Chapter Mentorship Program Lori Webb, M.S. Psy., BSN, RN-BC, SCRN

I do not have any relevant relationships with a commercial interest organization.

Objectives Discuss what the Chapter Mentorship Program is Identify the benefits of participating in the program Identify if your chapter should participate in the program Review a real-lifeexample of how the Chapter Mentorship Program helped the Peachtree-Atlanta Chapter

What is the Chapter Mentorship Program? The Chapter Mentorship Program was developed to pair together chapters to mentor each other Chapters that have identified as being a mentor will be paired with a chapter requesting mentorship The pairs are made based off the answers to a short survey whereby the chapter identified where they are strong and where they could use some guidance

What topics are covered in the program? These categories include the following topics: Member Recruitment Member Retention Succession Planning Meeting Topics Social Media Fundraising Finding Speakers Other topics as needed and decided by the participating chapters

Should my chapter be mentored? Do you want to connect with other chapters for networking and brainstorming of ideas? Do you think your chapter needs assistance with chapter development and leadership guidance? Are you looking for new ideas and connections?

Then this program is for you!!!

How will being mentored benefit my chapter? Help with chapter leadership development through networking and collaborating with an experienced chapter and their board Assistance with program development—especially helpful for new board members, new chapters, and those rebuilding their chapters Assistance with budgeting and chapter programming

How will being mentored benefit my chapter? Learn how to contact speakers, reach-out to individuals whom you would like to speak at your meeting, and approach vendors to sponsor meetings Give your chapter a new perspective on current ideas and inspire you to try new ideas Assistance with membership recruitment, membership development, membership retention and overall chapter functionality

How will being mentored benefit my chapter? Remember……. Your colleagues have done this before and would love to help you be successful in your endeavors!!!

Should my chapter provide mentorship to another chapter? Would you like to network with fellow colleagues and provide assistance to a chapter in need? Would you like to contribute meaningful ideas that benefit neuroscience nursing? Do you want to inspire and support your colleagues? Each person provides a unique perspective…from the seasoned members to the newest members!

What are the benefits of mentoring a chapter? A sense of accomplishment and pride in assisting your colleagues in the bettering of their chapter and themselves You will gather new ideas for your chapter that will help your chapter evolve and continue to grow! Both chapters form a bond with each other—this leads to support in professional development and leadership

What is the time commitment? You decide! Time commitment may be greater in the beginning and depend on the chapter’s needs Make the meetings efficient to cut down on time—set them up for a date and time, make an agenda, take notes to refer to later

Who benefits from mentorship? Everyone! Each chapter provides mentoring to the other…you both have something to learn from each other! Individuals in the chapter benefit through networking, brainstorming, and the sharing of ideas

“You reach a milestone in your career when you get involved in mentoring not for a promotion or to impress someone, but you’re doing it because you want to help someone else, as I was helped to grow in my younger years as a nurse. I believe our chapter has been successful in many ways that are evident in the awards received and the leadership positions held by MOKan Blues chapter at the national [level of] AANN. Our chapter members have learned respect for each other and put away the rivalry of different hospitals. Our chapter willingly mentors each other and desires to see other chapters have a feeling of success within their chapter.  Mentoring provides information to the mentee but will make the [mentoring] chapter grow professionally. Mentoring signifies a level of maturity, because you can also learn from your mentee, knowing that your way may not be the only way. You learn from the different age groups. Mentoring is a big responsibility, it takes time and empathy.” Debbie Summers MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, CNRN, SCRN

MoKan Blues and Peachtree Atlanta Chapters….A real life example!

How the mentoring program helped my chapter Our Challenges….. In need of programming Needed help with membership recruitment, development, and retention Many ideas, but not sure how to implement them Refreshing the chapter Unsure of where to start Board members were new chapter members Unsure of how to contact speakers and vendors

What we did… Asked for mentoring!—Reach out to the AANN office with questions and challenges! President to President meeting—I suggest this as the first meeting Discussed the issues we were facing Introduce our board members and discuss chapter layout Talked about the goals we wanted to accomplish—set an agenda! Joint board meeting—I suggest this as the second meeting Introduce all of the board members and put each position in contact with their mentor in the same position in the other chapter

How this program helped our chapter Better board meetings Increased focus and goal setting Increased participation among current board members Increased interest in serving on the board Better programming and planning Learned how to prepare calendar of events Increased communication with vendors—improved quality of educational offerings Increased our communication with our chapter members about general business and events Noticeable increase in participation at chapter meetings

How this program helped our chapter Our chapter felt supported Often times it can feel like you are the only one that is stuck on an idea, or maybe the only chapter having trouble fundraising…being part of the mentoring program gave us someone to reach out to when these challenges were presented Over time our mentoring chapter became aware of our needs and challenges and were able to offer us unique advice and help with troubleshooting ideas and strategies It made us a stronger, more effective chapter

How this program helped our chapter MoKan Blues and Peachtree co-sponsored an activity challenge in the spirit of the ANA Healthy Nurse Initiative The challenge was set-up virtually through a Facebook page and participants tracked their daily miles throughout an 8- day period All proceeds ($294!!) went to the Agnes Marshall Walker Foundation

How this program helped our chapter Overall, improved functionality of the chapter and renewed our “AANN SPARK!”

Lori Webb Chapter President Peachtree-Atlanta Chapter AANN ljwebb@emory.edu http://ptatlaann.wixsite.com/chapter