Since 2004, I have been with this organization, not as a founding member, but as a crusader, upholding the positive image of nursing, promoting professional excellence and making a difference to the community we serve.  As a chapter organization, not only did we establish linkages with other organizations, but we have been recognized for our community service and educational and research initiatives. Now, it is time to elevate our goals a notch higher.  Most of our Filipino nurses came to the United States during the Industrial Age. Since that time, we have been affected by social changes and technological advancements. From Industrial, we moved to the Information Age. We have to realize that the changes that are happening in our society in our environment are not independent of each other. We need to sort out the variables out there that will affect nursing practice.  We need to accept the fact that we have to integrate high touch with high tech, with being caring and being objective, with interacting and being computer savvy, with being supportive and being rational. Participation, being engaged, being accountable for your actions—these are not options, but they are absolutely necessary.

     “A.I.M. - Aspire, Inspire and Make A Difference” is my selected mantra for the next two years. To aspire is an inner desire to achieve something. It is an attitude that leads to planned behavior.

     With the transformation of our health care system, there will be important opportunities and challenges that our nation will face in the next few years. There will be a fundamental shift from a disease-oriented system towards one where more emphasis is placed on wellness and illness prevention.  As president, I would like to keep our nurses informed, help them envision the future, and position themselves for success so they can take advantage of the new opportunities that health care reform will bring.

     As my term begins tonight, INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, INTERACTION, AND RELATIONSHIPS will be very essential for us to assure appropriate outcome. Six months ago, I started collecting data to have baseline information of our chapter composition.  Majority are from the Baby Boomers generation. 85% are RNs, with Bachelors degrees. 40% are interested in pursuing higher education. Less than 10% have national certification in the specialty areas where they practice. The top three reasons why they joined PNA are (1) privilege for professional representation, (2) leadership development and (3) community outreach.

     I also started, electronic newsletters; out of 245, 9 bounced on and off. In March only 59 out of 236 were opened; that’s about 25%. And then, with the August newsletter, it went up to 83, which is 35.2%.

     Based on those findings, we set our activities for the next two years. We will have leadership workshops to revitalize dedicated leaders, computer training to develop skills in electronic communication, electronic database expansion, certification workshops and graduate informational sessions to support members in their nursing career ladders. We will have strategic planning for membership recruitment and retention, and fund-raising and the pursuit of grants to improve financial stability.