Message from the President

I would like to introduce myself, my name is Dalene Bott-Kitslaar and it is an honor and privilege to serve as this years President of ASMNP. I want to personally extend a thank you to Julie O. Johnson for serving as our President this past year. Julie is a tremendous leader, and it will be hard to follow in her foot steps. I would also like to thank all of the Board Members from 2008-2009. As a board we set some high goals and we can proudly say all were accomplished.
As ASMNP embarks on its 16th year I am sure much has changed since the beginning of ASMNP in June of 1993, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the value that we as nurse practitioners bring to patient care no matter which area or specialty we practice. Our group, ASMNP, is an affiliate of the American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP) and I was recently reminded of the mission of ACNP, which is “ACNP seeks to ensure a solid policy and regulatory foundation for nurse practitioner practice which promotes affordable, high quality healthcare for all.” What an insightful mission, especially given our current economic situation and focus on health care reform. As an important and essential part of the health care team, we need to be involved so that we are part of the decisions involving health care reform.
In preparation for Nurse Practitioner week which is September 21-25th I was impressed to find out that the number of nurse practitioners at Mayo Clinic has significantly increased. In 2006 there were approximately 160 nurse practitioners. Today 215 nurse practitioners are practicing at Mayo Clinic. This speaks volumes; nurse practitioners are recognized as valuable members to have on your healthcare team.

This year along with our traditional educational presentations at our quarterly meetings, our legislative committee will provide brief updates. In July we will have the opportunity to meet with our Legislators at our ASMNP Legislative Brunch. We have also incorporated a legislative update section on our new website, allowing us to keep members informed. As in years past, we are planning on sending a representative(s) to participate in the National Nurse Practitioner Policy Summit and Leadership Conference in Washington, DC in February 2010.

This is going to be an exciting year for ASMNP and I am fortune to have a very talented board serving with me.

Respectfully,

Dalene

Dalene Bott-Kitslaar RN, CNP

ASMNP President, 2009-2010