In some ways, the mission of the new organization will simply be a continuation of the work that both AANP and ACNP were already doing. Of course, AANP provided full services to members and had established a research division, as well as education and continuing education components, while ACNP focused primarily on health policy and their own annual meeting. But Golden says the merger went smoothly in part because the two organizations had a similar focus to their policy initiatives.
“I think what [the merger] is really going to do is provide us with a stronger base to do the things that we were planning to do anyway,” she says. “Both organizations were looking at the home health and hospice issue and getting old laws updated across the United States, and helping our group members and our state affiliates to work on the language in their states so that there is full access to NPs for our patients.”
As much as things will remain the same, Hebert anticipates additions and improvements to what the new AANP can offer its members. “My sense is that once the board has its strategic planning session, members will see some new services,” he notes. There will also be a rebranding campaign to introduce the new “look” to the organization, which includes a new logo.
And there will be an opportunity for members to have their own voices heard by the organization. “I think we’re going to want to take some time to find out from the members what new services they want,” Hebert adds. (He sounds unfazed by how refreshing this concept is.) “The board and the staff will have ideas about what else we can do to improve member services, but we certainly want to reach out to the membership. You do your best to try and think of what a member wants, but nothing beats just talking to them.”
WORKING TOGETHER BENEFITS ALL
All parties agree that the merger was the right move at the right time. Golden knows from speaking with prior leaders of AANP that the conversation had often been started but never proceeded. Hebert acknowledges that both organizations had heard the question of “Why isn’t there one group for NPs?” before; after all, the nurse anesthetists and the nurse-midwives each have an umbrella group to represent them.
“I think sometimes things occur when they’re supposed to,” Golden says. “That sounds a bit metaphysical, but I think in this case, Jill Olmstead and Penny Kaye Jensen, who were the presidents of ACNP and AANP when this conversation began, both acknowledged how valuable this could be and got both boards involved in the discussion.”
In January 2012, Jensen, Olmstead, Hebert, ACNP Immediate Past President Janet Selway, DNSc, CRNP, and AANP Interim CEO Janice DeMartino met “to discuss the possibility of the two organizations working together to promote the NP profession and create a legislative agenda that would ensure NPs a seat at the table with the expected changes brought by the implementation of PPACA,” Jensen says.
That meeting was followed by additional discussions that eventually led to the merger proposal in July 2012. “Both boards were very thoughtful throughout the process and should be given credit for working diligently to make the merger a reality,” Jensen says.
She gives much of the credit to DeMartino, who she says “worked tirelessly to ensure AANP made the needed changes to ensure a bright future and was able to open doors that had never been opened in the past. She is a visionary, and I cannot thank her enough for serving as interim CEO for the past 13 months and working closely with the board to make the vision of a successful merger a reality.”
The consolidation process has already demonstrated that the leaders and staff of the two organizations can work together effectively and efficiently, to the benefit of all NPs. “We’ve been working very hard over the past six months, pending the formal ratification by both organizations, to make sure that if in fact [the merger] occurred, we would be ready to ensure a seamless transition,” Hebert says.
Golden describes the negotiation process as “pretty easy and painless,” as well as “collegial.” “We all just said, ‘This is our end goal; how do we get there?’ Both organizations had ideas, but they were pretty close together. We were both focused on members. It’s just like NPs focusing on patient care—when you keep your focus where it’s supposed to be, the details kind of come along.”