Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor, Author at Off the Charts

Nurses Change Presidents and Go Home

Wrapping up the 2010 ANA House of Delegates

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief. See Shawn’s other blog posts from the ANA House of Delegates meeting here and here.

The ANA House of Delegates, the governing body of the American Nurses Association, ended its 2010 meeting on Saturday, June 21, saying goodbye to outgoing president Becky Patton and welcoming new president Karen Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, from Massachusetts.

Daley, who’s held various state and national offices, is probably best known for her advocacy and leadership in working to pass federal legislation for safer needles and needlestick injury prevention programs. The next day, the first full day of her presidency, she made a trip to the White House (not her first visit—she was there in 2000 when President Bill Clinton signed the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act). (See the ANA press release with the full list of newly elected officers; other House of Delegate actions are listed here.)

This year, the atmosphere was markedly different from past years—no angry delegates walked out; no groups plotted disruptive strategies; there was even little word-smithing of resolutions. Everyone seemed to be working together. Maybe the cooperative atmosphere came about because there were no really controversial issues relating to organizational structure or dues or bylaws (perhaps the most controversial was whether to change terms of office from two years to four—it didn’t pass); or because the President of the United States […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:07-05:00June 23rd, 2010|career, nursing perspective|0 Comments

Protection or Harm — What Are You Doing at the Bedside?

I went to school over 25 years ago and while I was a staff nurse I always heard the call to wash my hands—but I will admit that the call did not always translate into action. I was busy, there was always one more task to do, and after all, hadn't I just put on or removed some gloves? Didn't all of that count?

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:08-05:00June 21st, 2010|nursing research|2 Comments

Nursing Education and Collective Bargaining: ANA Nurses Look Back to the Future

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief. (She e-mailed Off the Charts this post at the end of the day yesterday.)

There were no surprise guests today at the American Nurses Association (ANA) House of Delegates meeting here in Washington, DC. Today the House got down to business—Rebecca Patton addressed the House, reminding attendees that current accomplishments were built on work that began long before her presidency. This segued nicely into the insightful panel presentation by past presidents of the ANA, from Jo Eleanor Eliot through to Barbara Blakeny (Beverly Malone was absent). These past presidents reviewed their accomplishments with candor, noting accomplishments as well as regrets. For instance, Eliot noted that in retrospect, she wished that the ANA had developed an implementation plan to go with the proposal for basic educational preparation at the baccalaureate level. Barbara Nichols noted that the “elephant in the room” was collective bargaining, and that the ANA’s work in this area, whether one agreed with it or not, “forced the discussion” on what role and rights and influence nurses should have in their workplaces.

The threads of basic nursing education and collective bargaining ran through all the presidencies. After the distinguished panel and the standing ovation accorded to them, the House turned to resolutions and bylaws changes and clarifications of procedure . . . and this reporter was very grateful for the chocolate distributed by some of the candidates for ANA president.

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:10-05:00June 18th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|1 Comment

Obama, Rock Star for Nurses

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief (sent yesterday from her Iphone)

So it’s Wednesday afternoon, June 16, and I’m here in Washington, DC, attending the 2010 House of Delegates meeting of the American Nurses Association (ANA). It’s easy to find the sessions—one just has to follow all the middle-aged women walking in one direction through the lobby (full disclosure: that includes me).

ANA president Rebecca Patton opened the session and announced that there would be a “special surprise guest.” She got about halfway through announcements about parliamentary procedure, using the electronic voting machines, and the other housekeeping details when I noticed a rather large muscular young man with an earpiece slip in the door near me. I noticed several clones of him at each exit. Our “special guest” had arrived.

Patton introduced President Barack Obama and he received a rock star welcome from the approximately 800 attendees. He said he came because he promised he would if nurses supported his campaign and he won the presidential election. He proclaimed, “I love nurses.” (I wonder: when he goes to other groups, does he say, “I love physicians” or “I love auto workers”?) He retold the story of how nurses took care of his wife and daughters when his daughters were born and how the nurses “got him through” when one of his daughters had meningitis and how they gave her such good care.

Obama then spoke about the changes in health care brought about by the Patient […]