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Annual Meeting Provides Promising Updates To Members
Annual Business Meeting at TNA Conference
By Serena Bumpus, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
TNA’S 2024 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING was held during the TNA Conference on Friday, May 31. Dr. Joyce Batcheller welcomed attendees and gave her final address as TNA President, where she reflected on the work accomplished during her two years in office. She spoke of her role in leading the search for TNA’s new CEO, the creation of TNA’s new strategic plan, and summarized the top challenges heard during the TNA Roadshows related to staffing, workplace violence, and turnover. Dr. Batcheller ended her address with the passing of the baton…or was it a wand…to incoming President, Dr. Amy McCarthy.
We were fortunate this year to invite representatives from the Texas Nursing Student Association (TNSA) to attend the conference and participate in the annual meeting. TNSA Vice President, Sciovahn Lydston-Barron addressed the audience and offered words of wisdom to attendees. She encouraged supporting new nurses and embracing students, and shared her enthusiasm and concerns about entering the profession.
TNA’s Board Secretary Missam “Sam” Merchant stepped in for TNA Treasurer Gloria Loera to provide an update on TNA’s finances. While TNA currently operates with a deficit budget, we have a healthy overall financial outlook ending last year with $6,617,241 in net assets. The organization has a goal to achieve a balanced budget by Fiscal Year 2028. Since starting, CEO Dr. Serena Bumpus has shaved 35% off the deficit from her start in 2022.
TNA’s incoming President Dr. Amy McCarthy shared her vision for the future. Nursing is stronger when we work together.
TNA’s Director of Government Affairs Jack Frazee recapped the 88th legislative session for the audience and updated them on next steps. There are several relevant interim charges related to increased workforce funding, increasing access to care through regulatory reform and increasing mental health resources. In addition, TNA’s policy council is crafting policy recommendations centered around additional education funding, clinical education development, staffing, anti-retaliation protections, full practice authority for APRNs, Schedule II prescriptive authority, increased access to mental health care and much more.
TNA also recognized the recipients of the inaugural A. Louise Dietrich Scholarship. Those individuals were Calli Wood and Jamie Clemons. Congratulations to these nurses, and we wish them well on their journey toward higher education!
This year, TNA invited the Texas Nurse Honor Guard to pay tribute to our fallen colleagues. It was a beautiful tribute to those who gave their all to the profession of nursing. Thank you Kathy Daniels, Frankie Phillips, Gail Shevlin, Jamie Shurdin, Elizabeth Sjoberg, Retha Jane Woods and Donna Wright, for your service. We will take it from here.
TNA will say farewell to Dr. Edtrina Moss as her term on the board ended June 30, 2024. We want to thank Dr. Moss for her dedication to TNA and most importantly for the ideas and direction she provided for the organization during her time on the board. You helped lay the foundation for the future of TNA in a time of great transition.
The meeting also welcomed the new TNA Board Director Dr. Lucindra Campbell-Law and welcomed back Treasurer, Dr. Gloria Loera, Director, Dr. Kit Bredimus and Director, Mary Vitullo for a 2nd term. Dr. Sarah Williams was re-elected as Leadership Succession committee chair, and we welcomed Donna Hedges and Brandy Pitts as new members of the Leadership Succession Committee. The meeting ended with an address from TNA’s incoming President Dr. Amy McCarthy, who shared her vision for the future, which centered around togetherness. Nursing is stronger when we work together, and she pointed out that when we work against each other, it challenges our profession and leads to further fragmentation and toxicity. She further emphasized that we must believe in our power and expertise to make meaningful change in our communities and in healthcare. She ended her address with this quote, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Please join us in making that change— together.
