History of Chicago Area Nursing Staff Development Organization (CANSDO)

The CANSDO of today is the cumulative efforts of many individuals in nursing staff development, starting as far back as the 1980’s and 1990’s by a group from Cook County (Stroger) Hospital.

In the early 2000’s Advocate Lutheran General Staff Development listed with National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO as the Chicago affiliate.  In 2007 Resurrection Health Care Education Council lead by Kathy Voss, Gwen Watkins, Carmen Hovanec, and Don Houchins contacted NNSDO to start the process of establishing a Chicago Area Staff Development Organization.  Pat Bielecki of the Advocate group and the Resurrection group worked together to establish one diverse Chicagoland organization.  With National providing the Illinois mailing list of NNSDO members, fliers were created and distributed announcing the first Chicagoland meeting.

The first meeting at West Suburban Hospital in January 2007, yielded an attendance of 45 professionals in staff development.  The group was diverse and included participants  from Advocate Health Care, Cook County Hospital, Northwestern Memorial, Resurrection Healthcare, Shriners, and the University of Illinois, to name a few.

The Chicago Area Nursing Staff Development Organization (CANSDO) was on its way.

During 2007, as the organization began to establish itself, committees were formed for Nomination of Officers, promoting Membership, Program Development, and the creation of the CANSDO Bylaws. Lead by Gwen Watkins, the CANSDO bylaws were established in late 2007.  The first election of officers came in May 2008.  Now everything was in place to submit the CANSDO application for recognition as an affiliate of NNSDO.

In December of 2009, as the CANSDO website began construction, NNSDO accepted the CANSDO as their Chicagoland affiliate.

Meet the 2010-2011 CANSDO Board:

Left to right: Secretary, Nicole Gooding, MSHS, BN, RN; Treasurer, Gwendolyn Watkins, PhD, RN-BC; President, Sara Levin, MSN, RN-BC; President-Elect, Mary Meyer, MSN, RN

Getting Involved and Leading

There is a popular saying that leaders not born but made. It is through thier efforts that we have many wonderful events in our chapter. If you wish to participate in developing your leadership skills while serving our organization, we have the following officer positions available. Elections are held every spring. 

Officers:
President
- conducts the business of the organization
- presides over meetings
President-elect
- coordinates program planning with members
- coordinates membership and recruiting activities
- acts in the absence of the president
- prepares for role of president
Secretary
- maintains roster of current members
- records and distributes minutes and all communications to the membership
Treasurer
- receive, deposit and maintains records of funds received by the organization in compliance with federal statutes
- provides membership a summary of receipts and disbursements
- pays organization's bills
- present budget to membership annually

The membership can overrule to the Board of Director’s decisions.

Standing Committees
Nominating Committee: The members shall be named by the President in January and shall consist of not less than 3 and not more than 5 members. The committee shall present nominations for officers to the Secretary at least 90 days prior to the election.
Program Committee: The members shall be named by the President-elect in June and shall consist of not less than 3 members and not more than 6 members. The committee shall be responsible to identify topics and speakers for meetings and/or special programs.
Membership Committee: The members shall be named by the Secretary in June and shall consist of not less than 2 members. The committee shall be responsible for publicity and recruitment of members.

The President shall from time to time as needed and authorized by the organization may appoint other Ad Hoc committees.