A Year in Review: 2016-17

Good Evening Everyone,

Last night, NPGS hosted its last CE event of the academic year. As I reflect on the last nine months, I am amazed at what we have accomplished, and I would like to take a moment to recap the year for each of you. I would be remiss if I did not fist acknowledge that none of this would be possible without the support of our members. I thank each one of you for your engagement at CE events and for your financial contribution. This year has been a time of preparation toward growth in our membership to better support the services we provide.

We were once again proud to provide nine high quality CE events ranging from PCOS to ADHD with a variety in-between, and most events provided pharmacology credit. We had a wonderful response to our educational offerings and we stretched the limits of Inland Imaging's meeting space with nearly 50 Nurse Practitioners attending multiple events. As a result, we will be moving to a larger venue at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation staring in September 2017. This venue is free of charge which will allow us to keep membership costs down.

In the October 2016, at the annual nurses' legislative reception, our soon-to-be president Sandy Schilling provided an eloquent address to our state legislators and candidates for national office about the value Nurse Practitioners bring to healthcare. NPGS co-hosts this reception every year with the Inland Empire Nurses' Association.

This April, we made significant upgrades to our website and membership platform which allows our members to renew, register for events, and read announcements and postings in one convenient location. This has also allowed us to provide a full year of membership regardless of when a member pays dues while reducing the administrative burden on our board. Since launching the website, we have welcomed 14 new members to our group. This will improve functionality for members and our board for years to come.

In early May, we hosted a booth at the primary care update as we do every year. We were able to network with Nurse Practitioners and other healthcare providers across the region to bring greater awareness about our group and about our profession.

In recent weeks, we have launched our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to improve our scope of exposure to Nurse Practitioners in our community. Our new website will automatically post events and announcements to our social media outlets, so in preparation for growth in the coming year we ask that our members like, follow, and share us with your Nurse Practitioner colleagues in these various platforms so that we can spread the word about our events to as many Nurse Practitioners as possible. Thank you in advance for your support in this endeavor.

It has been an honor to lead this group alongside our outstanding board members, and I am hopeful for many successful years to come! I hope each of you continues to join us as we strive to fulfill our mission to "...support the Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in the delivery of high quality healthcare services to the Spokane regional community."

Sincerely,

Casey V Fowler, DNP, NP-C, ARNP
NPGS President