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Voting 101
EDITORIAL
VOTING 101
Reneé Semonin-Holleran, RN, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN, Salt Lake City, Utah
You must be the change you want to see in the world. —Mahatma Gandhi (1896-1948)
O
nce again, we are in an election year. This year, those of you who are ENA members actually get to cast 2 important votes: one for your Board of Directors and one for the next president of the United States. Soon, ENA members will receive an e-mail message with a link to the candidates and an invitation to vote. I thought I would take a brief moment to remind all of you who are members to read the e-mail message, study the information about the candidates, and cast an informed vote. I also encourage those who read the Journal of Emergency Nursing, but who are not members, to consider joining, so they too can take part in this important vote. Your vote is to select leaders who will work to carry out ENA’s mission: “to actively collaborate with other health related organizations to improve emergency care and serve as an advocate for the public regarding emergency care.” 1 The second vote we get to cast this year (assuming that you have registered, and it’s not too late to register) is for the selection of the next president of the United States. As has been pointed out by the media, this vote is historic. Either an African American man or a woman will be a candidate for this office. It is an amazing milestone, but it’s also sad it took us so long to achieve it, considering it is the year 2008. The word “vote,” defined as a noun, describes a formal choice against something; an act of choosing; and suffrage.2 As a verb, the word “vote” means to indicate a formal preference, to make something available, and show an opinion on something.
Despite the historic significance, why is it important that emergency nurses be concerned about this election? In 2006, a momentous spotlight was shown onto emergency care and its delivery in the United States when the Institute of Medicine published Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point.3 This document and those accompanying it pointed out issues that many of us have been living and working with for multiple years: the role of the emergency department within the larger hospital and health care system; patient flow and information technology issues; workforce issues; patient safety and quality and efficiency of emergency care services; research relevant to emergency care; the challenges of emergency care in rural settings; and the care of pediatric patients in the emergency department. Many recommendations have been made and many solutions have been proposed, but this problem is ongoing and will go nowhere without adequate funding and proactive leadership. In the following guest editorial, Mary Jagim, one of the editors of Emergency Nursing Advocacy, discusses the health care platforms of the leading candidates for president of the United States. I hope you will read it, share it with others, and then cast an informed vote in November. Only you can change the world! REFERENCES 1. Emergency Nurses Association. ENA vision/mission statements and code of ethics. Author. Retrieved from www.ena.org. Accessed April 13, 2008. 2. MSN Encarta. Dictionary. Retrieved from http://encarta.msn.com/ encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=18617345. Accessed April 13, 2008. 3. Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States. Hospital based care: at the breaking point. Washington (DC): Institute of Medicine; 2007.
J Emerg Nurs 2008;34:190. 0099-1767/$34.00 Copyright © 2008 by the Emergency Nurses Association. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2008.04.019
190
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING
34:3 June 2008
VOTING 101
Reneé Semonin-Holleran, RN, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN, Salt Lake City, Utah
You must be the change you want to see in the world. —Mahatma Gandhi (1896-1948)
O
nce again, we are in an election year. This year, those of you who are ENA members actually get to cast 2 important votes: one for your Board of Directors and one for the next president of the United States. Soon, ENA members will receive an e-mail message with a link to the candidates and an invitation to vote. I thought I would take a brief moment to remind all of you who are members to read the e-mail message, study the information about the candidates, and cast an informed vote. I also encourage those who read the Journal of Emergency Nursing, but who are not members, to consider joining, so they too can take part in this important vote. Your vote is to select leaders who will work to carry out ENA’s mission: “to actively collaborate with other health related organizations to improve emergency care and serve as an advocate for the public regarding emergency care.” 1 The second vote we get to cast this year (assuming that you have registered, and it’s not too late to register) is for the selection of the next president of the United States. As has been pointed out by the media, this vote is historic. Either an African American man or a woman will be a candidate for this office. It is an amazing milestone, but it’s also sad it took us so long to achieve it, considering it is the year 2008. The word “vote,” defined as a noun, describes a formal choice against something; an act of choosing; and suffrage.2 As a verb, the word “vote” means to indicate a formal preference, to make something available, and show an opinion on something.
Despite the historic significance, why is it important that emergency nurses be concerned about this election? In 2006, a momentous spotlight was shown onto emergency care and its delivery in the United States when the Institute of Medicine published Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point.3 This document and those accompanying it pointed out issues that many of us have been living and working with for multiple years: the role of the emergency department within the larger hospital and health care system; patient flow and information technology issues; workforce issues; patient safety and quality and efficiency of emergency care services; research relevant to emergency care; the challenges of emergency care in rural settings; and the care of pediatric patients in the emergency department. Many recommendations have been made and many solutions have been proposed, but this problem is ongoing and will go nowhere without adequate funding and proactive leadership. In the following guest editorial, Mary Jagim, one of the editors of Emergency Nursing Advocacy, discusses the health care platforms of the leading candidates for president of the United States. I hope you will read it, share it with others, and then cast an informed vote in November. Only you can change the world! REFERENCES 1. Emergency Nurses Association. ENA vision/mission statements and code of ethics. Author. Retrieved from www.ena.org. Accessed April 13, 2008. 2. MSN Encarta. Dictionary. Retrieved from http://encarta.msn.com/ encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=18617345. Accessed April 13, 2008. 3. Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States. Hospital based care: at the breaking point. Washington (DC): Institute of Medicine; 2007.
J Emerg Nurs 2008;34:190. 0099-1767/$34.00 Copyright © 2008 by the Emergency Nurses Association. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2008.04.019
190
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING
34:3 June 2008