Running head: PROFESSIONAL MEETING PAPER 1

Professional Meeting Paper

Angela Ofori

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Catherine Mikelaites, MSN, RN-BC

April 20, 2017

I pledge: Angela Ofori

PROFESSIONAL MEETING PAPER 2

The professional meeting that was attended was the Emergency Nurses Association

(ENA) meeting at Memorial Regional Hospital. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the

committee of any updates and inform the members of proper STEMI guidelines. The topics that

were discussed at this meeting were: fundraising efforts that would go to the ENA Virginia

chapter, recruitment of new members, the annual ENA conference that would be held in Las

Vegas, and the STEMI protocol. The ENA is always willing to recruit new members especially

students, there are opportunities for ENA members to receive grants and scholarships. In the

ENA it was discussed that there will be a booth at the Tomato Festival the theme of their booth is

injury prevention, the members were still in the brainstorming process for ideas for booth. One

of the members discussed law that if a patient were to physically assault an emergency

department (ED) nurse, the patient will be charged with a misdemeanor, the chapter hopes that in

their efforts it will become a felony. In the meeting there was a presenter by the name of John

Dugan, a representative of the American Heart Association (Mission Life Support) who spoke to

the group about the STEMI protocol in the hospital and he also had an activity on the the

recognition of a STEMI on an EKG strip.

Application of Course Material

Nursing demonstrates advocacy whether it is advocating for patients, the community, or fellow

nurses or health care providers. In the meeting the members will be lobby at the state capitol, to

change the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony in the case where a patient may physically

assault an ED nurse. ENA is an organization that advocates for their fellow nurses and the

patient population. The ENA like other organizations exemplifies advocacy, with the efforts of

restructuring health care and the value of nursing care (Nursing Scope and Standards, p.20). The

ENA advocates on legislative issues that affect the emergency nurses, meeting with federal
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officials that will impact whether or not legislature is passed, with the goal is to provide safe and

quality care for patients that are in the emergency room ("Government Relations," n.d.).

The ENA makes it a priority to implement ways for quality and safety for all individuals.

In the presentation by John Dugan, he discussed what is done when a patient is suffering from a

heart attack which consists of the amount of time that is allotted to repair the heart in order for

the patient to have a quality of life. The goal would be to improve the time from the patient

entering the hospital to the time the patient gets to the catheterization lab where the patient will

receive an Clopidogrel (Plavix) and may receive a stent.

As nurses the ENA organization goes out to the community to promote safety and quality to

citizens. The nurses that do go out to the community with a goal of teaching individuals in the

community injury prevention. The ENA Virginia chapter will have a booth about injury

prevention at the annual Tomato Festival this will benefit the the consumers, because it provides

an opportunity for the nurses to teach individuals in the community of issues such as the

prevention of child abuse, fire safety, teaching about the acting quickly in a situation when there

are not any medical professionals present.

The business and healthcare of healthcare was integrated in the meeting, members of the ENA

have certain responsibilities for example there is a president, treasurer, and there is the

committee. The treasurer gave the members an update on funds received from fundraisers. This

ENA chapter is selling lip gloss and the proceeds are going towards the Virginia chapter. The

ENA also has an annual business conference where there is business discussed as well as an

enhancement of competency skills among nurses, nurse managers, ad clinical directors

("Education," n.d.). There is role that everyone is accountable for which resembles the
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healthcare system. Similar to the hospital because it is important to have budgets implemented

for things such as equipment to the amount of staff that works on a unit.

Application to Profession of Nursing

The value of of professional nursing meetings is to advocate for the nurses and patients. The

meetings are done to bring nurses that share the the same specialty a chance to express their

comments or concerns. The values of the profession of nursing is provide education, advocate,

and to provide care to patients. As a nurses the ultimate goal is to provide patients with the

holistic care.

Reflection

After going the ENA professional meeting I can say that it is very important to branch out

of the hospital or any other healthcare facility and move to the community. The ENA members

play a role in the community setting by providing grants and scholarships to students and

educating individuals in the community. The professional nursing organizations work on

implementing safety and quality for the improvement of their specialty such as the emergency

department or critical care. One of the members said “a nurse is an advocate, educator, and

someone who gives back to the community.” A nurse has an important role; it is not just in the

hospital setting but in the community. Going to this meeting has shaped my future decisions as

nurse by being able to educate and advocate people any and everywhere because as a nurse our

gift is to help and heal and that can be done by going into communities, also know as giving

back. The ENA Virginia chapter would like to change legislature and as a nurse I can gather

information and go to Capitol Hill to propose legislature that would improve healthcare.
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References

American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.). Silver

Springs, MD: Author

Core Values. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/about/core-values

Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ena.org/education/Pages/default.aspx

Government Relations. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.ena.org/government/Pages/LandingPage.aspx

Matthews, J., (January 31, 2012) "Role of Professional Organizations in Advocating for the

Nursing Profession" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 17, No. 1,

Manuscript 3.

The Ideal STEMI-Referring Hospital. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Professional/MissionLifelineHomePage/STEMIRefe

rralHospitals/The-Ideal-STEMI-Referring-

Hospital_UCM_312085_Article.jsp#.WP0XFsm1uDU