What is your Board Doing For You?
NORTH CAROLINA: FIRST IN NURSING LEADERSHIP
- 1903 - NC Nurses established the first professional nursing organization in the country, North Carolina Nurses Association.
- 2003 - NC is the first state nursing board to create a 501(c)(3) foundation, the Foundation of Nursing Excellence, to enhance the practice of nursing in the state through support of research, demonstration projects and leadership development.
- 2008 - NCANS founded a foundation for NCANS
Can you add any first to this list? Email me accomplishments of North Carolina nursing at hypoderm@ncans.org. I will be happy to add your submittal to the list!
News from the President
I am Kati Bloedau, the new president of the North Carolina Association of Nursing Students, and I’m thrilled to present your new Board of Directors for the 2008-2009 term. North Carolina’s nursing students are represented this year by a board that is remarkably diverse in geography, nursing degree program, age, ethnic background and gender. We have all come together with a commitment to build on the accomplishments of last year and actively participate in the local, state and national professional nursing community.
This is an exciting time for nursing students! NCANS celebrates our 50th anniversary this year – our keynote speaker at the Annual Convention looked back at the contributions of NC nurses. We will look forward to how we will be shaping the nursing profession in the future. National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) representatives at the American Nurses Association (ANA) House of Delegates this year advocated strongly (and apparently, quite convincingly!) for the inclusion of a recent graduate to ANA’s leadership. Similar efforts are taking place as we work closely with the North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA) to create a transitions program for students to professionals.
The NCANS board heads off to Reno, Nevada for the National Student Nurses Association Mid-Year Conference in the middle of November. We’ll network with national leaders and other state leaders. We’ll attend sessions and workshops on our new board positions. Tiffani Broderick, the new Publications Director, will tell you all about it when we return! In the coming weeks, you’ll also hear from Scott Goodsite, Breakthrough to Nursing Director, about our outreach project this year; Douglas Reid, Legislative Director, about our legislative platform; and your local District Directors about opportunities to supercharge your chapter’s activities and get involved on one of NCANS’s committees.
Please remember to mark your calendars for the North Carolina Mid-Year Conference March 6-8, 2009 in Wilmington at the Hilton Wilmington Riverside. We’ll have speakers, review sessions and leadership councils on Saturday, several chances to network and socialize with other nursing student leaders throughout the weekend and a mini-NCLEX review on Sunday morning!
We’d love to hear from you anytime! Go to the Board of Directors page and use the links to email any of us.
Kati Bloedau,
2008-2009 NCANS President
- Board approved presenting Advocacy and Awareness for the Mental Health of Soldiers as the 2008-2009 Community Health Project.
Break Through to Nursing Projects
- Board approved proposing the continuation of the current BTN project “I can Be A Nurse”, specifically to develop a curriculum and implementation plan throughout North Carolina.
Becoming an Elected Board Member (link to becoming a board member page project page)
In addition your board went to the Annual NSNA convention in Grapevine, TX. Here are some of the highlights:
- Congratulations to the North Carolina Nursing Student Association’s own legislative Director, Bonnie Kluttz! She is the newly elected NSNA Director South 2008-2009!
- The NCANS Resolution “In Support of Nationally Recognized End of Life Orders Including Advanced Directives” passed in the House of Delegates with 95% of the delegates supporting our resolution!
The Goals of NCANS are:
- To promote interest in professional nursing organizations
- To prepare nursing students for participation and membership in the professional nursing organizations
- To establish a better graduate-student relationship
- To promote unity and fellowship and encourage student government in schools of nursing
- To prepare nursing students and graduates for problems affecting nursing and community affairs
- To become familiar with parliamentary procedures and preside at meetings
- To stimulate leadership
- To cooperate with professional organizations in the recruitment of nursing students
- To afford opportunities to discuss student problems
