I Am TNA
by Ellen Morris, BSN, RN
I Am TNA. Little did I know or realize that I was TNA for the first 17 years of my nursing career. As I started my nursing career in the Neonatal ICU at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in 1984, I was also a newlywed and starting a family. As my career advanced from staff nurse to Charge Nurse, Unit Preceptor, Assistant Nurse Manager and Nurse Manager, life at home with a husband and two small boys also kept me busy away from work. It was not until I found myself pursuing employment away from the in-patient setting in 2001 that I joined TNA and realized that whether or not I take the step to join TNA and make the commitment be an active TNA member, I Am TNA.
Initially, the continuing education opportunities at both the local and state level were of interest to me. I was not familiar with the local District 1 meetings in Shelby/Fayette County but found the TNA members very receptive and eager to mentor a new TNA member. The wealth of knowledge and experience at the local meeting was both encouraging and inspiring. I hated to admit that I had been a Registered Nurse for 17 years and had not joined my professional organization. The representation and advocacy that TNA provides for all nurses across the state of Tennessee is crucial not only to us as nurses, but also to the citizens of the state in the delivery of quality, cost-effective health care.
The realization that nursing is regulated at the state level, no matter the employment setting, and that the state legislature has the capacity to pass laws affecting the care provided across the state, was the basis of my commitment to TNA. As an individual, I may have a limited voice, but as TNA, nurses have a unified voice for our profession and patients. Currently, I serve on the CE Review Committee as a participant in the Continuing Education approval process through TNA. I also serve as one of the Tennessee Nurses Association/Tennessee Association of Student Nurses (TASN) Liaisons. The role of the TNA/TASN Liaison is one of mentor and resource to the Tennessee Student Nurses Association Board of Directors at the state level, working with nursing students from across the state to promote nursing and the impact nurses have as a group at the state and national level through their professional organization.
As Registered Nurses, we are all TNA. We are all the future of nursing in Tennessee through TNA, and the impact we have on student nurses is great whether as an educator, staff nurse in a clinical rotation setting, preceptor to a new graduate nurse, or as a TNA/TASN Liaison. My commitment to TNA has been a very rewarding and valuable experience, and the on-going commitment TNA has to Registered Nurses across the state continues despite my lack of participation or membership for all those years. I Am TNA.
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