ANA membership

nightingale, RN · Dec 28, 2001

Karen:

I have read, with great interest, the ANA website..... excellent up to date information concerning activites....

As for me... I will put my energies into being proactive, involved, and participating in positive posts who seriously and honestly address issues... (ignore the rest... eh?)

Thank you for all your support and encouragement and positive modeling of appropriate action.

Bonnie:)

lgcv · Dec 28, 2001

I once was a member of ANA, let me tell you why I no longer am, and why I ultimately changed careers.

About 7 years ago the hospital I worked for began restructuring, standard procedure..."layoff" the most experienced nurses(read most expensive) Hire people off the street, train them for four weeks to perform tasks that were within the nursing scope of practice. The nurses in this hospital determined that their scope of practice forbid delegation of nursing duties to non-nursing personnel. Problem fixed right? NO, within two weeks the state hospital association, state board of nursing and the STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION had the nurse practice act changed to allow delegation of nursing tasks to anyone. When confronted about this the president of the nurses association stated "we have to pick and choose our battles and this was not one of them". That battle represented nursing jobs and nursing roles. If it was not the right battle then their priorities were seriously misplaced. They blow with the political wind, never going to bat for the nurses they represent if their is strong opposition from other health care organizations.

-jt · Dec 29, 2001

That would be the state association which did that - not the ANA. The ANA does not make state decisions. It works at the federal level in Washington DC.

The State Associations and the nurses in each state who belong to their state association make the decisions for what happens in nursing in their state.

My state association fights legislatively state-wide & contractually at the local level against delegating tasks to other personnel, so I am curious as to which state association (and its nurse members) did this & what did direct-care nurses in that state do about it? Was the state president voted out of office for her comments?

What was the rationale for your state association & board for changing the Nurse Practice Act to allow UAPS to perform more nursing? Thats completely opposite of the stand my state association (and others like it) takes in this matter.

lgcv · Dec 29, 2001

This was the Virginia Nurses Association. There rationale was unclear, as stated they felt it was not the battle they wanted to fight....Political pressure is my thought. The members were not aware that the changes were going to take place, or that VNA was supportive of them until after the State Nursing Board changed the regulations. I do not know if the president stayed in office, I left soon after this. While your state organization may be very proactive I am still of the opinion that it will only be so to the point of not hurting political contacts. You can delegate to UAPs as well, were was the NYNA when that was instituted. Most states had a non-delegation clause prior to the restucturing craze of the the 90's.

Mijourney · Dec 30, 2001

Hi Igcv. Is Virginia a right to work and at will state? That may partially explain the behavior of the VNA leadership. As always money rules the day.

Mijourney · Dec 30, 2001

Hi Igcv. Is Virginia a right to work and at will state? That may partially explain the behavior of the VNA.

lgcv · Dec 31, 2001

Yes it is a right to work state. The Virginia Nurses Association does not have a union arm. But, I still felt they had an obligation to support the nurses of the state.

Groovydogg · Jan 4, 2002

If I may add my two cents. I support a lot if not all of what the ANA purports to stand for. But I in no way support them. I am from New York and resent the fact that they supported the woman from Arkansas during the Senate race. It is blatantly obvious that they supported her because she is woman. She has absolutely no record/experience/qulification that makes her worthy of the position she now fills. In fact, her record is suspect at best, also Mrs. Clintons spouse is an admitted liar and an admitted ubstructor of justice.

Mr. Lazio has a long and positive history of serving his constituency and Mr. Lazios spouse is a nurse practitioner.

The ANA opted to pick a political party based on gender instead of merit. They didn't research the choices enough and therefore did a grave disservice to all of NY as well as all the RN's who reside here. As President Clinton said "it's a package deal...you get the spouse as well" I voted for the proven record, I voted for the nurse practitioner.

I contacted the ANA during the race and asked for an explaination, all I got was vague references to her "record" and never one example.

RNPD · Jan 4, 2002

"Mrs. Clintons spouse is an admitted liar and an admitted ubstructor of justice. Mr. Lazio has a long and positive history of serving his constituency and Mr. Lazios spouse is a nurse practitioner."

"I voted for the proven record, I voted for the nurse practitioner."

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So let me get this straight. NYSNA shouldn't have supported Hillary Clinton because of her spouse, but should have supported Rick Lazio because of HIS spouse?? And BTW, the NP wasn't running; that was her husband.

Also the ANA had nothing to do with the NY Senate race. It was the NYSNA, a local organization, who supported Hillary, not the ANA, which is a national organization. NYSNA gave their support to Hillary after she was very supportive of the striking Nyack nurses and promised to work toward bettering healthcare in NY.

Also it is amazing to me that so many people resent the fact that a woman from Arkansas can be a Senator from NY. Are you so naive as to think that every local elected official in this country was born & raised within their constituency and plans to live there for life? For God's sake, even a Miss America candidate, doesn't have to be born in the state she represents!! Check out how many congressman, senators, governors, mayors, etc, were born in the district in which they serve. This is the USA and as long as the residency requirements are met, anyone can run for elected office. If you think this is wrong, then I suggest you work toward a referendum to change it, not hold it against someone who followed the rules and got elected fairly.

Finally, Rick Lazio shot himself in the foot-or should I say mouth. I had no intention of voting for Hillary until I heard what a nasty, petty, vindictive campaign Lazio ran. Hillary got my vote then & there and I for one, think she's doing a good job. And if you care to go by opinion polls, so do the majority of New Yorkers.

It seems strange to me to condemn a national nursing organization because 1/50th of its membership endorsed a senate candidate you disapproved of. And because of the candidate's husband yet! Maybe we need to judge people and organizations a little more broadly; what do you say?

-jt · Jan 4, 2002

The ANA does not get involved in state business. Its job is in Washington DC on Captiol Hill. It continually surprises me how many people complain about something going on in their state & blame the ANA for that. The state association is independent on the issues in their own state. The ANA has nothing to do with them. The members of the state association make the decisions for what is going on in nursing in your state. (All the more reason for staff nurses to be a member of it).

Since Hillary Clinton was running for STATE senator from NY, it was the NYSNA, not the ANA that supported her. And the way that happens is the membership of each region in the state makes their preferences known through several state-wide polls throughout the process and opportunities to submit their comments on the candidates. That is all taken back to the NYSNA members on the political action committee (PAC) who are then entrusted with the responsibility of reviewing the candidates thoroughly, evaluating them and their policies, and making a recommendation to the NYSNA Board of Directors based on the members needs and input and the candidates record or potential. When the candidates are equal, according to our bylaws which were set by the members of our association, consideration is to be given to supporting the under- represented candidate in elected office - women, RNs, minorities ([urlhttp://www.nysna.org/PROGRAMS/LEG/PAC.HTM[/url])

NYSNA officials do not choose who to endorse - the membership does. Hillary Clinton was endorsed by NYSNA members (not by the ANA) because of her willingness to get involved with staff nurses issues - including her help with the Nyack strike, her pro-nurse policies & willingness to support nursing and NYSNA legislation. So far she has done well on that front - from her strong participation on the Senate Hearing Panel convened to hear nurse testimonies regarding the causes and solutions of the bedside nurse shortage to her recent support of & introduction to Congress of the federal Nurse Retention & Quality Care Act which were written by NYSNA nurses, as well as her sponsorship of several other legislative bills now in Congress that address the nursing shortage.

NYSNA supports candidates across all party lines. There is a specfic criteria that is followed by the PAC before an endorsement is made and one of them is to put into office the candidate who will best & most strongly represent & support our interests, whichever party he may belong to.

Believe me, I have no love for the woman either and viewed her as carpet-bagger - and I dont like the idea that she voted to give Congress a raise this year while Chuck Schumer felt it inappropriate considering what has happened here and rightfully voted no, but both Lazio & Clinton were equally examined and although his wife may be an NP, Rick was not willing to come up to the bar for staff nurses as Hillary was willing to do..... and has done.

And when you get right down to it, the whole point of endorsing a particular candidate is to have someone in office who will work for your interests.

PS

RFK, who many NYers believe was the greatest Senator we ever had, was from Massachusetts & moved to NY to fulfill the residency requirement just so he could run for that office.

wildtime88 · Jan 4, 2002

Well, well, this kind of goes back to my questions at the beginning of this tread.

1. First of all, isn't the New York State Nurses Association a charter member of the ANA?

2. Does the ANA follow the same procedures at the national level.

3. At what level does the ANA participate in federal government when it comes to endorsements or monetary support?

4. Does the ANA in any way reflect or lend its help to a charter organization when it comes to candidacy endorsement?

5. If yes, then in what forms?

5. Who ultimately decides who receives the endorsement?

NYSNA officials do not choose who to endorse - the membership does.

There is a specfic criteria that is followed by the PAC before an endorsement is made and one of them is to put into office the candidate who will best & most strongly represent & support our interests, whichever party he may belong to. >>

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December, sorry I just saw your last post.

you can find some data on this, but this is more than just data.

This is something that you have to use thought process about. You have to use past history and legislation and its results. You have to study the legislation and see how it can actually be used. You have to beaware that there is someone looking over it to see just how they will also benefit from it as well as benefit the most. You have to consider future opostition or lack of to plan what you intend to do. You have to also understand what or who is the prime target of the legislation.

With the recruitment legislation who do you think is the prime target?

What number do you come up with?

How many do you think would jump at a chance for an all expense paid education plus money on the side and also pay for child care?

How many old diplomia schools do you think can be reopened in 2 years time?

How many nurses can you educate and train with the bugeted amount per year?

-jt · Jan 6, 2002

I just told you - we members decide. Just as the members decide everything that goes on in that organization. I think youre just having a hard time believing it, but if you are not an involved member of your state's professional association - other nurses are making the decisions for all nurses in your state without you and you have to live by what they decide.

The procedures for my state association's polictical activity are outlined at the website which I posted the link for. The members of the state association make the decisions on state matters. The ANA does not get involved - other than the fact that we are all also ANA members. But our ANA work is in DC and even there, the democratic procedures are the same. The MEMBERS from all across the country make the decisions at the national level.

The ANA has a governmental affairs webpage where you are free to look up anything you want to know about our procedures.

And you know youre always welcome to come to the annual working convention in June, this year in Philadelphia, & observe for yourself what we do.