Behind the Scenes | Thursday, July 1, 2021

A Refreshed Look at Our Future: SGNA’s Updated Purpose, Mission and Vision Statements

Janet King, BSN RN DIPL CGRN

SGNA is thrilled to share the launch of our newly created purpose and revised mission and vision statements for the organization. As an organization, we experienced a major life event when the pandemic hit our members and affected our practice. This spurred the board of directors to reexamine the core of our organization and ask ourselves if it still holds true today. Our goal was (and remains) to create a more definitive focal point to guide the organization in one direction and align on our purpose, mission and vision for the future. 

The board was diligent in taking time to focus on each of these three aspects. We conducted a survey of our key stakeholders and asked questions such as: what key values represent SGNA, what is the value that SGNA brings to the field and what can SGNA do that no one else can.

Using the results of this survey, and recognizing that our members are the heart of our association, the board reflected on our members’ aspirations for the GI nursing and associate specialty.

We started with our purpose, which reflects our reason for existence. Our mission statement describes how we will act on our purpose as an organization, and our vision gives us direction as to where our society will be in the future. These three elements all interconnected.

Purpose

The board believes the reason SGNA exists is to bring together a community of like-minded professionals that collaborate to advocate for the patient, the specialty, the nurse and the associate. Through member benefits such as our SGNA Communities, we are providing a platform to enhance and improve practice for our both our members and anyone who interacts with our society.

SGNA’s purpose is to serve as a community that advocates, enhances and improves the GI nursing and associate practice.

Mission

The board felt that our current mission remains true. A few thoughtful tweaks were made to language used within the statement, but its essence remains the same. SGNA is here to advance the science and practice of GI and endoscopy nursing. Our Society has acted on this mission through the development of new and innovative educational resources and events, much like our virtual Annual Course this past year. As we look toward the future, we are excited about how we will continue to live this mission.

The mission of SGNA is to advance the science and practice of gastroenterology and endoscopy nursing through education, research, advocacy and collaboration, and to provide professional development opportunities for gastroenterology nurses and associates in an atmosphere of mutual support.

Vision

Reflecting on our vision, the board emphasized the importance that every person who interacts with SGNA should leave with a feeling that they have gained information or education that will help them advance their practice, and ultimately improve patient care. We are moving this forward by providing skills and knowledge found in resources such as our practice guidelines and by providing an opportunity to improve oneself through tools such as our Wellness Webinar series. We also envision an organization made up of a diverse community that represent our diverse patient population, much like what’s discussed in the recently released consensus study, “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.”

Develop and empower the diverse community of GI professionals in the delivery of excellent gastroenterology patient care.

 

With this work, SGNA will unite and inspire all of you to feel more connected with our organization and each other. This refreshed purpose, mission and vision will provide us with guidance in directing the best decision-making choices throughout our time ahead. We hope you are as excited as we are to strengthen and grow the society and the profession, and advance the practice of GI and endoscopy.