Muhammad Ali: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
When I look at the number of hours that CPNP members give in service to our organization, I am amazed. When I hear non-members express envy at the percentage of CPNP members who actively serve, I am proud. We have a great professional staff; but we also have a large committed core of members who contribute and whose efforts make CPNP work.
CPNP members serve by representing us at various outside meetings, serving on committees and task forces, participating on the list serve, providing programming ideas, reviewing posters, judging, advising student chapters, mentoring students, contributing to our journal, the Mental Health Clinician , cases and recertification products, testing our recertification products, contributing to CPNPF and serving in elected positions. (I’ve probably missed another dozen things our members do that contribute to CPNP.)
This issue of CPNP Perspectives showcases the advances in our CPNP Communities. Celebrating a total of seven communities and 1 year of existence, our Communities offer another opportunity to volunteer and be involved. CPNP Communities are all about the professional networking, collaboration, and mentoring needs of our individual members; they are driven by you and your peers. We encourage you to join the Communities that align with your interests, share email discussions, contribute to online resources, influence the direction of the Communities and build their strength and value through your participation.
The service and the activity of all of our membership have resulted in increasing recognition of CPNP as a voice within pharmacy and behavioral health. The Board of Pharmacy Specialties cites our recertification activities as exemplary. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy invited us to work on a white paper focusing on mental pharmacy for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). Subsequently, the FIP invited CPNP to join the Federation. We’ve also been invited to consider membership in the Commission on Credentialing in Pharmacy. Our naloxone guide has been cited by numerous pharmacy organizations, government agencies and newsletters. CPNP was mentioned several times during the recent FDA meeting on naloxone.
These are just a few examples of the impact of our members. It is this type of recognition that has led us to seek membership on the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) so that CPNP can bring the voice of psychiatric pharmacy to the table as pharmacy leadership shapes positions for the profession and develops policy for the future.
To the outgoing Board members, committee and task force chairs and members, “Thank you for the time, energy and commitment you provided CPNP during the past year. We hope that you’ll continue to serve and contribute.”
To our new Board members, committee and task force chairs and members, “Thank you for your commitment to CPNP. We thank you for your past service and look forward to your future contributions.”
And to all of our volunteers and contributors, “Your extraordinary level of participation lends strength to the voice of psychiatric and neurologic pharmacists. It is not only remarkable; it is essential to our survival. Thank you!”