Gut Check | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Message from the SGNA President: Responding to Your Needs

SGNA President Lea Anne Myers, MSN RN CGRN

SGNA recognizes that your professional needs and preferences continue to change as you progress through your career and adapt to the ongoing evolution of our profession and the healthcare industry.

That’s why we regularly reach out to current and past members for feedback about your satisfaction with the society and its offerings, and how it could better meet your needs as a gastroenterology nursing professional. Over the summer, we conducted a member and non-member survey with this objective.

We were fortunate to receive a strong response from our community, along with affirmations about what you believe SGNA does well and ideas for how we could serve you better or deliver greater value to you for your investment in the organization. I would like to thank each of you for taking the time to share your perspectives to make this initiative a success.

We have closely reviewed the results and compared them with past survey results, to better understand feedback from each of our key audiences over time.

With nearly 93% of you in agreement that SGNA educational programs increased your knowledge, and 86% indicating agreement that you’ve achieved improved results or outcomes as a result of utilizing SGNA educational products and services, we can feel confident that our education is relevant and useful to you and your facility. As this is an area where the society dedicates significant time and resources, we are pleased that you are learning and advancing your practice as a result of your affiliation with SGNA.

You’ve told us achieving or maintaining your certification and licensure, increasing your opportunities for professional growth and employer recommendation are reasons you pursue continuing education and membership – not just in SGNA – but in other professional societies.

Consistent with previous surveys, we see that 75% of you pay your own membership dues, which means that affordability and availability of offerings and CE credit are important, as is the quality and relevance of education. And evidence-based practice, infection prevention and procedure skills are topics in which the greatest numbers of you said you need continuing education.

These are just a few of the highlights from this year’s survey. A special task force has been created to more thoroughly review the benefits you receive as an SGNA member, and identify ways to derive even greater value as an SGNA member. In the coming months, with their input the SGNA’s volunteer leaders and headquarters staff will be closely reviewing recommendations on new opportunities to enhance each program and benefit, and executing measures both large and small to make improvements as needed. For example, we heard your feedback about the SGNA website, and are working on ways to improve the ease of use of the site.

And in response to your request for more free CE opportunities, all 2020 members will receive all of SGNA’s recorded 2019 webinars at no additional cost. For a limited time, you can also pre-purchase all 2020 live webinars in a bundle at a 40% discount. You can learn more about this special offer through upcoming emails from SGNA.

As some of our members will reach retirement age in the next five years, we are also focused on ways to help bring nurses who are new to GI into the society. You will receive updates as we roll out additional new opportunities based on your feedback.