Along with the rising population of men in nursing is the drive for those who are already in the field to find ways that they can influence healthcare. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN), bearing this in mind, received members to the celebration of its 36th annual conference in Lexington, KY on Oct. 19-21.
The host for the week was the University of Kentucky College of Nursing using the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/IOM Future of Nursing report for its theme, concentrating on the ways men could pilot change and move forward health.
A Fresh Tomorrow
In general, men who are in nursing, particularly AAMN, shall be concerned in coming up with a fresh future of nursing, influencing the delivery of healthcare globally.
With that purpose, the AAMN suggested techniques in taking in more men to get into nursing, incorporating the production of a male-nurse teacher role for practice to encourage the employment as well as preservation of men in nursing, inventing schemes that will make the most out of the role of men in most professional nursing organizations and unfolding ideas created to move forward health issues and matters that men have.
Nurses, hailing from throughout the U.S. and Canada, who were there, and also nursing students, even one student from high school, were egged on to look at approaches where they can go into the roles of leadership, which provides other opportunities to influence practice and impart the vocation to other men.
During AAMN’s yearly business assembly, a gender unbiased language position paper was tackled, and a new head, secretary, as well as three board members were chosen. These were:
- President: William T. Lecher, MBA, MS, RN, NE-BC
- Vice President: Edward J. Halloran, PhD, MPH, RN
- Secretary: Philip Julian, MSN, RN, NE-BC
- Board Members: Michael Gailbraith, PhD, RN and Bob Patterson, MSN, RN
- First time elected for Board: Susan LaRocco, PhD, RN
Talking about Health
To talk about men’s health along with its impact on public guidelines was the vice president of the Men’s Health Network Scott Williams. He brought in the “Blue Ribbon Campaign” of the Network. This acted as aid to provide support and add to awareness on the topic of prostate cancer. Before that, he gave an overview of the mission of the Network. The mission is to get to men as well as their families with messages about health prevention and tools, educational materials, screening programs, advocacy chances, and patient navigation. He urged everyone to be dynamic both at the state as well as federal levels, assisting in promoting the health needs and the well-being on the whole of men and their families.
Dean of the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing Michael Bleich, PhD, RN FAAN, talked about healthcare reform and what is jeopardized should men not react to the Future of Nursing report. He persuaded all to raise their voices and let the public be clarified about the contributions that nurses create every single day. Moreover, he said that each nurse should function with optimum competency, and emphasized the significance of about 80% of the entire nursing population being trained at the baccalaureate level.
Dean and professor at the School of Nursing and assistant director of the UCLA Health System University of California in Los Angeles Courtney Lyder, ND, GNP, FAAN, tackled on the future of nursing. She is the first African-American to function as dean at the UCLA and the first ever male minority dean of nursing in the United States. His research enabled to fashion the U.S. government’s position on assessing 16,000 of its skilled nursing facilities. His piece in pressure ulcers helped the U.S. government’s choice to end shelling out cash for pressure ulcers acquired in hospitals, supplying the platform to view healthcare reform as well as its effect on nursing practice.
Luther Christman, PhD, RN, FAAN, co-founder of AAMN, was praised at the assembly. He pass away last June. He received honor for several important contributions to nursing, which includes the “Rush Model” development.
To distinguish and commemorate this highlight for men in nursing, the board of AAMN set up the Luther Christman Awards Fellows program. Bleich was given the 2011 award at the assembly. Additionally, award winners for 2011 consisted of Best School: Excelsior College, Albany, New York; Lee Cohen Award for AAMN Member of the Year: Lavoy Bray, Jr, Med, BSN, RN. Lavoy is dean of quality enhancement services at Southside Regional Medical Center Professional Schools in Petersburg, VA.
