Presidential Priorities: 50 Years of Wisdom as the Basis of an Action Agenda for the Next Half‐Century

Abstract

Each of the living presidents of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), past and current, was asked to select one or more issues that were of particular importance during her term(s) in office. Some of the issues identified by the presidents were amenable to review using existing quantitative data; this article presents those findings. The substantial increase in growth of ACNM membership in the 1980s and 1990s as well as the plateau that occurred at the beginning of the 21st century is documented. The relationship between ACNM and the professions of nursing, medicine, and other public health providers is illustrated. The increase in the number of Certified Nurse-Midwife/Certified Midwife (CNM/CM) education programs and the evolution and current profile of curriculum models are discussed. Finally, expansion of the scope of midwifery practice and the growing number of opportunities for entrepreneurial practice are presented in terms of current practice profiles, practice sites and settings, various employer-employee relationships, and the variety of financial reimbursement streams. This article is intended to complement the broader body of information about ACNM's history, and particularly, to supplement the richness of information derived from the qualitative and historical research inquiries conducted by others.

Priority setting and policy advocacy by nursing associations: A scoping review and implications using a socio-ecological whole systems lens

“…Both bodies of literature reported that the inclusion of members in policy decisions and actions ensured selected policy issues had meaning for the public served [26,48,76,[90][91][92] and for members [16,36,37,85,86,90,92,93]. Members were also viewed as critical to the work accomplished by organizations, as they served as champions for their organizations' cause(s) [48,82,94].…”

“…In these cases, organizations reacted by taking action for a new policy or changing their course of action [36,65,85,92]. Environmental catastrophes, such as oil spills, instigated changes in beliefs, values, rules, and players leading to opportunities to address new or emerging policy issue [60].…”

“…Environmental catastrophes, such as oil spills, instigated changes in beliefs, values, rules, and players leading to opportunities to address new or emerging policy issue [60]. Unexpected legislative changes or passing of legislative bills also inspired reactions by organizations to take up efforts in a particular area [85,92].…”

Midwifery Practice: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?

“…Today, the profession faces a renewed challenge to their control of how midwifery is to be defined and practiced and to how midwives will be educated. This concern has already been clearly identified elsewhere in this issue 8,22 . But midwives today also confront a challenge to the normalcy of birth, and this challenge, too, requires the kind of energy, creativity, and determination that saw midwives through many similar crises in the past.…”

“…Thus, nurse‐midwives had to learn fundamentals of pharmacology and details about the newest relevant drugs. The growth of prescriptive privileges by midwives is detailed in an accompanying article by Fullerton et al 8 …”