President's Message

Alabama Nurse, Jun-Aug 2003 by Flowers, Juanzetta S

New Executive Director

By now, most of you are aware that Karen Pakkala has resigned as Executive Director of ASNA to move to Virginia to begin a new phase of her life. Karen did a great job for us and she will be missed. We have been extremely fortunate to have Helen Wilson to serve as the Interim Executive Director while we look for a new one.

Due to all the changes taking place with ANA, the decision was made to delay activating the search for the new ED until after the ANA HOD in June. At that House, the delegate will vote on new bylaws which are designed ,to formulate the new ANA entity for workplace advocacy. The WPA is on par with the UAN and will be the home for ANA members who are not affiliated with a bargaining unit. In Alabama, out of 1,700 members, less than 100 members belong to a bargaining unit. The WPA's purpose will be to provide educative, legislative, and legal support for registered nurse members.

Of course, it is not a given that the new bylaws will pass as written. With that possibility it seemed best to delay the search for a new ED until the dust settles at ANA. The Search Committee will be chaired by Charlotte Wynn; the other members are Ruth Harrell and Debbie Kirk.

Billie Ward volunteered to be the interim secretary to complete Helen's term.

More About WPA

The ANA are the WPA have signed a formal agreement of relationship. The relationship will be codified in the bylaws at the House of Delegates in June. At the moment, 27 of the constituent member associations have declared an intent to be a part of the WPA Coalition. ASNA is one of those CMAs. The current WPA Leadership Council is proposing the new name for the coalition to be the Center for American Nurses (CAN) with a tag line to read, "Serving the Need of Nurses Today and Tomorrow." The new name and logo will become official with new bylaws when they pass.

Nominations for the Governing Council of the new CAN are in process. The first meeting of the Governing Council will be June 27, 2003, following the ANA HOD.

As Dr. Lynn Wieck said recently at FACES, it is an exciting time to be a nurse. And, it is an especially interesting time at ANA. Monumental changes are afoot. Changing things at ANA are much like turning an ocean liner around-it takes time, patience and perseverance. But, in the case of workplace advocacy, the patience and perseverance have paid off and the ship is heading in a new and exciting direction. ASNA is an active participant in the new direction.

Problems with Districts

For some years now, the ASNA Districts have been having difficulty with lack of attendance at any, and indeed, all types of meetings. Some districts have fallen into such disarray that even the officers have resigned. This is a very serious problem and certainly tells us that the old model is broken. We need a fresh approach to involve the membership in meaningful ways. It is apparent that our membership has been graying for many years and that fewer and fewer young people are choosing to join us. After the convention last year, the Board of Directors appointed a task force to study how best to reorganize our structure to better serve the members. Jeanette VanderMeer is the chair. We hope to be able to present their findings at the 2003 convention this fall.

I, for one, would like to see ASNA totally revamped from top to bottom. If you have ideas as about how to do that, please let us hear from you. I hope to hear new and innovative ideas. You do not need to be an elected official to have your ideas heard. We want to know what you think. Please tell us. Let's make a pledge to turn the ocean liner called ASNA around and send it in a new direction. The old way is not working and we need your help to chart a new course.

by Juanzetta S. Flowers, RN, DSN