INLI Begins Class III Training

Maya Simonyan (left), NIS faculty and a graduate of INLI Class II assists Anna Lobunets, a nurse from Kharkiv, Ukraine, during the Information Technology session. (Photo: Sharon Weinstein)

The International Nursing Leadership Institute (INLI)—a nine-month program that seeks to enhance the skills of nurses, create nurse leaders, and promote positive changes in the nursing profession—hosted the first of three workshops, November 13-17, 2001. Held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, the workshop brought together 24 nurses from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine, as members of INLI Class III.

Kicking off the event with attendance at the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society Biennial Conference in Indianapolis, the nurses gathered for workshops taught by NIS and US faculty on topics including teamwork, project development and management, information technology and research, and writing for publication.

The Nursing Magnet Program
During the five-day program, the group participated in a Magnet Program orientation at the Jewish Hospital Healthcare Services in Louisville, where Pat Burge, vice president of patient services, discussed the role that nurse executives play in the application process for the Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Program.

Attendees participate in the Magnet Program orientation at the Jewish Hospital Healthcare Services in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo: Sharon Weinstein)

Focusing on quality improvement, training activities were integrated with those of AIHA's newly established Nursing Magnet Program. Accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Magnet Program recognizes healthcare organizations that support excellence in the delivery of nursing care. AIHA is working with the ANCC to prepare the institutions in the NIS/CEE to apply for Magnet Nursing Status under the Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Program. Currently, AIHA's efforts in this area are limited to Armenia and Russia.

Within each institution seeking accreditation, Magnet "champions" are designated to promote the Magnet Program, act as a liaison between members and healthcare administration, and coordinate project activities. Four Magnet champions—Nelli Maimikoyan and Anna Tsovanyan from Armenia, and Natalia Bardisheva and Marina Goryunova from Russia—were among the nurses who participated in the workshop, as were four chief nurses—Armenians Ruzanna Ginosyan and Svetlana Gregoryan, and Russians Svetlana Antonova and Galina Orlova—representing hospitals participating in the Magnet Program.

Larisa Musayeva, nurse at Mir Kasimov Republican Clinical Hospital in Baku, Azerbaijan, writes down the relationship her group see between nursing and "The Tortoise and the Hare." (Photo: Sharon Weinstein)

Following Burge's presentation, Kammie Monarch, director of the Accreditation and Magnet Recognition Program, provided an overview of the program for the group. In her talk, Monarch said that the program provides a mechanism for dissemination of best practices in nursing services and promotes high-quality healthcare services in an environment that supports professional nursing practice. In addition, she noted that the program is based on quality indicators and standards of nursing practice as defined by the American Nurses Association.

Illustrating Nursing Professionalism
As a way to illustrate the importance of professionalism and the disadvantages of procrastination and underestimating one's ability, the INLI used skits based on stories such as "Puss in Boots," "The Princess and the Pea," and "The Hare and the Tortoise," through role-playing and discussion. During this session, participants shared their understanding of how the message of each story relates to the nursing profession.

"Princess" Humay Karimova (left) and "King" Larisa Golovaschuk perform "Puss in Boots." (Photo: Sharon Weinstein)

The workshops are designed to help participants gain professional skills that they can use to develop individual projects in their home countries over the next few months. Participants are expected to present the results of these individual projects at the final training workshop, which will be held in St. Petersburg in June 2002.

Guest faculty for the workshop were Paulette Adams, acting dean of the University of Louisville's School of Nursing, and Leah Curtin, a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and author of Sunflowers in the Sand. During the workshop, Adams presented on professional profiling and Curtin led a writing session.

Adams and Curtin were joined by NIS faculty, Svetlana Antonova, chief nurse at Central Clinical Hospital, in Moscow; Edouard Ovsianikov, head of the Department of Practical Training at the Nursing School of Hospital #122 in St. Petersburg; and Maya Simonyan, nurse at Erebouni Medical Center in Yerevan and an INLI graduate; as well as by US faculty Ann Marie Brooks, dean, Catholic University's School of Nursing, Washington, DC; Sharon Weinstein, president of Core Consulting Group Limited in Lake Forest, Illinois, and principal technical resource for AIHA's nursing program; and Jane Younger, president of the Kentucky Nurses Foundation.