President's Message

MESSAGE FROM THE NJLN PRESIDENT

Donna M. Penn, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC

Director, Holy Name, Sister Claire Tynan School of Nursing

NJLN President, March 2024 – 2026

Dear Members and Colleagues,

On behalf of the New Jersey League for Nursing (NJLN) Board of Directors and our committee members, we would like to wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season and new year!

As we reflect on 2024, this has been an exciting year for the NJLN, filled with so many accomplishments that we've achieved together as a professional nursing organization.

There have been many positive impacts from our scholarship awards program, continuing education programs, our Practical Nurse Education Day, and our nurse recognition and DAISY Awards. This is such an incredible testament to the collaboration within our profession to support each other in advancing nursing and healthcare. We are also very proud to have celebrated 109 years in 2024, which is directly attributed to your support as members and to all of our committee volunteers and donors, who enable us to continue year after year.

I have highlighted below just some of our greatest achievements that I would like to share with you as this year comes to a close and we look forward to new beginnings in 2025 as we celebrate our 110th year in support of nursing education excellence.

First, we are very proud to announce that in late November, the NJLN was selected as the recipient of the $100,000 Community Health Connections Foundation, Inc. Grant, which will enable us to again award the Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley Memorial Scholarships in 2025. This marks our sixth consecutive year administering these awards, an incredible honor for the NJLN and all who benefit. We look forward to presenting these awards in 2025 for those pursuing their BSN, MSN, and doctorate degrees, along with our traditional NJLN Scholarship Awards program that we also present each year. Details regarding the criteria and how to apply for our scholarship awards will be provided in early 2025.
The NJLN successfully held our annual Convention and Pre-Convention at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City in March. The Convention theme was Charting Your Path in Nursing: The Joy is in the Journey, hosting over 400 attendees. Our Pre-Convention was attended by 75 academic and clinical nurse educators, and the topic was Are Nurses Practice Ready? Bridging the Education Practice Gap with Confidence, where we partnered with KeithRN. Both programs received very high marks. Take a moment and view our video highlights.
We held our Licensed Practical Nursing Education Program in May, which brought together over 280 future LPNs, faculty members, and exhibitors. We focused on the journey into practice and also awarded 11 scholarship awards.
In 2024, we presented over $114,000 in scholarship awards for all levels of nursing education, from LPN through doctorate degrees. This included presenting eight scholarships totaling $100,000 in October through the Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley Memorial Scholarship Award to BSN, MSN, DNP, and PhD students. It was a very special virtual awards presentation, and if you have not already, please take a moment to learn about our incredible 2024 scholarship recipients. Click here to view the awards video.
The NJLN proudly partnered once again with the DAISY Foundation to present, for the third year, the NJLN DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurse Educators. We are the only organization in the state to present this particular DAISY Award, and it is such a great honor. We congratulate this year's recipients and encourage you to read their nominations. Click here to learn more.
The NJLN Nurse Recognition and Scholarship Awards event was held on November 1 at the Pines Manor, where we presented 30 awards. The awardees included honoring seven incredible nurse leaders with our 2024 Nurse Recognition Award. We presented 20 scholarships, along with three DAISY Awards, and we recognized many DAISY nominees. This was a wonderful evening in celebration of nursing. Photos from the evening may be viewed by clicking here, and if you would like to learn more about the event and our awardees and sponsors, please explore our program journal by clicking here.

As we look forward to 2025, I wanted to highlight an important change that will take effect on January 1. The National League for Nursing (NLN) will transition from a Constituent League approach to the new Alliance of Leagues for Nursing. If you have not already read the NLN press releas e on our website, please take a moment to review it. The important takeaway is that our mission and focus will remain unchanged and aligned with the NLN. This transition presents an excellent opportunity to share best practices, partner more deeply with other nursing leagues across the country, leverage learning, and collaborate more effectively. We look forward to this next step in evolving to better meet the needs of our state as a professional nursing organization.

In closing, we would like to recognize the incredible support from our NJLN members, donors, and supporters. You are what makes our organization so special! Thank you for your part in supporting nursing education excellence to help build a strong and diverse nursing workforce together.

We hope that you take some time to enjoy the holidays as we gather with our family and friends and ring in the New Year. We also recognize, as part of the nature of our profession, that some of you will be working to take care of our communities, and we thank you.

Wishing you a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season! May the new year be bright and filled with much joy.

Warm regards,