Nurse mental health and licensure, improving veterans’ care, ethics top issues at ANA Membership Meeting
The American Nurses Association (ANA)’s (ANA) governing body and official voting body, the ANA Membership Assembly, took action on June 29 to support nurses struggling with mental health issues and licensure, and ensure veterans have access to quality health care.
Congressional representatives also voted for investment transparency and ethical partnerships. More than 400 nurses, observers and other leaders attended the two-day governance conference in Washington, D.C. Qualified representatives also elected national leaders.
Aim high
In her report to the General Assembly, ANA Enterprise CNO Debbie Hatmaker, PhD, RN, FAAN, thanked members for coming together to demonstrate the “power of nurses.”
“This is a group that represents almost the entire country that sets the priorities for nursing,” Hatmaker said. “You are the activists, you are the change agents, you are the experts, you are the leaders, you are the educators, and so much more.”
To support the ANA’s efforts to combat racism in nursing, Hatmaker reported that they have partnered with the Ethnic Minority Nurses Association to launch a race issues think tank. “We are being intentional about this work to ensure the right voices and lived experiences are represented,” Hatmaker said. “We hope that the output of the think tank will provide meaningful recommendations that will advance the anti-racist profession.”
Hatmaker updated Congress on progress made on recommendations made at last year’s Dialogue Forum on topics such as virtual nursing, gun violence prevention and documentation burden. For example, the ANA is developing a national policy to address the standardization of virtual nursing.
ANA also advocates for legislation to address gun safety and access, increased funding for mental health services, and research on gun violence. During the conference, the organization released a statement praising the Surgeon General’s decision to declare gun violence a public health crisis.
Compassion and support
Council members agreed that changes are needed to eliminate discriminatory policies against nurses with substance abuse or mental health issues and to foster a culture of support and compassion. Nurses who struggle with addiction often hesitate to seek help for fear of losing their licenses or employment opportunities. Several attendees spoke of losing colleagues to suicide out of despair. Council members voted to accelerate changes to mental health reporting requirements and standardize the process for nurses to seek help for workplace-related stress.
To help improve access to health care for America’s veterans, Congress resolved to consider VA Community Care as a supplement to health care delivery by the Veterans Health Administration and to work to improve nursing knowledge of veterans’ unique health care needs.
In addition to the policy measures, the General Membership Meeting also approved a planned increase in membership fees from 2025.
Participants provided input into the recommendations of the Expert Policy Committee; ANA Code of Ethics and Interpretive StatementsThe revised version, scheduled for publication in January 2025, Comments from the public are welcome Until July 31, 2024.
New issues
The Assembly representatives considered new agenda items and approved a motion on ethics and transparency in financial investments and creating a policy to evaluate all external partners for conformity with internal ethics. The Assembly did not approve a motion to recommend that the ANA Board of Directors endorse a presidential candidate.
National leaders elected to the nine-member ANA Board of Directors during the Membership Assembly are:
- Oregon Nurses Association President, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN;
- Secretary Amanda Oliver, BSN, RN, CCRN, CPST, ANA-Illinois;
- Florida Nurses Association Board President Edward Briggs, DNP, MS, APRN;
- Ahnyel Burkes, DNP, RN-BC, NEA-BC, president of the Louisiana Nurses Association;
- Board Chair, RN Josephine Agyei, BSN, RN, ANA-New York;
The following people were elected to the Nominations and Elections Committee:
- Mavis Mesi, DNP, MSN, RN, Colorado Nurses Association;
- Vinciya Pandian, PhD, MBA, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, FCCM, FAANP, FAAN, FFNMRCSI, Maryland Nurses Association;
- Kimberly Velez, MSN, RN, ANA-New York;
Learn more about Day 1 of the Membership Meeting and ANA Hill Day.
