NEW YORK NURSE: October/November 2007

Leading Voices

Defining moments at Convention

by Linda O'Brien, MS, RN

On Sept. 30, 2007, I became the 47th President of the New York State Nurses Association at the annual Convention in Atlantic City. I am proud and honored to hold this position.

For those of you who were not able to attend Convention, I believe there were four defining moments that occurred during our time together.

  1. We celebrated 50 years of collective bargaining! At the Delegate Assembly brunch, Cathryne Welch spoke eloquently about the difficulties involved in forming NYSNA’s first bargaining unit. She also addressed the ongoing and never-ending challenges we face as a multipurpose organization.
  2. An ambitious strategic planning initiative was presented at Convention. This plan, which will guide the association for the next three years, is based on input from four task forces that included both members and staff. These groups conformed to the four major goals NYSNA developed a year ago at a leadership retreat:
    • Be the public voice for all nurses in New York state.
    • Engage in effective political action.
    • Grow the organization.
    • Educate, engage, and mobilize NYSNA members and develop necessary leadership to accomplish these recommendations.
  3. The Voting Body overwhelmingly reaffirmed the multipurpose status of this association by defeating two bylaws proposals. One would have allowed the Delegate Assembly to set all policies of the association on any matters related to collective bargaining, including affiliations. The other would have barred a member who either employs RNs or acts as an agent of an employer of RNs from holding NYSNA office.
  4. The Voting Body also gave its support to a resolution endorsing H.R. 676, a bill before the U.S. Congress that would establish universal, single-payer healthcare coverage in the United States. We expect the association to be active in raising awareness of both nurses and the public about this issue that is so crucial to our nation’s health.

All of these actions were consistent with the mission of the New York State Nurses Association: “…to support and enhance the practice of the registered professional nurse and improve the public’s health by providing leadership in changing the health care environment.”

I’d like to share with you a quote from the book “Dare to Dream” by Jo Ryan, which was given to me by one of my colleagues at the close of Convention:

“To accomplish great things, we must act, dream, plan – and above all, believe.”

I believe in the future of the New York State Nurses Association. As individuals we may disagree on some issues, but we will weather those differences and emerge stronger than before. When we focus on our mission and our mutual goals, we will succeed in advancing the nursing profession, supporting our members, and improving health care in our nation.

Editor’s Note: Starting with this issue of New York Nurse, the “Leading Voices” column will be written by a variety of member leaders of the Nurses Association. The December 2007 column will be supplied by Barbara Crane, president of the NYSNA Delegate Assembly.