REPORT: October/November 2006

From the President

by Verlia Brown, MA, RN, C

A year has passed since I took office as President, and I’m still on the mountaintop because of members like you. Thanks to each and every one of you for being the foundation that keeps me grounded and the wind beneath my wings that lets me soar.

We are members of the oldest state nurses association in the country – celebrating its 105th anniversary this year. For more than a century, NYSNA has been a leader and a trend-setter for nurses associations across the nation.

NYSNA serves members who are represented by the association for collective bargaining and those who are not. It supports nurses who work in hospitals, long-term care, schools, and clinics. It represents members who work full-time, part-time, per-diem, and those who are retired. It is, in short, a multipurpose association.

The NYSNA constitution adopted in 1901 stated that “the object of the association shall be the development of the educational standard of nursing; the furtherance of the efficient care of the sick; the maintenance of the honor and character of the nursing profession; and the furtherance of cordial relations between the New York State nurses and the nurses of other States and countries.”

Registered nurses, this is our legacy. In all of our work on behalf of our multipurpose association, let us be true to the vision of those who founded it so many years ago.

According to the NYSNA mission statement, our goal is “to support and enhance the practice of the registered professional nurse and to improve the public’s health by providing leadership in changing the healthcare environment.” The driving force behind NYSNA is that it is an association of registered nurses for registered nurses.

What’s in the future for NYSNA?

We must continue to be involved in the legislative process. We must work to get a law passed that would designate RN positions as “physically taxing” in the New York City Administrative Code. This would recognize the work of 6,500 City nurses, who are among our most dedicated members.

We must collaborate with schools of nursing. Nursing students are our future. We must listen to them and incorporate their ideas into our goals. We must mentor them when they come into the workplace.

We must increase our membership base through organizing and by recruiting members from across the continuum of nursing practice.

We must allow all nurses to participate in our association, especially the retirees who are our mentors.

I know there will be obstacles along the way. There may be differences of opinion. When this happens, we should follow the advice of Malcolm X: “Be courageous to face any sort of problem as early as possible. It is like a small flame. If you try to put it out, you can stop it easily. If you don’t, it will be bigger day by day and burn everything.”

As individual nurses, we should renew our commitment to being highly competent practitioners of nursing, whether we are direct-care providers, nurse educators, nurse administrators, or fill other roles in the healthcare system.

We indeed have a bright future if we make it so. Let us work together to build one strong voice for nurses, a member-driven organization committed to a multipurpose mission.