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THE FIVE-YEAR, INAUGURAL PHASE

  1. THE PRE-PHASE OF THE GLOBAL ACADEMY OF HOLISTIC NURSING (GAHN)

The history of the GAHN started in the minds and hearts of a core of servant-leaders who practiced from a covenant with society, envisioned the future healthcare needs of a global society, and viewed Holistic Nursing within that context. A brief historical record of GAHN was writing in 2021 as the Global Academy of Holistic Nursing published its first press release. It can be found on the website at https://www.gahnscholars.org/history.

The following section provides a follow-up to the preliminary. It includes an abbreviated historical record of The First Five-Year-Phase of GAHN’s Record. This document is Version 1, with the expectation that corrections and additional information will be added as we progress.

  1. THE FIVE-YEAR, INAUGURAL PHASE OF THE GLOBAL ACADEMY OF HOLISTIC NURSING.

Stage 1. Planning and Creating: May 2, 2019- June 30, 2020

A cohort of seven Holistic Nurses met May 2, 2019 to discuss the future role of Holistic Nursing in society. After nearly a year of discussion within their group, with colleagues at AHNA conferences, and a consultant,

  1. Mary Anne Hanley was selected as Inaugural Board Chair with Mary Enzman Hines as Chair-Elect .Other Founding members serving in remaining positions.
  2. They notified AHNA,AHNCC and other Holistic Nurse colleagues of their intent to create GAHN February 16, 2020. They stated:

“The Global Academy of Holistic Nursing will be a community where Holistic Nurse Scholars meet To create more holistic, humanistic, and person-centered pathways to healthcare”.

Stage 2.  Charter Members and The Inaugural Induction of Cohort 1: July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021

Throughout the remainder of 2020 and early 2021 the Founders worked to clarify their values, intent, vision, mission and  the purpose of the new organization and establish the infrastructure needed to get started.  Basecamp was selected as the communications and document storage platform. December 12, 2020 GAHN posted a position statement on EDI and Social Justice, declaring their position (https://gahnscholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GAHN-POSITION-STATEMENT-on-GLOBAL-HEALTH-92421.pdfhttps://gahnscholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GAHN-POSITION-STATEMENT-on-GLOBAL-HEALTH-92421.pdf).

Concurrently, nine Charter Members were invited to join the Founding Members and help develop and further create necessary documents and processes.  An application and selection workgroup developed a blind, peer-review application process, application forms, and a rubric for evaluation of applications. March 10, 2021 a press release was distributed including the URL for their new website (https://www.gahnscholars.org) and announcing applications to be accepted April 1-30, 2021.

The Founding/Charter members determined that GAHN embrace inquiry, reflection, and sacred activism to manifest our vision and planned an Assembly following induction with the intent to create a culture of engagement and Third Monday Dialogues to create a venue for inquiry and reflection of members.

A relationship was agreed upon between AHNCC and GAHN, initiating GAHNs relations with other Holistic Nursing Organizations. Concurrent with this agreement, AHNCC transferred the role and responsibility of updating the curricular guidelines published in 2017.

GAHN received approval for 501c3 status on June 20, 2021. The first Induction occurred June 26, 2021, culminating the initial cycle of GAHN’s Inaugural Phase.

Stage 3. Affiliations and Induction of Cohort 2:  July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022

Our Inaugural GAHN Assembly was held on September 20th, 2021  followed by posting a Position Statement of GAHN’s relations with Global Health (https://gahnscholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GAHN-POSITION-STATEMENT-on-GLOBAL-HEALTH-92421.pdf.) Inaugural Dialogues occurred in October and November, 2021 and January-May of 2022 furthering the exploration of the relationship of scholarship and holistic nursing praxis (https://vimeo.com/682245286 https://gahn.vhx.tv/). GAHN continued to build and stabilize dedicated committees and programs.  A non-hierarchical organizational structure was created using the Swanson Mandala Model proposed by Ellen Scultz (Charter Member).

The Advocacy Committee and Discovery Committee proposed workgroups to create

  1. official affiliations with external organizations that aligned with GAHNs mission, vision, and purpose; and
  2. a website- gallery that highlighted each scholar, their work, and scholarship interests respectfully

The Affiliation Contract with AHNCC was renewed and new affiliations with CNSP and NIGH were created. Discussions were initiated between the Executive Director and the Webmaster to consider options for a Gallerey.

A second cohort of Scholars was inducted on June 25, 2022, with each bringing new ideas, strengths, and skills needed. GAHN members continued to collaboratively clarify what GAHN would become.

Stage 4. Committee Activity, Dialogues, Collaboration with AHNCC, and Cohort 3: July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023

In the fall of 2022, GAHN launched its third cycle and continued to create a balance between building the internal strengths of GAHN and extending its outside reach.

The Committees met more regularly with recommendations following. They proposed:

  • clarity of reporting pathways between the committees and the Board.
  • establishment of a Membership Committee that would enhance engagement and participation of GAHNs Scholars
  • acceptance of Associates that could support and participate in the Administrative work of GAHN, and

A revisit of the relations between the Governance and Administrative Branch of the organization resulted in reconsideration of the role of the Board Directors at Large. The work of the committees and various roles currently assumed by the Administration were considered. The role of each Director at Large was further clarified with each assigned to specific liaison/mentor responsibilities of Scholarship and what would become known as Engagement Committees (See Committee Handbook, 2025-2026, Table 20

The development of a Membership Committee, its responsibilities and processes, and a plan adding Associate GAHN Members were initiated. A cohort of seven new Associates were accepted in September

Previous Affiliations were renewed, and GAHN and  IHAC and WSCI were added as new  GAHN affiliates

Dialogues lead by Mary Anne Hanley continued, deepening the scholarship discussion with topics ranging from Evidence Informed Practice to Spirituality as a Pattern of Knowing, of Holistic Nursing. Speakers included Peggy Chinn, Jean Watson, and Christorpher Johns.

Two new events were undertaken at the beginning of 2023 to extend GAHN’s external reach.

  1. GAHN collaborated with AHNCC to offer a series of six movies entitled, Called from Darkness that presented journeys of healing, restoration and reconciliation with marginalized populations.  They were offered monthly from Jan-June, each with a different population.
  2. An affiliation with NIGH resulted in the presentation of a web-based series of Stories of Global Holistic Nurses and Stories of Global Nursing Students

A third cohort of Scholars were inducted June 17th, 2023, as Mary Anne Hanley, the Inaugural Chair of GAHN completed her term.  The first rotation of Board Chairs followed.

Stage 5. Change of Board Chair, Renewal of Affiliate Projects, and Inaugural Congress, July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024:

Mary Anne Hanley, Inaugural Board Chair, transitioned to Past-Chair, and Mary Enzman Hines became GAHNS’ second Board Chair, initiating the first major transition in the Board. Concurrently, Committee Chairs transitioned, initiating new leadership in the committees and in selected Directors at Large.

GAHN continued its renewal with Affiliates and participation in NIGH’s presentation initiated in 2023 and a renewal of the collaborative movie bundle, Called from Darkness with AHNCC. Two new affiliations were added: SAMRM (https://www.mrmnursingtheory.org) and SNRS (https://www.societyofrogerianscholars.org/), each representing a holistic nursing theoretical base.

The Inaugural GAHN Congress entitled: Patterns of Holistic Nursing Scholarship: Transforming Healthcare, was held October 28, 2023. The intent was to explore key ontological-epistemological patterns of knowing that define the underpinnings of the holistic nursing discipline. Key speakers included Mary Enzman Hines, Christopher Johns, Marlaine Smith, Danny Willis, and Richard Cowling.

Third-Monday Dialogues continued with a focus on giving voice to holistic nursing scholarship, and scholarship as more than the art of nursing, it is the artistic application of knowledge needed to meet the unique needs of human beings.  With this perspective, the discussions evolved to relations among scholarship, practice and wisdom.

A Leadership Team was created to bring the Offices, Directors at Large, Committee Chairs and the Executive Director together to clarify fertilization of though

Recommendations from several committees resulted in the formation of the

  1. Engagement and Communications Workgroup, which resulted in the development of the Communication Committee, and
  2. the Global Membership Workgroup which is charged with developing plans for recruiting global members and a fee schedule for global members.
  3. And another cohort of Scholars was inducted on June 15, 2024.

Stage 6. GAHN’s Second Congress and Fifth Year of Inductions. July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025

Mary Anne Hanley moved out of Past-Chair and Shirley Gordon moved into the Board Elect.

The Second GAHN Annual Congress was moved September 28, 2024 due to a crowded national calendar. The title, Giving Global Voice to the Art of Holistic Nursing Scholarship, featured Story as research method and a way to share scholars’ stories. Presentations covered essential topics in holistic nursing, including innovative practices, patient care strategies, and current research findings. Each session was designed to inspire and equip nurses with tools to enhance holistic praxis. Speakers included: Patricia Lehr, Barbara Dossey, Grissel Hernandez, Jim Welch, Deva-Marie Beck, and Mary Joseph.  Dialogues continued with a focus on holistic scholarship in practice.

The intent was to use “story” to appreciate Holistic Nursing Scholarship as the art of interpreting nursing knowledge in practice; articulate diverse ways scholarship can be used to transform health and well-becoming globally and illustrate how scholarship is rooted within GAHN’s diverse global community. Mary Enzman Hine discussed the importance of learning to value yourself as a scholar, Patricia Liehr provided a keynote as she talked about the importance of sharing and gathering stories for holistic nursing praxis.

Recommendations from the scholarly committees resulted in the formation of Engagement and Communications Workgroup, which resulted in the development of the Communication Committee and the Global Membership Workgroup which is charged with developing plans for recruiting global members and a fee schedule for global members.

Throughout the yearly dialogues, members discussed the essence of Holistic Nursing, how the integral foundation of holistic nursing is created by merging the philosophy and knowledge of the profession; the application of this way of knowing is scholarly, and how a holistic nurse’s unique praxis is scholarship.

Stage 7, Transitioning into the Future: July 1, 2024-June 2025.

Margaret Erickson and Deborah Shields rotated out of their role as Board Directors. GAHN Dialogues initiated in the fall of continued from January