Scholarship
The chapter provides $10,000 annually to support the efforts of local nurses doing research. The purpose of the research grant is to support members in research activities that contribute to the advancement of nursing. The application process is open to community members, pre- and post-doctoral students, and academicians. In addition, the chapter supports number of educational and research conferences, including a yearly research conference at UCLA with over 300 attendees that encompass the latest nursing research from well-known scholars and practitioners. Furthermore, the chapter supports two evidence-based practice and research poster days at both campuses that allows nursing students to present their posters in clinical, scientific, and leadership areas. The chapter has been part of the regional Odyssey conference planning committee for 20 years with 15-17 other chapter from Southern California in planning a 2-day conference each year in the Fall. The chapter representatives contribute to the programming and the dissemination of information on the call for abstracts and conference registration to all members. Chapter members have been volunteers, such as abstract reviewers and poster judges as well as speakers and poster presenters.
Leadership
Our chapter has been working with new inductees to understand their needs and developing different membership retention strategies such as networking. We have set up networking open hours with chapter officers to meet students in small groups and have been regularly communicating with members interested in leadership via e-mail. We also offer scheduled one-on-one sessions with students and board members to answer questions. We engage with our Nurse Leader applicants to get them involved in committee and leadership roles and opportunities. We recognize members for their accomplishments in the nursing community, and share their achievements with other members regarding their valuable contributions via email and published in our Chapter Newsletter, Gamma Taulk. Additionally, we disseminate reminder emails to members whose membership expired within the past month and encourage them to renew, highlighting the benefits of staying with Gamma-Tau-at-Large. We also recognize our newest inductees in our Chapter Newsletter. We updated our website to be more user-friendly and have expanded our social media presence to broaden our reach and have an additional avenue to update our members with chapter news and events.
Nurses have had the opportunity to network and connect with others to receive mentorship in research, leadership, and chapter specific roles and responsibilities. We have especially created a mentorship program for the Nurse Leader applicants because they come in to the chapter looking for more leadership opportunities. Once the chapter welcomes them as a member, we follow-up with the individual to see if they would like to attend one of the committee or board meetings to learn more about the chapter and make additional connections. The board retreat day is in the beginning of the fiscal year to train and define roles and responsibilities to the new officers. In addition, new officers are matched with experienced officers in a mentoring relationship so that they always have someone to assist them in their new role. This partnership also encourages the newer board members to become more involved with on international volunteer groups and committees such as the Odyssey conference planning committee and the Next Generation Leaders (NGL) Taskforce. We take special interest in pursuing the younger nurses on how to start his or her leadership journey by sharing board examples and inspirational stories. We invite interested nurses to our committee and board meetings to learn more.
Service
One of the biggest highlights in community engagement our chapter has been involved in was the Taste of Soul Family Festival. Our chapter collaborated with UCLA Health Department of Nursing and UCLA School of Nursing to participate and have a booth setup that provided patient education pamphlets and community resources. Community Engagement was done through offering free blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol checks. We recorded a message from our president and posted on the website. Our members also engage and volunteer individually both on a local and global level.