The Office of Nursing Workforce (ONW) staff and consultants were recently presented an Outstanding Poster Performance-3rd place award at the 38th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) in Chicago, IL. The poster, Navigating the Barriers to Nursing School Success: A Collaborative Solution Between Service and Education, earned ONW the award. This recognition was a special honor because AONE received about 100 poster applications and accepted only thirty-three.
ONW submitted two of their projects as poster presentations, including their Nurse Academy Poster titled Unlocking the Future to a Career in Nursing: Mississippi High School Nurse Academy and Navigating the Barriers to Nursing School Success: A Collabortive Solution Between Service and Education. The High School Nurse Academy is funded by the Mississippi Development Authority, as is the original study, Barriers to Completing Nursing Education, that led Hinds Community College to develop the Navigator position. Posters could be presented under the following /categories: Stewards of Leadership, Future Care Delivery Models, and Creating Positive and Healthy Work Environments. Both projects were submitted and accepted under the Stewards of Leadership category. The following ONW affiliates were instrumental in the success of the projects, including: Wanda Jones, Executive Director; Dr. Sheila Keller, Project Director; Valerie Collins, High School Nurse Academy Project Director, Dawn Ard, Projects Coordinator and Healthcare Workforce Specialists, including: Yolanda Boone, Debbie Logan and LaNelle Weems.
One of the most innovative state nursing workforce centers in the country, the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce was founded in 1996,
when the Mississippi Nurses Association (MNA) successfully lobbied the
state legislature to pass the Nursing Workforce Redevelopment Act. The Act authorized the Mississippi Board of Nursing (MBON) to establish an entity to address changes influencing the nursing workforce. The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce (ONW) was established through combined funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Mississippi Legislature, as well as other partnering agencies.
