American Nurses Association Re-Elects Blakeney

ANA delegates elect officers, board members and other leaders at House of Delegates meeting

Washington, DC - Delegates of the American Nurses Association (ANA) elected Barbara A. Blakeney, APRN,BC, MS, ANP, of Waltham, MA, to serve a second consecutive two-year term as president of the nation's leading professional nursing organization representing the major health policy, practice and work place issues of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. A slate of 28 candidates vied for 19 leadership positions during ANA's 2004 elections. Blakeney and other nurse leaders were elected during the ANA House of Delegates meeting held in conjunction with the association's biennial Convention, June 27-29, in Minneapolis.

An expert in public health practice and policy and leadership development, Blakeney is on leave from her position as the director of health services for the homeless at the Boston Public Health Commission. Previously, she was the principal public health nurse for homeless services and addiction services at the Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Hospitals in Boston, MA. Blakeney also held the position of primary care nurse practitioner at Amherst Medical Associates in Amherst, MA, and Boston City Hospital.

Blakeney has held numerous ANA positions including first vice president, chair of the Committee on Bylaws, member of both the Reference and Nominating Committees, and she served two terms as ANA second vice president. At the state level, she served as vice president and president and later as treasurer of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), when it was an affiliate of the ANA. She is currently a member of the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses.

ANA Board members re-elected to serve two-year terms as officers of the Board include Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, EdD, RN, CNAA, FAAN, of Lubbock, TX, a professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, who was re-elected as first vice president; Mary L. Behrens, MSN, RN, FNP-C, of Casper, WY, a consultant, who was re-elected as second vice president; and Katheren Koehn, RN, of St. Paul, MN, a staff nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, who was re-elected as secretary.

In addition, Janice E. Bussert, BSN, RN, of Vashon Island, WA, triage nurse at Vashon Health Center, was newly elected as treasurer. (The Board had appointed Bussert as treasurer in 2003 after the previous treasurer resigned.)

The elected at-large board members include Linda Beechinor, MS, APRN, Rx, of Honolulu, HI, assistant professor, Hawaii Pacific University and family nurse practitioner, Waikiki Health Center (re-elected); Ernest J. Grant, MSN, RN, of Chapel Hill, NC, a nursing education clinician II, University of North Carolina Health Care, North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center; and Linda S. Warino, BSN, RN, CPAN, of Canfield, OH, executive director, District Three, Ohio Nurses Association and a staff nurse, Forum Health North Campus.

Elected to the at-large board staff nurse positions were Ann Converso, RN, of Lawtons, NY, staff nurse, Veterans Administration of Western New York Health Care System (re-elected); and Patricia A. Koenig, BSN, RN, of Anoka, MN, staff nurse, Allina Corporation/Mercy Hospital.

The five nurses elected to the Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics include Karen A. Ballard, MA, RN, of New York, NY, program director for Special Projects, New York State Nurses Association; Virginia Burggraf, DNS, RN, FAAN, of Radford, VA, a Marcella J. Griggs endowed professor in Gerontological Nursing, Waldron College of Health and Human Services, Radford University School of Nursing; Emma L. Doherty, MA, RN, of Salina, KS, director of emergency services, Salina Regional Health Center; Ann Mabe Newman, DSN, APRN,BC, of Charlotte, NC, associate professor of nursing, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and Jeanne Surdo, MA, BSN, RN, of St. Paul, MN, cardiology and genetics clinical specialist, Children's Hospitals and Clinics.

Four nurses were elected to the Nominating Committee: Brenda L. Cleary, PhD, RN, FAAN, of Raleigh, NC, executive director, North Carolina Center for Nursing; Mary H. Griffith, MN, RN, of Phoenix, AZ, consultant, secretary-treasurer, E & H Resources, Inc.; Barbara Lovinia Mims, PhD, RN, MSN, BSN, MED, CNS, of Ravenna, OH, assistant professor of nursing at Kent State University College of Nursing; and Elaine Williams, APRN-CNP, of Chicago, IL, nurse associate, Cook County Hospital.

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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million registered nurses (RNs) through its 54 constituent member 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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