Call for ANA Candidates for 2002 elections

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

ANA NEEDS YOU!

Become a leader in the professional association that represents over 2 million registered nurses by running for election in 2002 for one of the following open positions:

ANA Board of Directors

President

First Vice President

Second Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Director-at-Large (3 positions)

Director-at-Large, Staff Nurse (2 positions)

Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics (5 positions)

Nominating Committee (3 positions)

Nomination forms are available online. Constituent member association (CMA) members are encouraged to contact their CMA for additional information and to submit the necessary forms. The ANA Nominating Committee will meet in January 2002 to develop the initial slate of candidates for open positions on the ANA Board of Directors, the congress, and nominating committee.

WHY BECOME AN ANA LEADER?

By deciding to run for an ANA elected position, you make a choice to invest in your future and the future of health care.

Through the commitment of individuals like you, ANA has been established as one of the 100 largest health care associations in the nation. Whether serving on the congress, committee, or the board, ANA leaders have the capacity to influence public policy, professional nursing standards, and the advancement of the association.

As a leader, you will become a part of the history of ANA-forging the way for the health care system of the future and ensuring that nurses remain essential providers in all practice settings. You will help ANA and the profession remain strong and unified.

The benefits of being an ANA leader can be both personal and professional, and can provide you with skills that can be applied to many areas of your life.

Here are just a few to think about...

Increase your opportunities to mentor, to be mentored, to gain peer recognition, to share your expertise and ideas;

Enhance your development as an individual and as a professional through strengthened communication and organizational skills;

Be on the cutting edge of a new and better health care for the American public;

Develop marketable campaign skills while articulating your views, engaging in dialogue with a diverse membership and speaking publicly.

WHO QUALIFIES?

Any individual who is a member of a constituent member association, and who meets the criteria established by ANA for each elected position, can assume a leadership role in the American Nurses Association.

WHAT'S EXPECTED?

ANA expects the best from its leaders just as you have the right to expect the best from your association. As an association leader, you will:

*attend and participate in meetings or conference calls;

*prepare for each meeting or conference call by reviewing

materials ahead of time;

*review mailings and respond to items requiring action between

meetings or conference calls;

*be available to serve on sub-committees;

*attend meetings of other health care organizations or

organizational units as a representative of your structural unit;

present reports or serve as a spokesperson for media-related

activities.

Your time commitment to the association will depend upon the position to which you are elected.

You may need to request your employer's support for the time commitment you make. Most employers will view your leadership role as a benefit to them-through your increased knowledge and distinction as an ANA leader.

Further information available at:

http://www.nursingworld.org/about/election/index.htm

[-jt]

W, my challenge to you STILL stands!!

Increase your opportunities to mentor, to be mentored, to gain peer recognition, to share your expertise and ideas;

Enhance your development as an individual and as a professional through strengthened communication and organizational skills;

Be on the cutting edge of a new and better health care for the American public;

Develop marketable campaign skills while articulating your views, engaging in dialogue with a diverse membership and speaking publicly.>>

http://www.nursingworld.org/about/election/index.htm

[natalie]

The majority of ANA members are staff, bedside nurses.

[-jt]

So am I. A direct-care staff RN in a hospital. And with an ADN.

So is the majority of the membership of the ANA. So who better than us to be in there working on the issues that affect us while the APRNs work on issues that affect them?

I wouldnt presume to know what is best for APRNs - I leave that to them to decide & when they need support/pressure applied to the lawmakers, I send my letter. But I focus my efforts every other day on the issues I know best - direct care - and when we need the support/pressure applied to the lawmakers, the non-direct care members are there too. The APRNs represent their interests - the direct-care nurses represent the interests of direct-care nurses. And each group teaches the other about its issues so we can be supportive of each other.

Not too confusing is it?

ANA nurses believe that the key is for all nurses to stand together - rather than divided. As a direct-care RN, I was very proud of the nurses in their testimonies given to Congress in the hearings on direct-care issues - not only the testimonies by all the direct care nurses who testified so effectively, but also the testimonies of the nurse educators, nurse managers, APRNs, and Ph.ds who testified in support of direct care nurses & our workplace issues. I was proud to be Associated with all of them.

It is a myth that we (ADNs) are treated in the ANA as anything less than the professionals we are. It is not true that BSN or APRNs are treated with higher regard than the rest of us or are viewed to be more important in the organization. Take it from a member who knows what the organization is really like better than someone who has never had anything to do with it - ALL members are equally important, equally respected & equally encouraged to become involved.

Proving contrary to your comments about why you cannot be a leader of nurses, I AM a leader in that organization & I not only represent the interests of the direct-care members but as a direct-care ADN, I REFLECT the majority of the membership. And when I joined, or ran for offices no one first asked me what degree I had before putting my name on the ballots.

Although you refuse to acknowledge that it has been direct- care issues on the front-burners of the ANA for a long time now & with many positive results - it is ANA direct-care nurses who are involved & actively working to the solutions, mobilizing the rest of you out there, educating & mobilizing the media & the public, moving the state & federal legislatures on these direct-care issues, & doing it all with other ANA nurses throughout the spectrum of the nursing world, including APRNs.

Direct-care nurses of the ANA are leading the charge on these direct-care issues so your excuse for not getting involved is a COP-OUT.

When this direct-care nursing crisis is settled, you can thank us (the ANA & the state assoc.) for that. But I'm sure you'll deny we had anything at all to do with getting it resolved.

The more you talk about the ANA being just an organization for APRNs, the more you prove you know nothing about it or what is going on in your profession. The more you ignore the major efforts of ANA direct-care RNs and other ANA RNs in support of direct-care issues & the accomplishments these RNs are achieving, the more ignorant & unaware you sound.

It seems that you think nothing is good enough unless the direct care nurse is separated & standing apart from all other nurses. And if they arent, you just ignore their efforts & what they are accomplishing as though it doesnt exist. Fine - close your eyes and remain unaware & ignorant. Sit here & complain & criticize. Continue to fantasize that we in the ANA are not addressing direct care issues, when in reality, no one is addressing these issues more or on as great a level as we are. But you just keep ignoring that if it makes you feel better about yourself. And gives you an excuse to just sit there.

Gripe & complain instead of becoming involved. Who can blame you? After all, its much easier to be an armchair-quarterback instead of in the game. You prove time and time again that you know nothing about what the ANA does, is doing, or how it functions yet all you seem to be able to do is talk about it. But your pontifications against it are filled with inaccuracies and so are meaningless.

You responded to my challenge with the exact lame excuse I expected you would.