Thank you for a great year!

It has been such a pleasure to get to know the Board Members better over this year and to work with them to bring some great educational offerings to our chapter members.

We are happy to provide a much needed forum for Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses from all over the Chicagoland area to get together regularly. We have seen a core membership springing up in the Chicagoland Chapter over the last year, in the midst of all the changes happening in Hospice and Palliative Care around us. In addition, our membership has risen from 49 in May of 2016 to 77 members today. That’s a 57% increase in membership because of our hard working, creative and enthusiastic Board, and our engaged members, who recognize their peers at events, and share a passion for the work that they do. It is always interesting to find out where new guests are visiting us from; we have RNs and APNs attend events from free standing Hospices and private entities; we regularly see Nurses from Seasons, Heartland, Rainbow, JourneyCare, Amita and at our last event, guests from as far away as Rockford.

In part, because of the generous grant we received from HPNF, we were able to bring you our first Retreat for Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses last Fall, in Williams Bay, WI. It was long awaited, and so well received that plans are already underway for a second retreat! Save the date for Sept 29th - Oct.1 again at Williams Bay but this year, we have reserved the newly remodeled McDonald Guest House. We plan to add in more free time for participants, and in response to evaluations, more time enjoying the great outdoors. We are planning some integrative CEU’s just perfect for the occasion.

We plan to continue bringing you interesting and timely educational offerings with CEU’s and also to add more social events in the coming year.

On Wednesday, June 21, I hand the baton over to Nargis Nardi, RN, MSN, CHPN who will be our new President of the Chicagoland Chapter. She brings a wealth of progressive educational ideas, and important contacts to the table, and we are excited to have her step in to this role!

We also welcome our new President -Elect (Vice President) Suzanna Kopec, RN, MSN, CHPN who also brings vision to the Board with some creative and innovative ideas for our Chapter. In 2019, Suzanna will become President of the chapter.

Our returning Treasurer, Margaret Avery-Robinson, RN, MSN/ed, CHPN is also a capable Math Major and we know will continue to protect our finances and direct our spending in the best way.

Tricia Dziabis, BSN, RN, CHPN is well known to the Board as Past President and our current District Leader. We are happy to have her computer skills, and knowledge of the workings of HPNA National on our side! She will be standing in for Secretary, with Carol’s departure. We are grateful to Carol Hargreaves, RN, and all of her efforts over the last year as Secretary. We wish her well in her new endeavors!      

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve the Chicagoland Chapter! I look forward to continuing my relationship with HPNA as Past President.

Happy Summer!

Nancy Romanchek, RN, BSN, CHPN