First, I'd like to give an update on our Core Curriculum. This has been an arduous 2 � years with many hours of work and probably more delays than anyone ever could have expected. Dorajane Apuna has devoted countless hours over the past 2 � years as clinical editor and this Association owes her a debt of gratitude.   Wendie Howland is providing final edits, including ensuring that references are up to date, the chapters are formatted correctly, the nursing diagnoses are in order, and the final product represents the best work we can offer.   We will send an email blast when it goes out to the publisher.....

Invitation to make a difference......

Are you a CNLCP? Have you been a member of AANLCP for 2 consecutive years?  Have you ever wondered "Just what does that Executive Board do?" or " How could I make a difference in the world of Nurse Life Care Planning?"

If so, now is the time to consider running for the President Elect or Treasurer Positions for 2014.

President Elect : is a 3 year commitment

• Year 1 - You are tutored by the President and Past President and take a role in duties assigned by the President
• Year 2  - You assume Leadership of AANLCP as President
• Year 3  -You are the Past President, providing transitional guidance, mentorship, and completing any project you may have initiated.

 Treasurer: is a 2 year commitment

• Project the annual operating  budget
• Oversee the association finances
• Provide monthly and annual financial reports, and newsletter updates

What does this involve:

• Communication Skills
• Organization Skills
• Ability to work as a cohesive team

What is the commitment:

• Attend the January Strategic Planning meeting of the Executive Board ( place is decided by the President).  Although a lot of work gets done, it is really a fun time with lots of laughs and learning.
• Telephonic participation  in the monthly meetings ( Joan has been excellent at keeping them down to 2 hours).  A lot gets accomplished during this time
• Committee liaison and other projects you care to take on.

To assume a leadership role in membership, conference, and other committees please contact Anne Sambucini at anne@ans-solutions.com  if interested or with any questions. 

Thank you

Anne Sambucini, RN, CCM, CDMS, CNLCP, MSC-C

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July holiday.  Members of your executive board recently attended the CMSA conference in New Orleans representing the Association as a vendor.  We met many wonderful men and women who stopped by our booth.  We were surprised and pleased to learn life care planning is familiar to many and questions pertaining to the field have  been added to the case manager certification examination. 

Many expressed interest in the upcoming AANLCP conference in Philadelphia.  We encouraged them to attend our conference to see what we are all about.  I hope to see many new faces at the AANLCP conference this year.  A big than you to the members who attended the CMSA conference and helped at our booth.  We really appreciate your time!! 

I am looking forward to seeing you at the AANLCP conference in Philadelphia.  It is going to be great.  You don't want to miss it. 

As always, feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or concerns. 

E-mail: nzang@columbus.rr.com

Phone: 740.964.9366

From the Secretary

Plans for the 2013 Annual AANLCP conference are moving right along and the conference is just a few months away.  Please remember to book your hotel room and flight.  There have been a lot of recent summer sales for flights and travel through December.  I look forward to seeing old friends and making new friends.  

From the Treasurer

I hope everyone is enjoying your summer and looking forward to fall. I know that I am. The account balance as of July 18th is $104,335.23. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me via email.

Adobe Acrobat Pro: A Power Tool for the LCP Professional

There are a multitude of business tools for the medical-legal professional, but the one most likely to improve your business might just be Adobe Acrobat Pro.  Adobe Acrobat (not to be confused with Adobe Reader) is an extremely powerful product for documentation management. Now, with the push toward electronic medical records and electronic exchange of information, this tool becomes even more useful.

A PDF is a "portable document format" document that Adobe, a software company, developed to allow the transfer of electronic information between various types of computer systems. Adobe Reader, which is a free download http://get.adobe.com/reader/ , allows one to view or print these PDF documents.  Adobe Acrobat, on the other hand, allows the user to edit PDF files, create, merge, combine files, simplify reviews, protect your documents, and more.  It is much more than a document viewer. 

Adobe Acrobat is one tool that can standardize the life care planner's paperwork and improve the quality and security of your reports. Most people (including this author) only understand a small fraction of the power of this program. This is about to change!

Adobe Acrobat has the capability of allowing the user to assemble, manipulate, and organize all kinds of files including Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, photos, webpages and more. It also includes the ability to create forms that can be distributed to be completed by the viewer and returned (think contract service agreement).  Acrobat also allows the nurse life care planner the ability to create a digital signature and enforce the security of forms and reports. This option is useful when providing a report to the attorney when you have not yet been paid. The nurse life care planner is able to create and hold a password which allows the viewer to print/save until it is paid, but yet be able to share the work to prove that it was completed.   Adobe has many advanced tools for editing too. 

One favorite item of this author is the ability to move pages around using the thumbnail option just like one would do in the slide sorter view of Power Point.  Another option commonly used is the bookmark option which allows the user to quickly return to pages of most importance without having to dig for it again and again.  Ever want to mark up your documents, but you need a clean copy for court?  Save a second copy of the PDF and highlight, add comments, stamp it, and otherwise mark it up to your heart's content. For those life care planners who also provide legal nurse consulting services, another interesting option from Acrobat it its Casemap integration.

Because this is such a powerful product, it is important to spend time learning how to use it to its full potential.  There are many blogs and help related articles on the Adobe website, but it can be overwhelming to most users.  Rick Borstein has a blog "Acrobat for the Legal Professionals" which can be found at AcroLaw. This is a great place to check when you are stuck on one particular problem.  Pat Iyer of Med League Services offers a webinar course entitled "Adobe Acrobat for Legal Professionals: Learn How to Harness its Power."  

If you are better suited to hands on learning you will not want to miss the upcoming pre-conference at the AANLCP Annual Conference in Philadelphia.  Keith Softka will be presenting on the power of Adobe Professional.  Bring your laptop and be prepared to be wow'ed with the power of Adobe Acrobat Pro.  If you haven't yet purchased the software, consider using our Amazon link which gives a small percentage of the purchase back to our Association.  (You can find more information about how to save this link to your browser's toolbar in the last newsletter.)

Thanks for reading Minding Your Business.  This has been 

your Tool Time Tip for the day!

Victoria

Update on the Role Delineation Survey and Results:

Thank you to everyone who participated in filling out the CNLCP Role Delineation Survey.  The Certification Board  received the psychometric analysis of the survey and as a result we will be making some slight changes to the exam content.  These changes are based upon the respondents answers to the questions in the survey.  The basic outline of content will now be:

I. Life Care Planning 35%

II. Life Care Plan Construction 15%

III. Spinal Cord Injuries 10%

IV. Burns and Amputations 10%

V. Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries 12%

VI. Neonatal and Pediatric Injuries/Illnesses 8%

VII. Chronic Pain 10%

The previous exam content did not have a section on Life Care Plan construction.  This is essentially our methodology. 

Item Writers needed!

We need test questions!  The CNLCP� Certification Board met with our testing company and reviewed the full bank of test questions.  There are some areas where we are in need of good quality items for our exam: Chronic pain, burns and amputations, brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.  We are looking for items related to life care planning or potential complications rather than basic pathophysiology. 

Remember you can earn Credit toward your recertification.  1 contact hour for every 5 questions submitted that are supported by evidence based nursing/medical references for a maximum of 10 contact hours per 5 year renewal period. Questions with reference supported answers should be submitted directly to the CNLCP� Certification Board through website or email. We will also need a copy of your CV. 

Please submit your items to April Pettengill at april@alpmedicalconsultants.com.  Ideally we would like items submitted by the end of August of 2013.  Thank you so much!  Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated.