ANA Membership Assembly!

Greetings, NSNA members and future colleagues!
Continuing our previous discussion, I attended Hill Day in Washington D.C. with ANA and visited various legislators and staff members to discuss important policies related to nursing. 
The following day, I was able to sit in on the first Membership Assembly session where ANA discussed business relating to Bylaws, introducing ANA Enterprise’s organizational alliances, and more. That day, I had the pleasure of bringing greetings on behalf of NSNA in front of the entire delegation of the American Nurses Association. What an honor to be able to stand in front of inspirational leaders like ANA President Jennifer Mensik-Kennedy and the vast ANA voting body. I discussed what NSNA has been up to since the new election in April and how our current board is hard at work for organizing the best MidYear and Annual meetings for our students. I concluded my speech with best wishes for a truly wonderful Assembly and was shocked to find a standing crowd applauding the work of NSNA! It is an immense pleasure for me to bring this knowledge to all of you to know the kind of weight that NSNA has with nursing organizations upon graduation. It is never too late or a better time than now to join this incredible organization and be applauding the exceptional work we do for years to come. 
Afterwards, ANA held their dialogue forums. The three topics discussed were:

• Virtual Nursing
• Gun Violence
• Nursing Documentation

Although I didn’t speak on behalf of NSNA for all of the topics discussed, I felt especially compelled during the topic of gun violence and waited at the microphone to bring the student’s opinion to mind for the delegation. I discussed a resolution written by the NSNA Resolution Committee that was passed by the House of Delegates in 2018 titled, “In Support of Political Action for the Safety of All from Gun Violence.” Additionally, I also made the ANA delegation aware that because of this resolution, NSNA is supportive of the additional changes made to ANA’s policies regarding gun violence. Click here to see all the recommendations made by the Public Policy Committee and approved by the Membership Assembly.
That night, the incoming Executive Director, Dr. Kenya Williams (Past NSNA President) and I held the annual NSNA Past Presidents Dinner in which we had a wonderful attendance from Dr. Mary Foley (current ANA Consultant to NSNA, Past ANA President, Past NSNA President), Dr. Pamela Cipriano (Current ICN President, Past ANA President, Past NSNA President), Kyle Loose, RN (Past NSNA President), Dr. Cheryl Schmidt (Current NSNA Consultant to the Resolutions Committee), and Sharon Lamberton (Past NSNA President). It was a wonderful turn out with many other Presidents missed greatly. 
The following day, two different sessions of the Membership Assembly took place regarding bylaw changes, elections of the American Nurses Association Board of Directors, and more.
It was an incredible and very fast three days in which I saw many familiar faces from previous NSNA boards, met so many inspiring nursing leaders, and really got to put my advocating skills to the test. I am so excited to share all these experiences with you and please leave any questions you may have for me in the comment or feel free to shoot me an email!
Have a lovely rest of your July and I will speak to you soon!

Yours in service and signing off for now,
Lauren

Me (striving to be a future ANA President) with the Past ANA Presidents!