FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 21, 1999
CONTACT:
Paula Darte,
202-651-7021
Joan Meehan,
202-651-7020
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ANA HOUSE OF DELEGATES APPROVES SIGNIFICANT RESHAPING OF THE ASSOCIATION
Washington, D.C. — In an effort to address the needs of all registered nurses, the American Nurses Association's (ANA) House of Delegates passed historic bylaws changes that streamline and revitalize the organization. The House also approved several reports regarding critical practice and health policy issues. The ANA House of Delegates meets annually and was held this year June 17-20.
"By working together, we have built a house that has room for all nurses, regardless of specialty, job title or where they live or practice," said ANA President Beverly L. Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.
The bylaws changes reinforce ANA's overarching commitment to professional practice advocacy for the nation's 2.6 million registered nurses. Professional practice advocacy embraces activities including education, lobbying, and advocating individually and collectively in order to advance nursing's agenda.
ANA is a federation of constituent nurses associations. The bylaws changes create a national labor entity within ANA, a task force on workplace advocacy, a congress on nursing practice and economics, and a new federal constituency.
ANA will create a national labor entity, the United American Nurses (UAN), within the association to focus its on-going labor activities. The UAN will support state nurses associations (SNAs) in their organizing and collective bargaining efforts.
Said Malone, "This is an extremely important development in the maturation of ANA. The United American Nurses will focus our already-existing work to organize and represent RNs who want support through collective bargaining to deal with issues such as staffing levels and workplace safety. We recognize that RNs and SNAs have various ways of dealing with difficult issues. The UAN will reinforce our SNAs that offer collective bargaining services."
The House also approved the creation of a task force to develop strategies and recommendations to ensure that nurses who are not represented by collective bargaining have access to meaningful workplace advocacy. Said Malone, "We recognize that our SNAs seek a variety of ways to champion for the profession in the workplace. We are allocating resources to see that all RNs have support as they take on tough issues that impact their ability to care for patients effectively." The task force will report to the ANA board by the end of 1999 with recommendations regarding an organizational structure and program for workplace advocacy.
Additional House measures include streamlining the association structure that recommends policy around practice, regulation and legislation. Several congresses, councils and institutes had contributed to policy development. One Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics now will consolidate the administration of these policy activities. The new congress will then create ad-hoc issue groups as needed, while some practice areas will be represented by standing committees. Said Malone, "This makes ANA more nimble in the policy-making arena. Given the rapid rate of change in health care, streamlining and adhocracy make it possible for us to address pressing issues most effectively."
The House also approved the creation of a new federal constituency within the ANA federation. This new constituency will be for active duty nurses employed by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as uniformed Public Health Services nurses. "This new constituency," said Malone, "opens a venue for these nurses to gain the national voice and representation ANA can offer, while also enhancing SNA growth through new types of membership."
The House also spent significant effort on practice and health policy work. Most notably, the House directed ANA to amplify its work pressuring regulatory and accrediting agencies to implement standards that require safer needle devices to prevent needle stick injuries to health care workers. Health care workers sustain more than 600,000 needle stick and sharps injuries each year, resulting in more than 1,000 new cases of HIV, hepatitis C or hepatitis B.
Commenting on this year's House of Delegates, Malone said, "While it was fitting that we spent time and energy reshaping our association so it is poised to address the complex issues RNs face in many arenas, practice and health policy are at the heart of ANA's mission. Therefore, it is equally important that the 1999 House of Delegates also acted on important, timely issues in these areas."
The House of Delegates is ANA's internal policy-making forum. Delegates are elected through their state nurses associations in numbers corresponding to membership levels in each state.
Learn more about the bylaws
changes
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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