NEW YORK NURSE: May 2010
New York state will have the largest delegation on the floor of the ANA House of Delegates in June with 139 NYSNA members scheduled to attend. Washington state will send 38 delegates and Ohio will send 36. In total, 675 nurse delegates will represent the interests of registered nurses nationwide.
In addition to consitituent member associations (CMAs) and representatives from the Individual Member Division, several organizational and workforce advocacy affiliates will attend. The American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Emergency Nurses Associations, and several others will represent their members at HOD.
NYSNA delegates will have the opportunity to lobby our congressional delegation prior to the start of the HOD on nursing issues pertaining to advanced practice, staffing, toxic chemicals in the workplace and healthcare reform. At the HOD, delegates will debate and vote on ANA Bylaws amendments, including terms of office for the board of directors and the Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics, language pertaining to ANA’s role in workplace advocacy, cause for disciplinary action against a CMA, the role of the BOD in establishing membership categories, and the addition of a new Associate Member category. They will also have the chance to comment on several resolutions, including immigrant health, advanced practice nurses signing and certifying home care plans, and the safety of reprocessed single use devices, to name a few.
Ann Purchase, member and associate director in Education, Practice and Research for NYSNA commented that, “The HOD is a wonderful opportunity to network with your peers from across the nation and have useful discussion about common issues. It is truly ‘politics and critical thinking in action’ and you discover that collaboration is the best way to find effective solutions. Every member should consider attending at least once.”
NYSNA delegates to ANA HOD are elected positions occuring every other year. The next election will take place in 2011 for the 2012 ANA HOD. For more information about the ANA HOD, visit www.nursingworld.org and look for updates in upcoming issues of New York Nurse.