CIANJ and COMMERCE Magazine Recognize NJSNA for Best Practices
Terri Ivory, MSN, RN, director of NJSNA’s Recovery and Monitoring Program and Debra Harwell, NJSNA deputy director, accept the Commerce Best Practices Award from Anthony Russo, president of Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey. The Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey held its annual Best Practices Conference at Nanina’s in the Park in Bellville, NJ, on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. / Russ DeSantis Photography and Video, LLC
The New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) was recognized for best practices in achieving and measuring peak performance by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) and its flagship publication, COMMERCE Magazine at the 6th Annual Best Practices Conference.
More than 150 business leaders from every industry sector, as well as representatives from the higher education community, participated in the event. It was designed to encourage CEOs and other executives to share their best practices – innovative approaches to solving business challenges.
This year CIANJ members and businesses at-large were asked to answer the questions: “How are you measuring and achieving peak performance as a company and what is the secret behind your success.” All the submissions were printed in the Best Practices issue of COMMERCE Magazine which was distributed at the conference held on Sept. 24 at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville.
“Success is all about increasing membership, fiscal viability and legislative successes,” said NJSNA CEO Judy Schmidt, MSN, DHA (c), RN, CCRN. “If we can increase the numbers of our engaged and active nurse members, it only strengthens our voice. The stronger the number of engaged active members, the stronger we are financially so we can continue our mission of advocacy for excellence in patient care and the practice of nursing in New Jersey.”
“Through legislative success, we can truly make a difference in the health care system for healthier patients who have more access to care,” she added. “The secret to all of this is increasing our visibility and voice through active participation in the political arena then communicating those activities to members and non-members to showcase the value of membership. This has worked for us because NJSNA has more doubled membership in the past four years.”
A panel of judges, including Dale Caldwell, executive director of the FDU Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Robert Stramara, chief operating officer of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program; Dean Paranicas, CEO of the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, and CIANJ President Anthony Russo, reviewed the submissions and selected the most extraordinary ones to be honored at the conference.
Attendees also heard from two featured speakers: Dr. Anthony Iacono, president of County College of Morris (CCM), and Audrey Murphy, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. Iacono, who became president three years ago, discussed how CCM has undergone an extensive re-evaluation of its programming to better respond to today’s culture and employers’ needs. Murphy spoke about the “Bear’s Den” at Hackensack Meridian Health which established an investment fund to bring innovations and breakthrough in healthcare to market.
