Des Plaines Public Library

Judith Kelleher and Anita Dorr had a vision to create an organization designed to help nurses develop and provide quality emergency care to patients in emergency departments all across the country. The Emergency Department Nurses Association (EDNA) became a reality December 20, 1970, the beginning of our ENA history and traditions. The world in which Judy and Anita created EDNA is not the world in which we work and live today. Forty-three years have passed since our humble beginnings. I believe that Judy and Anita would both agree that in this time, our association has needed to evolve to keep up with the changes in health care and our society. This evolution includes changing our traditions. Traditions are beliefs that have their origins in the past and are maintained in the present by the people of the society. Sometimes, however, our traditions can get in the way of progress. What if we decided to look at our traditions differently? What if, instead of continuing the same traditional actions, we made a commitment to respect the history of our traditions while devising new ways of thinking and being? As members of ENA, we are keepers of history and tradition. We honor and respect the past. We also need to focus on the future of ENA and the profession of emergency nursing and be the creators of new traditions. In an article by Jeff De Cagna1De Cagna J. The next traditions of associations 3.0. Associations Now.http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=31725Date: 2008Google Scholar in Associations Now, he says there are 6 new traditions that associations should embrace as they prepare for the future. These new traditions include elements of curiosity, care, imagination, choice, courage, and responsibility. “The tradition of curiosity.” We are an organization that is about education and learning. We provide our members many opportunities to learn about new practices. But before we can learn, we have to be curious. Being curious helps us to be open, to not accept the status quo. “The tradition of care.” Caring for each other as members of a profession means that we accept our differences. We do not have to agree on everything. It is our differences that help us to see that there are other ways of getting to the same outcomes. If we were all alike and always agreed, think how boring life would be. We should respect our diversity. “The tradition of imagination.” We need imagination to create innovation. De Cagna1De Cagna J. The next traditions of associations 3.0. Associations Now.http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=31725Date: 2008Google Scholar says that “innovation is about envisioning what is possible, pushing indefatigably to make that vision a reality and creating radical new value in the process.” We cannot create our future on what we already know. It is only through imagining the possibilities that we can create something extraordinary. “The tradition of choice.” We need to give our members more options on how they would like to become involved in ENA. We need to look for ways to engage the diversity of our membership without having to be all things to all people. “The tradition of courage.” As leaders of this association, we cannot be afraid to speak out or to make “unpopular” decisions for fear of what others may say or think. It is important that we remain true to our values and convictions. Too often as leaders, we allow others to stifle our true thoughts and feelings about the issues facing our organization. “The tradition of responsibility.” We must have a strong sense of stewardship. That means being committed to leaving this association in a better place than where we found it. To be good stewards, we must assume responsibility for what happens within this association. This is particularly true of the ENA Board of Directors. As your board of directors, we must focus on what is right for the association and not on personal agendas or political battles. Future members would expect nothing less from us. The only way to respect the past is to create the future. I think we can all agree we want ENA to thrive and survive for many generations to come. For ENA to be successful, we must create new traditions together. Our future is our responsibility. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Reneé Holleran, FNP-BC, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN, for the contributions she has made as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Reneé has been a member of ENA for many years and served as the 1996 ENA president. She served as JEN editor-in-chief from June 2006 until June of this year. ENA thanks Reneé for her 7 years of service with JEN and wishes her much success in the future. JoAnn Lazarus is President of the Emergency Nurses Association.