E.D.'s Notes, The

Alabama Nurse,  Dec 2003-Feb 2004  

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At this time the 90th Alabama State Nurses Association Convention is but memories. Ahhhh, but what great memories. Those of you who missed it really missed a fantastic time. The gorgeous setting of the Lodge at the Grand National in Opelika was a wonderful background to some really fun events. The Backyard BBQ, outside at the pavilion, (sponsored by Hill-Rom) at which we ate and danced to the music of OZZ the DJ was an absolute hoot. Even got Charlene Roberson dancing for which she was awarded an OZZ T-shirt. Our "Fun with Frank" sessions had us up and going early in the morning and occasionally during the House of Delegates. Those early birds not only received monogrammed towels for their efforts, they also had the delightful experience of watching the deer wandering about in the fog. The dedication for this event was to all Alabama Nurses, Past, Present, and Future. Virginia Jenkins, in her period costume as Florence Nightingale, was the voice of the nurses of the past; Frank Canada, in his current work uniform, was the voice of the nurse of the present; and Ashley McCandless, a delightful highly energized Auburn School of Nursing student in her student uniform, was the voice of the nurses of the future. April Bishop did an outstanding job putting together a power point presentation of pictures of many of ASNA members from long, long ago to the present. Were we really ever that young? Some of the hairstyles in those pictures were unbelievable. The B-Team Angels and Jenny Nolan had us laughing to the point of tears and then some. All in all, it was a wonderful time and the evaluations support the fact that it was one of the very best conventions ASNA has had in a long, long time.

But, and there is always a but, we also accomplished a tremendous amount of work in the House of Delegates. There were several resolutions passed which you will find in this publication. Additionally, as you read in President Juanzetta Flowers message the HOD voted for change. As many of you already know from experience, change can be very uncomfortable and disconcerting but (there's that word again) we are not going at this change with a "grenade approach," where the pin is pulled, the grenade is tossed, detonates, and pieces fly every which way. The HOD approved the appointment of a Task Force chaired by Ruth Harrell to systematically look at this association from a variety of perspectives. Ruth and her team have already started holding open forums in each District and plan to finish up with the last forum in early December. From there the data will be complied, analyzed, evaluated, and a suggested course of action will be presented to the Board of Directors. The Task Force is committed to having its initial report and recommendations ready for the Board of Directors meeting in January 2004.

I have found that people resist change even more when they feel they have no input or say in those changes. Each and every one of you has the opportunity to have input into the future of this association. If you did not make it to one of the open forums and have suggestions to make, please call the ASNA office and let me know what you want passed on to the Task Force. Call and we will send you a survey, or call Ruth Harrell or any of the Task Force members.

The problems we are facing today in this association most likely came from yesterday's solutions that were implemented without thought to how that solution would impact the future. We do not want that to happen again so we will be looking for long-term solutions rather than quick fixes.

Personally, I love change. The only way we can improve this association is with change so I like to think that improvement = change.

Now is the opportunity for each and every ASNA member to ask the really big question, WHAT WILL IT TAKE? What will it take to get this association back on track to being the VOICE OF ALL ALABAMA NURSES? CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE.

As I mentioned before change is not easy. It means moving from a zone of comfort to a zone of discomfort, a zone of unknown, but I hope each of you is willing to look to the effects, the results, the goals that ASNA is aiming for and not get stymied by the means or methods of accomplishment.

I have agreed to continue as the Interim Executive Director for the next few months and can honestly tell you that I am looking forward to being part of the changes. Changes for an improved Alabama State Nurses Association. Changes that will hopefully catapult ASNA to bigger and better things.

We here in the ASNA office, will continue to seek ways to conserve our resources without eliminating services to you our members, but we could use some help. If you could volunteer some time here in the office we would sincerely appreciate any assistance, especially prior to major activities. Just give us a call at 334-262-8321.

Have a safe, joyous, peaceful Holiday Season. Take time to count your blessings and to remember the women and men of our Armed Services who are on the front lines facing numerous perils every day as they perform their duties to keep The United States of America Free.

Copyright Alabama State Nurses' Association Dec 2003-Feb 2004
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