West Virginia Nurse - January 2022

January, February, March 2022 West Virginia Nurse Page 3
Executive Director’s Message
Julie A. Huron
WVNA Executive Director
Happy New Year, West
Virginia Nurses!
I am someone who loves
all seasons of the year; even
the cold and dreary weather
serves a purpose for me.
I have seen graphics that
winter is a natural season of
hibernation – a reminder to
slow down, rest, and take
care of ourselves. Possibly, I
welcome the season changes Julie A. Huron
because I believe there are
always great things about to come or that there is
hope in the next season. Whatever it is, seasonal
change works for me.
WVNA just experienced our first virtual fall
conference, “Rise Through COVID,” that included
our WVNA Membership Assembly. This was a new
event for WVNA, and it was an attempt to have more
members and nurses attend. The fall conference was
held on Thursday, October 21, 2021, and the event
was held on a virtual platform (our new normal). We
had approximately 90 attendees (some groups were
together on one line). We realize that nurses continue
to need tools, resources, and support, and our goal
for the event was to cast a lifeline to help nurses rise
through the fall surge of COVID-19.
The conference content included mental health
first aid, with a personal story from a nurse who
experienced the loss of a family member who
completed suicide. Our guests were courageous in
sharing their personal stories and exposing their
vulnerability to us all. It was a powerful and humbling
presentation. We also had a panel discussion on
workforce that included WVNA Immediate Past-
President Toni DiChiacchio as moderator, WVONL
president-elect Lya Stroupe, WVHA president/CEO
Jim Kauffman, and WV Center for Nursing executive
director Jordyn Reed.
WVNA has worked throughout 2021 to bring all
nursing and health care organizations together so that
we can share stories and work on solutions together.
The fall conference included sessions on work-life
balance; a session on diversity, equity, and inclusion; a
session for students; and poster presentations.
The Membership Assembly portion of the
fall conference included the election results and
announcement of WVNA new officers. We ratified the
2022 Health Policy & Legislative Statement, approved the
2022 WVNA budget, and discussed updates to the WVNA
policy and procedure policy and procedure manual.
The WVNA fourth quarter work during October,
November, and December included our fall
conference event and planning for our February
Nurses Day at the West Virginia Capitol (February
10, 2022). This will be an event for WVNA Legislative
Leaders and the WVNA HP&L Committee, planning
for our spring Virtual Policy Summit (this will be in
late March), and attending numerous meetings with
stakeholders and nursing organizations.
WVNA receives numerous requests to sign on to
letters that show WVNA nurses’ support regarding
certain organization issues or supporting certain
public health measures. We use our HP&L Statement
as our guiding document as we make decisions
regarding signing on or not. Over one last week in
December 2021, WVNA and nursing organizations
signed on to the Open Letter about COVID-19
from West Virginia Health Leaders: Please Get
Vaccinated and Boosted (you can read it on page
six of this issue and it is on our website, too: Sign-On
Letter Please Get Vaccinated and Boosted). I sent this
letter to the WVNA board for review, as well as to all
nursing partners who are Organizational Affiliates of
WVNA. Timeliness of response is always a factor, but
that is how letters of support work.
The WVNA DEI committee will be hosting
listening sessions similar to those the American
Nurses Association held in early 2021. The National
Commission to Address Racism in Nursing began
on January 25, 2021, when nursing organizations
across the country came together to launch the
project. This group is led by the American Nurses
Association (ANA), National Black Nurses Association
(NBNA), National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse
Associations (NCEMNA), and the National Association
of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN).
The formation of the commission happened
because for years, nurses individually have been
raising concerns to condemn all forms of racism. The
WVNA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee
(DEI Committee) will lead the coordination of these
listening session events in 2022. If this is something of
interest to you, and if you would like to be involved,
please contact Julie at the WVNA central office.
https://wvnurses.nursingnetwork.com/contact
We have added new membership benefits with
WVNA/ANA – if you haven’t seen them yet, check it
out now. (This can save you money!) The link is on our
website, and you can access the information here.
• Fitness: Active Fit Direct - our members now have
access to Active & Fit Direct, a fitness membership
program that costs $25/month (plus fees & taxes).
Members can join fitness centers in Active & Fit
Direct’s network, which includes brands like Gold’s
Gym, YMCA, SNAP Fitness, and Curves. Plus, the
Active & Fit Direct program includes access to over
4,000+ digital workout videos and offers healthy
lifestyle one-on-one coaching.
• Student loans: Laurel Road specializes in helping
nurses by offering special interest rates that
allow them to potentially save thousands of
dollars. Refinancing might help you consolidate
your loans into one manageable amount with one
— potentially lower —interest rate.
Our goal is to grow membership in WVNA again in
2022. If you are a member, thank you! If you have friends
who don’t know about WVNA, please direct them to
Julie or to the Membership Committee Chair, Anitra
Ellis. Anitra’s contact info is on page 2 of every issue of
WV Nurse. We want all WV nurses to know about WVNA,
what we do, how we advocate for nurses and how we
work together for nurses and patients of West Virginia.
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