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Do you remember when? It was a pivotal moment… the one when
you made your final decision…you were going to be a nurse. Do you
remember your hopes… your fears? It probably doesn’t take too much for
that moment to come back to you and you can feel those same feelings all
over again. You probably feel more enlightened at this point in your
career but I suspect the core ideal of why you wanted to be a nurse is
still the same. Soon we will be celebrating National Nurses Week
(May 6-12). ANA’s theme this year is “Nurses: Many Roles – One
Profession.” I hope you can take a moment out of your stressed out,
over committed, insanely busy day to stop (if only for a moment) to
reflect and revalidate how important a decision becoming a nurse was in
your life and celebrate it. Certainly, we celebrate you.
Speaking of celebrations, I’ve just returned from a site
visit in Savannah where the
Georgia Nurses
Association will be “taking a moment” in 2007 to celebrate its
100th year birthday! A huge benchmark in the organizations history!
Savannah is the birth place of GNA and the decision to hold the
Convention there in 2007 was a deliberate one. Our gracious
local hosts from District 1, Co-Chairs Eunice Bell and Diane Hinely,
escorted Sylvia and I through the streets and all the impressive squares
of Savannah during our site visit. I couldn’t help but notice the way
Savannah had so eloquently blended its reverence for the rich traditions
and monuments of its past with a vibrant aura of young families
visiting, living and working there today. What a perfect setting for
GNA to do the same in 2007. You will continue to learn more and
more about GNA’s centennial celebration that will be held in the fall of
2007. It is sure to be an event you will not want to miss. If you
have not been an active delegate in recent years and may have gotten out
of the habit of attending the annual meeting, we hope that you will make
it a point to come and participate in this very special celebration. We
have missed you! If the 2005 GNA House of Delegates passes the new
structure this fall, GNA will be returning to a one member/one vote
system so all members will be able to come to enjoy the celebration and
to vote! You will not have to be elected as a delegate to vote – all
members in good standing will be able to vote. (pending acceptance of
the new bylaws this fall). The date for the Centennial Celebration has
not been finalized yet but it will be either August, September or
October of 2007. Keep your eyes open for more details to
follow.
As you read in President Easterly’s article GNA’s leadership
is showing great courage by tackling the difficult task of assessing
what is working well in our current organizational structure and what
may need modernizing to keep GNA relevant for the new generation of
members. With proper preparation, while GNA is celebrating its past in
2007, GNA can continue to be a vital thriving community of nurses for
the future. GNA’s foremothers would have expected that.
GNA has numerous benchmarks in its history where it has
served as a groundbreaking role model for others within the ANA system.
With the current forward-thinking work (nicknamed Hedgehog) that GNA
leadership has been engaged in, GNA is once again a leader among
leaders.
At
GNA’s 2005 Annual Convention (October 19-21 in Columbus)
the theme will be “Fostering Community Among Nurses.”
GNA’s 2005
delegates will have the opportunity at this meeting to determine the
structure that will best serve its members in building community in this
rapidly changing, high tech world. As you know, pioneers take all the
arrows so it is likely that there will be some good debate over new
concepts and ideas. Can you imagine what courage it must have taken 100
years ago to form the Georgia Nurses Association? (Called the Georgia
State Association of Graduate Nurses originally.) I am sure that even
way back then there was great consternation and discussion about what
was best. But, here we are, still relying on gifted nurse leaders of our
time who are willing to contribute their time and talent to find
relevant ways to strengthen the organization and build community among
nurses. I hope you’ll find an opportunity to thank them when you see
them.
In the meantime, have a great celebration during National
Nurses Week and send us your pictures and captions so we can publish
them in the next issue of this newsletter! Let’s get this party
started… |
