NSNA 52nd Annual Convention Draws 3,500 Attendees

Nevada RNformation, Aug 2004

Newly Elected Board of Directors

Thirty-five hundred nursing students, faculty, and exhibitors from across the country packed the Opryland hotel and Convention Center March 31-April 4, 2004, for NSNA's 52nd Annual Convention, themed "We Make the Path by Walking It." The week-long convention was packed with educational and fun events, including a glorious opening session, awards ceremony, exhibit hall of nearly 300 exhibitors, House of Delegates business meetings, an Endnote, auction, and more.

OPENING CEREMONY AND KEYNOTE

High energy, down home greetings, and kick up your heels music highlighted the Opening Ceremony, which included greetings from President Bush (read to the audience of 3,000 by NSNA immediate past president Matthew Arant); greetings from Joyce Murray, EdD, RN, president, National League for Nursing, and Virginia Trotter Betts, JD, RN, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities, representing Governor Phil Bredesen. Keynoter Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN, president, American Nurses Association, explored the convention theme by highlighting the many paths to nursing excellence, encouraging students to "tend the profession like a garden," throughout their careers. Blakeney also emphasized the importance of political activism, and highlighted key ANA legislative initiatives, including the "Safe Needles Save Lives" and "Handle with Care" programs, designed to protect nurses in the workplace. The singing of the National Anthem and a moment of silence for our country's defenders of freedom lent an emotional tone to the Ceremony, contrasted with the swinging tunes of the award-winning justin Williams band from Nashville's Belmont University, which sent the audience to its feet.

ELECTION RESULTS - 2004-2005 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The following officers were installed at the close of the House of Delegates meeting on Saturday, April 3, 2004:

President: John D. Arce, president, Charleston Southern University, Charleston, South Carolina

Vice-president: Honey Beddingfield, University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Secretary/Treasurer: Lea Thomas-Smith, Floyd College, Rome, GA

Imprint Editor: Kimberly DiYanni, Ohio Valley General Hospital, McKees Rocks, PA

Breakthrough to Nursing Director: Tonya Brown, Georgia Baptist College, Atlanta, GA

Directors: Mark Ariizumi, Point Loma Nazarine University, San Diego, CA; Shelley Ray, Oakland University, Rochester, MN; Lisa Tierney, Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD; Anika Reed, University of South Carolina, Spartanburg, SC

Ex-officio and Chair, COSP Planning Committee: Sara Angelino, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

2004-2005 NOMINATING AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE

Chairperson: Emily E. Donelson, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Jeff Ririker, Butler County Community College, ElDorado, KS; Heather Behan, Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing, PertrT Amboy, NJ; Tammura Hargrove, Boise State University, Boise, ID

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

The House of Delegafes passed the following resolutions, in support of:

* Increased awareness of the professional etiquette of nursing students

* Mentoring middle, junior high and high school students with an interest in the nursing profession

* Education about the new standards which redefine normal, prehypertensive and hypertensive blood pressures

* The use of alcohol-based handrubbing solutions in conjunction with regular soap and water hand washing by healthcare workers in the clinical setting

* Increased education, prevention and increased awareness of screening for HIV/AIDS among at-risk clients over 50 years of age

* Encouraging student nurses to join professional nursing organizations upon graduation

* Routine screening regarding the use of complimentary and alternative medicines during the initial patient assessment

* Increased awareness about the consequences of binge drinking among college students

* Education about various models for assessing continued nursing competence

* Legislation aimed at increased education on the consequences of a high calorie, high fat diet

* Increased awareness and education about the national marrow donor program

* Raising awareness of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of a crisis

* Education and legislation that promotes the benefits of breastfeeding

* Promoting sun safety measures for infants, to reduce the risk of skin cancer

ENDNOTE ADDRESS AND RECEPTION

The endnote address, "Don't Stop the Music," was presented by G. Rumay Alexander, director of Multicultural Affairs, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. She spoke about the future of nursing.

FOUNDATION OF THE NSNA AWARDS CERE-? MONY

The NSNA Foundation Awards Ceremony honored many deserving nursing students and scholarship winners! Among the highlights are as follows:

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

* NSNA's highest award, presented to the individual with an outstanding record of service to NSNA and to nursing students, was presented to Professor Twila Sheskey, faculty advisor, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, Wisconsin.