President of Nursing Class

[clayz]

Hey guys I was just elected class president of my nursing class. I was wondering for those of you who also been given this honor; what were some of the challenges you faced or some advice you would like to give.

[ColoradoRocky]

Hi Prez! (Andy C).

[OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN]

I was VP of my class and the biggest issue that the president and I faced was laziness. We had to do fundraisers to come up with the money to pay for our pinning ceremony and senior luncheon and people would always talk about all this stuff they wanted for the ceremony or luncheon, but no one wanted to put the work in for fundraisers. It was incredibly frustrating to deal with.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I was president of the graduate student organization -- and have worked with other students groups since. My recommendation is to focus on things that would help the students. Find out what is bothering them, what questions they have about nursing careers, getting a job, etc. ... Are there some issues/concerns within the school that you can address (without making enemies)? The more you help your fellow students, the more they may be willing to volunteer to help get things done. If it becomes all about fund-raising -- or doing things they don't really care about for other people they hardly know, they will quickly lose interest.

In short, be useful to the students. Serve them and they will be more likely to support you. That's one of the basic rules of political service.