A Message From the President

January 2006

It is one month into the New Year and time is already flying by. I hope your holidays were fun and relaxing. Although I know that sometimes fun and relaxing don't always go together.

Your Board of Directors got together at the annual Transition meeting and I want to share one of issues we dealt with. First, we started to hammer out how the change in officer positions will look starting in 2007. The President position will continue to take office on the odd year and the Vice President will take office in the even year. Joyce Moss has graciously agreed to stay in her office of V. P. for another year to make this change possible.

In order to keep 4 officers on an odd year rotation and 4 officers on an even year rotation, 2 other officers need to switch. Donna Lockhart, your Treasurer, has agreed to stay in her position for the remainder of her term - through 2007, whereas Jane Kling, Secretary, will leave office at the end of 2006.

What this all means to PCR is that now the President and V.P. will transition into their respective offices in different years, helping to make PCR run more efficiently. Also, in the event that the President and V.P. are new to the Board, we will not have 2 new people taking office at the same time. Either the existing President or V.P. will bring experience to the other for a smoother transition.

BUT - the above is not a done deal until you, the membership, have voted on it. A ballot will be mailed to all PCR members prior to our March meeting to have the above voted into our bylaws. Please take time to read and more importantly reply and return this important ballot measure. Our organization will greatly benefit from this change.

Other news - Please welcome Julie Lindfors as our new Communications Coordinator, in charge of our website, and Susan Schardt, our new Public Relations Coordinator. We are feeling a renewed energy in our Board and are looking forward to a very productive year.

PCR WANTS YOU!

PCR Member Receives Dr. Sheri Smith Grant

Congratulations to Linda Thomas , Redding, CA on receiving the Dr. Sheri Smith Memorial Grant for an Advanced Degree on behalf of the WOCN Scholarship Committee, The WOCN Foundation and Carrington Laboratories.

PCR wishes you success in your educational endeavors.

Officers Corner

Joyce Moss,
Vice President

Hello Fellow PCR Members,
Well the first quarter is over and there's plenty of work at PCR. Thought I'd give you an update.

Adding a new mentor - Welcome Bev Jacksich! Please contact Bev if you are in need of information or help; her specialty areas are wounds and ostomy.

UOAA (United Ostomy Association of America) is the proud sponsor of the Youth Rally to be held July 8-12, 2006 at San Diego State University. PCR does provide funds for counselors - check the website. Applications for counselors or donations for the 2006 Youth Rally are available (see attached). Trial issues of The Phoenix are available for $3.95 Contact: www.uoaa.org/Phoenix

GYGG (Get Your Guts in Gear), 3-day bike races will be held June 9-11, 2006 in New York and August 18-21 in Seattle. Registration is $88 and each rider must raise at least $1850 to participate. Contact www.ibdride.org or (645)536-7408.

Mary Anne Dilloway, the recipient of the PCR-NIWI (Nurses in Washington Internship) scholarship for 2006, reports that the WOCN-NIWI meeting with Congressman Carnahan(D-MO) resulted in his signing the congressional letter of support for increased nursing program funding - GO NIWI.

Marilyn Magoffin, head of our government affairs committee, will have a new helper - Mary Anne Dilloway. WOCN government affairs team has set new goals for 2006: sponsor a second congressional briefing, promote grassroots tours of medical institutions/practices during recess periods, weekly meetings with members of Congress serving on selected committees, host a nursing community congressional strategy meeting, and streamline communications (see attached for full report).

I plan to contact you at least quarterly through your peer groups with ongoing activities and updates. I am available anytime @ (916) 852-5888 or .

Officers Corner

Joyce Moss,
Vice President

Hello Fellow PCR Members,
It's 2006 and the first month is almost over. I hope to get this year off with a roaring start. It has been a pleasure to serve as the VP for the past year - a lot to learn but I'm beginning to settle into this position. I will continue in this position until December 2007 when you will elect another lucky member of PCR to serve.

As VP I am responsible for coordinating 4 functions: mentorship program, Youth rally, NIWI, and government affairs.

Currently 20 individuals have agreed to serve as mentors for our region - 20 mentors for approximately 400 members! I will redesign our mentorship website over the next quarter and hope to encourage more members to serve as mentors. If you are in need of information/help - try a mentor - check the web site.

UOAA (United Ostomy Association of America) is the proud sponsor of the Youth Rally to be held July 8-12, 2006 at San Diego State University. PCR does provide funds for counselors - check the website. GYGG (Get Your Guts in Gear), 3-day bike races will be held June 9-11, 2006 in New York and August 18-21 in Seattle. Registration is $88 and each rider must raise at least $1850 to participate. Contact www.ibdride.org or (645) 536-7408.

Congratulations to Mary Anne Dilloway, the recipient of the PCR-NIWI (Nurses in Washington Internship) scholarship for 2006. We are proud of Mary Anne and look forward to her input. NIWI is scheduled for March 12-15, 2006. Registration and scholarship applications for 2007 will become available in July or August - watch the web and Timely topics for more information.

Marilyn Magoffin is the head of our government affairs committee. Marilyn does a great job of keeping us abreast of legislation affecting healthcare issues. Recently you received a request from Marilyn to contact your legislators concerning the cuts in Medicaid - I hope you have responded as the deadline is February 1, 2006. Make government respond to you.