THE
Summer, 2005
Volume 1, Issue 3
SOCIETY FOR
PEDIATRIC NURSES
J e a n An n e C i e p l i n s k i
Editor
The Nursing of Children Network News
President’s Message
---- Louise Jakubik
Dear
Lo NCN Members and Friends:
Greetings from NCN. Summer is
now in full bloom. (Where does the time
go?) This is a season of planting, growing
and blossoming. Our gardens are truly
beautiful during this time of year. NCN’s
Board of Directors has spent much of the
fall, winter and spring in the processes of
planting and tending its organizational
garden. Now is a time when I personally
am enjoying the beauty created by our
organization’s blossoming garden. I would
like to share briefly with you just a few of
the flowers in NCN’s garden.
NCN is proud to report that it is the
largest local chapter of the Society of
Pediatric Nurses (SPN) serving 79
members, as of April 2005. Last year at
this time NCN had 30 members. This is a
huge accomplishment given a trend across
the nation that reflects a struggle for
professional organizations and local
chapters, particularly, to maintain
membership. Thank you to each one of our
members for being a part of our
organization’s growth and blossoming!
A growing membership would not be
adequately served without a growing
organizational infrastructure. With this in
mind, we have made improvements to our
communication mechanisms and outreach
efforts. The NCN website,
www.nursingofchildrennetwork.com has
been fine-tuned and is continuously
updated. The NCN Membership
Committee has created an NCN email list
to promote electronic communication with
our members. Further, NCN receives
ongoing request for communication
sharing regarding employment and
educational opportunities for pediatric
nurses. The Communications Committee
makes every effort to pass this
information along to NCN members
through newsletter advertisements and
electronic communication.
The Board of NCN together with
the Planning Committee of the 2nd Annual
Regional Pediatric Nursing Conference has
identified the Covenant House
Pennsylvania as the recipient of this
charitable conference event. Covenant
House Pennsylvania is a non-profit agency
serving adolescents who are homeless,
runaways and/or identified as “at risk”
youth. Covenant House has been built on
a continuum of services aimed at helping
move this population from living on the
street to self-sufficiency. This continuum
includes street outreach, a 51-bed crisis
center, transitional housing and
community services. Last year alone,
Covenant House provided shelter to more
Nursing of Children Network – Page Two
than 500 young people and served more
than 5,000 through its community based
services. A donation from the proceeds of
the 2nd Annual Regional Pediatric Nursing
Conference will be given to Covenant
House.
At present, the Conference
Planning Committee is targeting this
donation for approximately $2000. In
addition, conference attendees will be
encouraged to bring donations benefit the
adolescents served by Covenant House.
As we move through the summer
season and look forward to the continued
growth of our garden, we will be
welcoming several new NCN members to
our Board of Directors and saying goodbye and thank you to current members of
the Board. We owe a debt of gratitude to
these outgoing Board Members for their
service and commitment to the
organization and for their careful care and
tending to our organization’s garden.
Susan Classick, MSN, RN is our outgoing
Treasurer. She has served on the Board
of Directors for many years and has
shepherded us to a position of financial
strength and security. Susan has
graciously offered to remain as an advisor
to the Board. Kathy Cramsie, MSN, RN is
our outgoing Education Chair. She has
served as Education Committee member
and Chair during a time in which NCN’s
educational programming was expanded
to serve well-over 300 pediatric nurses in
the Delaware Valley on a yearly basis.
Michael Grossman, MSN, RN is out
outgoing Membership Committee Chair.
He has been a visionary for expanding our
NCN membership to reach the geographic
boundaries of our region and to promote
NCN membership among pediatric nurses
across all roles and settings. I hope you
will join me in conveying our sincere
thanks for the efforts of these outgoing
NCN Board Members.
I encourage you to take the time to consider
the ballots contained in this newsletter and
cast your vote for our incoming Board of
Directors. These individuals represent a
richness of experience and diversity that
spans a variety of geographic regions,
pediatric sub-specialties and practice settings.
They represent academia, community health,
and management. We are so pleased that
these individuals have volunteered their time,
talent and commitment to serve on the NCN
Board of Directors.
As we move into what I am sure will
be another exciting season for NCN’s
organizational garden, I hope to challenge
and motivate you to seek out active
participation in our organization. Our garden
cannot be too beautiful or too varied. On
behalf of the Board of Directors, we look
forward to continuing to serve you and for
the opportunity to work with you and get to
know you better.
Enjoy the roses!
Sincerely,
Louise D. Jakubik, MSN, CRNP, APRN, BC
President, Nursing of Children Network
Nursing of Children Network – Page Three
````
Regional and National Conference
News-- Judi Stellar, MSN, CRNP
Second Annual Regional Pediatric Nursing
Conference—will be held on Friday November
5th at the Renaissance Hotel at the Philadelphia
Airport. The theme of the conference is “Making
a Difference for Children and Families.” The
agenda looks to be excellent, and there are 5
different breakout sessions including home care,
the fragile child, 2 clinical tracks and 1 trauma
track. The conference awards 7.8 contact hours,
which include 5 trauma hours if you attend the
trauma track. Last year we ad nearly 300 nurses
attend our First Annual Regional Conference—a
sold out crowd, so be sure to register early this
year. If you need a brochure(s) call: 1-800-6216173.
2005 SPN Annual Conference. The 2005
Annual Conference was held in April in
Philadelphia. It was a great success with recordbreaking numbers of attendees—over 400!! The
conference received overwhelming positive
response. SPN thanks CHOP and Nemours / AI
Dupont Hospital for Children for sponsoring
local events during the conference. Save the date
for the 2006 conference: April 7-9, 2006 at the
Doubletree hotel in sunny Orlando Florida. The
conference theme is “The Magic of Pediatric
Nursing.” Brochures will be available in
October.
Welcome to our New Members!
---Margrit Moran
Welcome to our newest member:
Judilyn Arena-Onbik
ATTENTION NCN MEMBERS
October is Membership Renewal Month
If you have been a member for over 6 months
please complete the attached application and
submit your membership fee to the address
listed on the application. If you are
attending the 2nd Annual Regional Pediatric
Nursing Conference on November 4th, you
may renew your NCN Membership at that
time by completing the application and
attaching a check made out to “Nursing of
Children Network” in the amount of $20.00.
Nursing of Children Network – Page Four
Advocacy Made EASY
---Andrea Colfer
Many people are under the impression that
advocacy is an activity that requires a lot of time.
Although that may be true in certain cases, it is
relatively easy for all pediatric nurses to be
advocates. Pediatric nurses can participate in
advocacy efforts in simple ways, such as:
signing up to receive email alerts about
legislatives issues, familiarizing yourself with an
organization’s position statements on various
health topics or sending email letters to elected
officials on children’s health issues. The
following are a list of resources that you can use
that will help you in your advocacy efforts!
Health Policy Information
Kaisernetwork.org
http://kaisernetwork.org/
Kaisernetwork.org is a website that provides
timely, non-partisan information on national
health issues to policymakers, the media and the
general public. The site offers an email alert sign
up that will send you emails on all current health
policy information. In addition, the site offers
web casts and in-depth reports about current
health issues.
Federal legislation information
http://thomas.loc.gov
The Thomas World Wide Web system provides
federal legislative information to the internet
public. This website offers you the ability to
have access to legislative information, such as
the activity of both the Senate and House floor,
information on current and past bills, and bill
summaries and status.
Pediatric Position Statements
http://pedsnurses.org/
The Society of Pediatric Nurses provides position
statements on various health and nursing topics, such
as: immunizations, pediatric firearm injuries, violence
and safe staffing.
Check out the following websites for organizations
that offer online Legislative Action Centers. This
provides you with the ability to send an email letter to
your elected official on a particular issue.
The American Public Health Association
http://apha.org/
The American Nurses Association
http://ana.org/
FamilesUSA
http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer
Save
the
Date!!
November 4, 2005
Nursing of Children Network Presents:
The Second Annual Regional
Pediatric Nursing Conference
Second
Annual
“Making A Difference
Regional
Pediatric
for Children and Families”
Nursing Conference
Location: The Renaissance Hotel
at the Philadelphia Airport
For informationRenaissance
contact: Judi StellarHotel
stellar@email.chop.edu
NURSING OF CHILDREN
NETWORK
Delaware Valley Chapter of the Society of Pediatric Nurses
6
NURSING OF CHILDREN
NETWORK
Delaware Valley Chapter of the Society of Pediatric Nurses
OFFICIAL BALLOT
Please review the candidate profiles provided, and select those you wish to serve on the NCN
Executive Board for the upcoming two-year term. Mark your choice by placing a check in the box
next to the candidate’s name. Choose only the number of candidates identified for each position. A
self-addressed return envelope is included for your convenience. Ballots must be stamped and
post-marked by August 26th in order to be counted in the official results. Thank you for your
participation in this important effort!
Treasurer (Choose One)

Ana Figueroa-Altman, RN, BSN
Member-At-Large Education Committee (Choose One)

Normajean Colby, RN, MSN, CPN, DNSc(c)

Judith W. Hermann, PhD, RN
Member-at- Large Membership Committee (Choose One)

Sheila Marie Whelan, RN, MSN
Member-at-Large Communication Committee (Choose One)

Linda Youngstrom, RN, DNSc
7
Ana Figueroa-Altman, RN, BSN
Ana has almost six years of pediatric nursing experience at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
She has cared for diverse populations such as GI, Endocrine, Metabolism, and General Pediatrics.
Ana has presented posters at the Society of Pediatric Nursing conference and has published in the
journal Pediatric Nursing. She is currently enrolled in a Master of Nursing program in leadership and
management, which included a class on healthcare finance. Ana enjoys mentoring and developing
newer nurses and is interested in interacting with nurses from other settings. Her leadership
experience has provided her with the necessary skills to coordinate and implement projects and
programs.
Normajean Colby, RN, MSN, CPN, DNSc(c)
Normajean has more than 20 years of experience caring for children and their families in the role of
staff nurse, nurse practitioner, and home care nurse. She has been involved in teaching at the
university level since 1992. Normajean is currently is on the faculty of Widener University School of
Nursing where she coordinates and teaches pediatrics. She is interested in joining the education
committee as this merges the two roles she fulfills of pediatric nurse and nurse educator. She
believes that NCN serves a valuable role in uniting and educating nurses throughout the region.
Normajean hopes to expand networking within NCN into area schools of nursing.
Judith W. Hermann, PhD, RN
The nursing career of Judith has touched many avenues of pediatric nursing: bedside nursing care,
staff development, leadership, and presently nursing education. Judith believes these varied roles
assist her in being sensitive to the diverse priorities of pediatric nurses; yet also appreciate our
common goals of high quality, state-of-the-art, and caring nursing practice. A background in clinical
nursing, education and experience in public policy, a high level of enthusiasm, and a sincere desire to
improve the art and science of pediatric nursing are qualities she brings to the position of member-atlarge for the education committee. Employment at the University of Delaware as a pediatric nursing
faculty member and at the A. I. Dupont Hospital for Children/Nemours continue to challenge her to
grow in pediatric nursing and hopefully, make a contribution to the Nursing of Children Network.
Sheila Marie Wheelan, RN, MSN
Sheila has over 20 years of pediatric nursing experience with four different organizations. She started
her career as a NICU nurse and went on to caring for children of all ages in the field of high tech
pediatric home care. Sheila’s interest and propensity for leadership has brought her to her current
position of Nursing Supervisor for Bayada Nurses. As such, she has built a broad network of nursing
colleagues in the region, which would contribute to the recruitment of new members for NCN. Sheila
wishes to share her professional and educational experiences with other nurses while further
developing her leadership skills.
Sheila’s many skills, including educational and organizational planning, make her well suited to
serving as a member of NCN leadership. She supports the role of nursing in the community and
would be a resource for nurses interested in the management role as well as staff nurses pursuing
leadership opportunities.
Linda Youngstrom, RN, DNSc
Over the past three decades, Linda has a nursing career that encompasses bedside nursing of adults
and children, pediatric clinic head nurse and manager, director of staff development, assistant
director of nursing, associate professor of nursing at Chester County and Delaware County Schools
8
of Nursing, adjunct professor of nursing at Widener University and University of Pennsylvania School
of Nursing. During her fourteen years at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she has cultivated
the Clinical Nurse Level IV role and developed systems, structures, and educational programs for the
Medical Surgical Nursing division. Currently, she is developing the Ambulatory Clinical Nurse
Specialist role for the Wood Center. She has facilitated Nursing Department committees and built
alliances between the nursing divisions. She is eager to facilitate the flow of information from the
Nursing of Children Network board to the membership and ardent that the membership’s voice be
heard.
Nursing of Children Network
9
Membership Application / Renewal
www.nursingofchildrennetwork.com
Date: ___________________________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Telephone:
Home: ___________________
Work: ________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________
Employer: _______________________________________________________________
Position: ________________________________________________________________
Highest Level of Education: ________________________________________________
SPN Member Number: ____________________________________________________
All NCN members must be members of SPN. If you are not a member of SPN, please call
1-800-723-2902
for membership information and application) or on web site www.pedsnurses.org, Application can be
downloaded. SPN fax number: 850-484-8762.
Please circle your preferred day and time for short educational programs or committee meetings:
Choice #1:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Friday
Saturday
4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm other: __________
Choice #2:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Friday
Saturday
4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm other: ___________
As opposed to one hour programs held 3 or 4 times per year, would you prefer half day or full day conferences
twice a year?
 Yes
 No
If yes, please indicate which day is best:
 Friday  Saturday  Either
Please list educational topics you would like to see presented:____________________________
Please select NCN Committee or Task Force you would be interested in joining:
 Communication  Education  Membership
 High School Nurse Recruitment
 End of Life Taskforce
 Student Nurse Liaison
 Community Service  Advocacy
Would you be interested in joining our speakers’ bureau? If so which topics/area of pediatric nursing is your
area of expertise? ________________________________________________
Would you be interested in utilizing our expert speakers to conduct an inservice at your institution? For which
topics: ____________________________________________________
Membership dues are $20.00/year. Please make checks payable to “Nursing of Children Network.” Mail your
check and completed application to: Nursing of Children Network, Medical-Surgical Nursing Administration,
Room 5C25, 5th Floor South Tower, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th and Civic Center Blvd.,
Philadelphia, PA 19104