The N-OADN Convention in Albuquerque was great - good location, great networking, and very educational. T-OADN had good representation - I was sorry that you could not all be there. It was disturbing to hear the update on the New York situation regarding the proposed 10 years that ADN grads will have to get their BSN or their license will go inactive. A delegation from New York gave us the latest information that they felt they had to support the measure in their council since that would let them be at the table when the legislation was written. This will be going before the Board of Regents next, but we learned in the First Tuesday communication from N-OADN that this will not happen at the next meeting. Whenever you attend a convention, there is always someone who keeps getting up and adding their two cents while everyone at their seats is muttering - "Oh no, not her again!" I felt like that person at the N-OADN Convention. First, at the meeting of the state presidents, the increase in communication to members and between board members was touted. I was concerned about the decrease in communication with the state presidents. We were no longer invited to the June N-OADN board meeting. For me, reading a short summary of issues is not enough to be as informed as I need to be as state president. I am excited that the decision was made that the N-OADN board will include the state presidents in quarterly conference calls. If that wasn't enough, I also made a nuisance of myself at the general business meeting.

First we received a 2004 budget with financial activity through June 30th and then we received a 2004 budget with financial activity through September 30th. My concern was that the 2004 budget (not the actual income and expenses) had changed. The explanation was that this was how the new management company organized the items but the total amounts were different and the new budget was a negative budget instead of the balanced budget that had been approved. In Texas, we have been spoiled by our treasurers who have done a great job keeping us informed. We always receive the last year's report where you can see the whole picture, the current year that is in progress and then we vote on the proposed budget for the next year. At N-OADN we were not given the year before so there was no way of seeing "the whole picture". I have asked for but have not received a copy of the 2003 financial report. Then we were given a draft of the 2005 budget. The estimated income from dues decreased while the estimated expenses to pay states for their part of the dues increased. The explanation was that they were being conservative. We were told that the current trend for organizations is not to vote on the budget and that reports will just be presented. The membership did vote to increase dues for the next two years.

The Nursing Education Redesign Taskforce, one of two task forces created to assist TNA leadership in taking the lead to "reinvent nursing education and practice" in Texas has met again. With the two large NIPG grants from the THECB focusing on regional skills simulation labs and effective preceptor programs, discussion centered on implementation of other recommendations of the task force. Main topics discussed included evidenced-based education with a repository for current information and resources, regional centers that would start with a focus on admissions to help decrease unnecessary duplication, and utilization of competency based models.

Hearing that other states cannot afford to send their state president to a N-OADN board meeting, I was proud to be able to share that T-OADN has a healthy fund balance. The T-OADN board has discussed the possibility of using some of that money to help fund some research that will hopefully help advance associate degree nursing. I am on the N-OADN Research Committee and hope that Art Viterito will work with the T-OADN board to write a RFP so that we can put some of our funds to good use. We will be putting this on our web site and presenting it at the spring convention if approved by membership. We hope to see you there - Renaissance Hotel in Austin on February 17th.