2015 TN YB

WELCOME ALL!
Nursing Ethics: Commitment, compassion, quality care
Welcome from the TNA President
Billie Sills, MSN, RN, CLNC
I know that many of you have made a huge effort to join us here in Franklin, TN for
the TNA-TASN JOINT CONFERENCE where this year’s theme is “NURSING ETHICS:
COMMITMENT, COMPASSION, and QUALITY CARE”.
During the next three days you will have the opportunity to view ethics and nursing ethics
through the eyes of others and to find out and experience what the world of ethics means
for them. This is a time when we come together to review, reflect, debate and come to
consensus regarding many of the serious challenges facing the nursing profession and
specifically in the state of TN.
Again the public has rated nurses as the most ethical of professions. ANA has identified
2015 as the “Year of Ethics” and thus TNA’s conference is also centered on ethics in
nursing practice. For those of you who have never had the privilege of hearing our keynote
speaker, Faith Roberts, Director of Magnet Professional Practice and Parish Nursing at Carle Medical Center in
Urbana, IL, you are in for a real treat. She will make you laugh, cry, celebrate and reflect on your personal feelings
and understandings of the complex subject we call Ethics. Other presentations will include ethics of advocacy,
situational awareness, a look at the newly revised Code of Ethics, as well as opportunities for interactive problem
solving. A panel of TN legislators will discuss key issues of importance to nurses and our patients. Topping off the
educational opportunities will again include outstanding Poster Presentations.
This is the sixth year we have joined forces with the Tennessee Association of Student Nurses. Combining these two
relevant organizations gives us an exceptional opportunity to interact, mentor, and hear the concerns and dreams of
the new generation of professional nurses who are taking us into the future.
One of the most exciting things about attending the annual conferences is the bringing together of unique ideas
and perspectives we each bring to the meeting. This is nursing’s great strength. Nursing is not just a profession, it
is a community. It has been said that “it takes a village to raise a family”; well it takes a community of dedicated,
compassionate, strategic thinkers to provide a solid foundation for a healthcare system. And that colleagues and
friends, is professional nursing. I look forward to seeing each of you and hearing your thoughts and views, so take
advantage of this opportunity to network, share ideas, make new friends, laugh with old and engage with the next
generation of nurses.
We are Tennessee’s current nurses and Tennessee’s future nurses; we are the voice for professional nurses and the
profession of nursing. When we speak as a unified force…Tennessee listens.
3