-tions before transitioning to the role of president ofa national NAPNAP chapter. In the Connecticut chap-ter of NAPNAP, I served as the chapter president andwrote our chapter newsletter for several years. Onthe national NAPNAP level, I served as Chair of theCommunications Committee and as a member ofseveral other committees. I will continue to serveNAPNAP after my term on the Board has ended (be-cause I love our organization!). I encourage you toconsider serving as a NAPNAP volunteer in some ca-pacity, either at the national or state level. If you arenot ready for a long-term volunteer commitment, youcan participate in several short-term opportunities,such as being a volunteer at the Annual Conference.Become more involved in the Conference, meet newpeople, and network. Volunteers are needed to assistwith a variety of activities, including being sessionmoderators and monitors. As a session moderator,you will introduce speakers, assist in managing thesession time, make general announcements, and con-tact the audio visual support team if necessary. As asession monitor, you will welcome participants tothe session and check their badges to be sure thatthey are registered for the session. Later this year,when you register online for the upcoming confer-ence in Las Vegas, Nevada, you will be asked if youwould like to serve as a volunteer. Please considersaying yes!
REFERENCESchumaker, K., & Meleis, A. (1994). Transitions: A central concept in
nursing. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 26, 119-127.
May/June 2014 197
