Day 2 of the ANA Membership Assembly

Mental health and nursing licensure, improved care for veterans, and top ethical issues at the ANA Membership Assembly

The ANA Membership Assembly, the governing and voting body of the American Nurses Association (ANA) acted June 29 to support nurses struggling with mental health and licensure issues and to increase access to quality health care for veterans .

The representatives of the Assembly also voted for transparency in investments and ethical partnerships. More than 400 nurses, supervisors and other leaders attended the two-day governance meeting in Washington, DC Eligible delegates also elected national leaders.

Aiming high

In her report to the Assembly, ANA Enterprise CNO Debbie Hatmaker, PhD, RN, FAAN, thanked members for coming together to demonstrate “the power of nurses.”

“It’s this body — representing almost every corner of the nation — that sets the priorities for nursing,” Hatmaker said. “You are activists, change makers, experts, leaders, educators and more.”

In support of ANA’s commitment to confronting racism in nursing, Hatmaker reported on the formation of the Racial Reckoning Think Tank in partnership with ethnic minority nursing associations. “We’re approaching this work intentionally, making sure the right voices and lived experiences are represented,” she said. “We expect the results from the Think Tank to provide meaningful recommendations to advance an anti-racist profession.”

Hatmaker gave the Assembly a report on progress made on the recommendations of last year’s dialogue forum on the topics of virtual nursing, gun violence prevention and the burden of documentation. For example, ANA is developing a national policy that addresses the standardization of virtual nursing.

ANA is also advocating for legislation to address gun safety and access, increased funding for mental health services, and gun violence research. During the meeting, the organization released a statement applauding the Surgeon General’s declaration of gun violence as a public health crisis.

Compassion and support

Assembly participants agreed that change is needed to eliminate discriminatory policies against nurses with substance abuse and mental health problems and to foster a culture of support and compassion. Nurses struggling with addiction are often reluctant to seek help because they fear losing their license and employment opportunities. Several participants described losing colleagues to suicide due to feelings of hopelessness. The Assembly voted to expedite changes to mental health reporting requirements and to normalize the process for nurses to seek help for workplace-related stress.

In support of increasing access to care for the US veteran population, the Assembly voted to consider VA Community Care as a supplement to the provision of care by the Veterans Health Administration and to work to improve nursing knowledge related to the needs unique to veteran health care. population.

In addition to its political actions, the Membership Assembly also approved a planned tariff escalation starting in 2025.

Attendees also provided input on the Professional Policy Committee’s recommendations, which included a draft revision of the ANA Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements. The review, expected to be published in January 2025, is open for public comment until July 31, 2024.

Emerging issues

The representatives of the Assembly listened to the new business, the adoption of motions related to the ethics and transparency of financial investments and the development of a policy to assess all external partners in accordance with internal ethics. The Assembly did not approve a motion recommending that the ANA Board of Directors approve the presidential candidates.

National leaders elected to serve on the nine-member ANA Board of Directors during the Membership Assembly include:

• President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Oregon Nurses Association;
• Secretary Amanda Oliver, BSN, RN, CCRN, CPST, ANA-Illinois;
• Grand Director Edward Briggs, DNP, MS, APRN, Florida Nurses Association;
• Grand Director Ahnyel Burkes, DNP, RN-BC, NEA-BC, Louisiana State Nurses Association; AND
• Senior Director, Staff Nurse Josephine Agyei, BSN, RN, ANA-New York.

Elected to serve on the Nominations and Elections Commission are:

• Mavis Mesi, DNP, MSN, RN, Colorado Nurses Association;
• Vinciya Pandian, PhD, MBA, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, FCCM, FAANP, FAAN, FFNMRCSI, Maryland Nurses Association; AND
• Kimberly Velez, MSN, RN, ANA-New York.

Read more about Day 1 of the ANA Membership Assembly and Hill Day.