Thirty years after its founding, ANPD continues to grow and evolve.

In 1989, Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) was founded by a small group of NPD practitioners (known at the time as staff development educators) with the goal to obtain 200 members by the end of 1990. This goal was not only met but surpassed with 1,500 members of NNSDO. Our community only continues to grow as ANPD has most recently reached 6,000 members with no signs of slowing down. In 2019, ANPD celebrated 30 years as an association at the Annual Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

ANPD continues to provide an abundance of products, services, programming, and networking to its members as the association fulfills its goal to be acknowledged as the expert voice, advocate, and leading resource for nursing professional development practice.

1928	1974	1985
Birth of Our Specialty	Evolution of the Scope & Standards	Disseminating Best Practices — the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development
1989	1989	1990
Founding of the Specialty Organization	NPD Practitioners Proud to Serve	The Affiliate Story Begins
1992	1992	1994
The Advent of Star Search	First American Nurses Credentialing Center Certification for Our Specialty	First Independent Convention
1994	2000	2012
Getting Started in Nursing Professional Development (1994) and Core Curriculum for Nursing Professional Development	Awards of Excellence in NPD	Re-Naming from the National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) to the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD)
2013	2019	2022
First Director of Nursing Professional Development	Celebrate 30th Anniversary with over 5,000 Members	Refreshed Brand to Drive us into the Future