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.)

The Golden Gavel/by dreamsjung, via Flickr

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 visited; or maybe having past ANA presidents provide some history of working through some critical issues put the current agenda in perspective.  Whatever it was, it was a refreshing change and, I hope, a harbinger of the next few years.

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