New Executive Director and New President Begin Terms
As I begin my office as the President of NWONE, I am sharing that journey with Gladys Campbell who came on board as our new Executive Director on January 9, 2007.   As most of you know, Karen Haase-Herrick who had been our Executive Director for the Washington Chapter and then NWONE for a total of 17 years, left her post for new adventures at the end of 2007.  Gladys comes to us with experience at both the CNO level and as a past association president.  She has committed to maintaining a strong presence in Oregon even though our association office is in Seattle.  Gladys is currently spending Mondays and Fridays in Portland, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Seattle office.  With the advanced technology we all share, our hope is that her movement between states is seamless to the membership while her visibility in both states is positive for you.  As we both begin our new roles, the collaboration is strong but we know there will be “bumps” in the road as we learn and grow.  Our hope is that we continue to serve all of you with excellence and meet your expectations of our association as we manage this transition.  It is an honor and a pleasure to serve you and I begin this term with great enthusiasm for what our leadership has to offer the profession and the communities we serve. 
With warm regards, Charleen Tachibana

2007 Secretary / Treasurer – Elect Announced
With our ballots counted after the special election to fill our vacated Secretary / Treasurer Elect position we are pleased to announce the election of  Janice Wharton to this office.  Janice is well known to many of you as a very active member of NWONE and Co-Chair of the Pierce-Kitsap Co. (WA) Council.  Janice is the Associate Administrator, Primary Care, Group Health Cooperative, in Tacoma, WA.  She began her position on January 1, 2007 and joins Jeannie Eylar who is the Secretary / Treasurer & Chair of the Finance Committee

CNO Invitational and Spring Medley
For the second time, NWONE has planned a CNO Invitational meeting to precede the annual Spring Medley.  The Invitational is offered to honor the significant role that our CNOs play in providing for the health needs of our regions, and to acknowledge the difficult work that they do and the challenges they face each day.  Additionally this forum is provided to allow the CNOs to discuss issues of mutual concern within their peer group.  This year’s program focus will be on the changing landscape of labor relations with a presentation by Jackie Damm, JD of Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson.  Her presentation will help us better understand and address labor challenges faced by the CNO and specifically, the impact of new NLRB rulings.  All CNOs are invited to attend.

The program is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, March 8, 2007, at the Benson Hotel, Portland, OR.  The 2007 Spring Medley begins with dinner the evening of March 8th  and continues through March 9, 2007.  The Spring Medley is a wonderful opportunity for CNOs to bring their teams together in retreat, while also learning and networking with local colleagues. Please join us for a time of networking and knowledge building.   

A Focus on Quality and Safety
All of us in our institutions and professional organizations are seeing quality and patient safety emerge as a predominant goal and focus in care delivery.  To align with this priority the vision of NWONE was amended in 2006 to read:  Compelling, optimistic leadership through innovative connectiveness and passionate advocacy for patient safety.  In our care facilities, it is the role of nursing, to provide leadership and operational knowledge that will make a vision of safety and quality a reality.  With that said we all know that there are many committed voices at the quality table, and if we are to make a real difference in care delivery we must align the stakeholder constituency and make sure that we have a voice in regulatory changes and requirements.   This last year both the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) and the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (OAHHS) created quality positions within their leadership structures.  Though no announcement of the person selected to fill the OAHHS quality position was made at the time of the publication of this newsletter, Carol Wagner, RN, MBA has been selected to be the Vice President, WSHA Patient Safety Program.  Carol is an RN with an MBA focusing on finance and operations.  She has worked clinically in a variety of settings and has worked both as a nursing administrator and as a project lead in hospital strategic planning, budgeting and cost accounting.  Her quality training was with Dr. W. Edwards Deming and at Intermountain Health Care.  At NWONE we are anxious to actively collaborate with the quality officers at both Hospital Associations and to ensure that our joint efforts in this area are understood and aligned. As a first step in this alignment we are working with Carol on a project to assess the impact of the initiation of Rapid Response Teams in Washington State Hospitals.  Nurse leaders in Washington should soon receive a copy of that survey.  

Save the Dates:
NWONE CNO Invitational
March 8, 2007, 1pm – 4:30pm
NWONE Spring Medley
March 8, 2007 5 – 9pm &
March 9, 2007 7:30am – 3pm
The Benson Hotel, Portland, OR

14th Annual Northwest Regional Nursing
Leadership Retreat & 2007 Annual Fall
Membership Meeting
September 12 – 14, 2007
Hyatt Regency, Bellevue, WA

Website Updates
As Gladys Campbell, the new Executive Director, for NWONE begins her tenure with our office, one of her responsibilities is to maintain the website for NWONE.  She will be going through website management training in mid-February, and until then you may notice that some content is outdated on the site.  We apologize for this and ask for your patience as the process is transitioned.  If you have any questions or concerns during this transition time, or need information, do not hesitate to contact the NWONE office.  Dane Karnick our Administrative Assistant can be reached at 206-577-1847 and Gladys can be reached at 206-285-0102 or at GladysC@wsha.org. 

Welcome To Our New Members

Sue Theiler, Nurse Manager
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle, WA

Keri Nasenbeny, Nurse Manager
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle, WA

Diana Leback
Director of Nursing Services
Willapa Harbor Hospital
South Bend, OR

Elizabeth j. Flett
Director of Operations
Swedish Medical Center
Seattle, WA

The Council Connection….

Portland, OR Council
Lani Gaskill, Chair, Vancouver, WA
360-487-3452

Eastern OR Council
Janet Hanna, Chair, Baker City, OR
 541-523-8103

Central OR Council
Cheryl Taylor, Chair, Prineville, OR
541-447-6254

Willamette OR Council
Katherine Schiffer, Chair, Eugene, OR
541-335-2511

Southern OR Council
Roseanne McLaren, Chair, Medford, OR
541-734-4877

Northwest WA Council
Jacqueline Scott, Chair, Coupeville, WA
360-678-7656 Ext. 2525

Southeast WA Council
Chairperson-ship is vacant

Southern Central WA Council
Linda Garner, Chair, Sunnyside, WA
509-837-1670

Pierce – Kitsap Co WA Council
Co Chairs:
Patricia Conchrell, Bremerton, WA
360-792-6702
Janice Wharton, Tacoma, WA
253-383-7835

Seattle Area WA Council
Co Chairs:
Susan Heath, Seattle, WA
206-987-2012
Pam Smith, Seattle, WA
206-320-7153

Southwest WA Council
Chairperson-ship is vacant