Greetings, NSNA members and future colleagues!
             I hope you all are doing well! I recently traveled about five hours north of New York and attended the American Nurses Association New York Chapter’s 11th Annual Conference in Verona, New York. It was a wonderful meeting where nursing leaders like Dr. Kenya Beard, winner of the ANA-NY’s President’s Award, spoke on the theme: Lighting the Way. A silent auction was done for various items to support the organization in addition to donations taken for the ANA-NY Political Action Committee, that supports legislative candidates running for office that support the policy additions/changes of ANA and ANA-NY.  The convention was well-attended, and all sessions were engaging!
            I saw many of my nursing leadership colleagues there that I had met when I attended ANA Membership Assembly and represented nursing students. It is such a wonderful thing in nursing leadership to get to see colleagues you don’t see every day at conferences like these. During the business meeting on Friday, November 10th, I was asked to give a brief update on NSNA’s activities and how ANA-NY can engage with nursing students from New York. It was a very successful business meeting with ANA-NY advancing their association through their increased membership numbers even more than before the covid pandemic and more.
            Also, during the business meeting, Dr. Marilyn Dollinger, President of ANA-NY, announced a second President’s Award and to my surprise, she called my name! I was and still am so honored to have accepted this award from Dr. Dollinger, who is an exceptional nursing leader and a genius advocate.
            That night was ANA-NY’s Annual Award Dinners and Gala. Dinner was fabulous and I was thrilled to see my Obstetrics clinical instructor from the semester before this one, Dr. Catherine Bell, adjust at Molloy University and full-time faculty at Adelphi University. Dr. Bell has been one of my favorite instructors that I’ve had thus far and I know I will be following in her footsteps through my Labor and Delivery career post-graduation.
            The following day, breakfast was served, and a few sessions were also held. In the afternoon, I started my drive back to the greater New York City Region, reflecting at my time in Verona.
            As NSNA members, we understand the importance of leadership during our studies. But we also must realize that leadership—regardless of schooling—is essential to our professional development! It is organizations like ANA and your state aligned nursing organization, along with many specialty organizations (like many of our partnership program associations), that continue NSNA’s core values of advocacy, leadership & autonomy, professionalism, care, diversity, and quality education.
Therefore, I know I will be attending many ANA-NY conferences in the future. And am looking forward to my next ANA-NY conference as a member!
 
Yours in service and signing off for now,
Lauren