NSNA Leadership U
Examples of NSNA’s Leadership Development Activities
School, State, and National
School chapter activities:
Breakthrough to Nursing-recruitment and retention of qualified students into the profession of nursing. Concentrates on increasing numbers of populations underrepresented in the profession (i.e. nursing students go to junior and senior high and primary grade schools to inform students about nursing careers and what nurses do; participate in career days; and professional image building activities).
Community Health Projects-based on community health needs assessment, students are involved in service learning to meet local health needs (i.e. provide health services and screenings for medically under-served populations; food and clothing drives; health fairs).
Legislation Education-provides opportunities for students to address health and nursing related legislative and regulatory issues (i.e. write resolutions for presentation at NSNA House of Delegates; visit state capitol for lobby day; letter writing campaigns to increase funding for nursing education and nursing research).
Self-governance-participation in starting an NSNA chapter or in an ongoing chapter. Serving on committee to organize and implement activities teaches students accountability and responsibility for decision making (i.e. how to conduct committee and Board meetings; record legal minutes; fiduciary responsibilities associated with dues and fund raising; how to conduct a membership meeting; use Parliamentary Procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order; bylaws and policy development, how to represent student interests on faculty committees; how to organize a program meeting; and writing resolutions).
School newsletters-many school chapters publish a newsletter. Several school chapters maintain web sites.
State chapter activities (builds on school chapter experiences):
Serving on a state Board of Directors and committees-various elected officer and director positions provide opportunities to expand experiences started at the school chapter level. (i.e. state organizations have positions for Breakthrough to Nursing, community health, legislation/public policy committees). Team skills learned through school chapter development are practiced and enhanced-students from different schools and educational programs (i.e. BSN, ADN, Diploma) and from different walks of life learn how to work together to accomplish goals.
Annual Convention-the state Board of Directors is responsible for planning and implementing an annual convention. Educational programs, business meetings, elections, and awards programs are examples of annual convention activities.
State-wide community projects, Breakthrough to Nursing and Legislative/public policy education also take place at the state level.
State Newsletters-publication of newsletter for distribution to members in the state association. Many state organizations maintain web sites.
National activities (builds on skills learned at school and state levels):
Serving in elected and appointed positions-students serve for one year terms on the NSNA Board of Directors and Nominating and Elections Committee, and the Resolutions Committee.
- Board of Directors-students learn the responsibilities of serving on a national Board of Directors (i.e. strategic planning, fiduciary, legal, and policy-making responsibilities of serving on a non-profit Board). All NSNA Board members also serve as committee chairs (i.e. Breakthrough to Nursing, Community Health, Legislative Education, Program Planning, Image of Nursing, Bylaws/Code of Ethics, Finance).
- Nominating and Elections Committee-responsible for preparing a slate of candidates and managing the Campaign Headquarters, Candidate Presentations and Presidential Debate at the convention.
- Resolutions Committee-responsible for the resolutions process at the convention. School and state chapters submit resolutions to the committee. The committee reviews the resolutions, meets with authors, runs Resolution Hearings at convention, and moves the resolutions in the House of Delegates.
Annual House of Delegates-school and state chapters elect/appoint delegates to represent them in the Annual House of Delegates. Delegates vote on bylaws, debate resolutions, move new business, and vote for the Board of Directors and Nominating and Elections Committee. The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the NSNA. Delegates use Parliamentary Procedure to conduct the business of the House.
Annual Awards Program-provides formal recognition to school and state chapters and faculty for their various projects and activities related to NSNA’s programs.
Student Table of Contents
Faculty Table of Contents |