This January, the United States will inaugurate a new president. The election seemed to take forever, with landmark candidates on both sides. Regardless of which side you were on, the outcome was going to move us in a new direction. It was seeing the young and other first-time voters, their passion, and their commitment to the process that most impressed me. It started with my precinct caucus, where we had four times as many people as the last time, with the majority of them being younger than 30 years. Seeing their excitement and hearing them express their desire to be involved helped remind me why I was there. It certainly was not my first election, but it inspired me to be more involved than I have been in the past and made it exciting for me again.
As we begin the New Year, NAON is poised to move forward, but we need your help to do it. Earlier this year, I attended a seminar that discussed the structure and working of organizations. The analogy used was a bicycle in which the front wheel steers and the back wheel provides the power. In many cases, the front wheel is management/administration and the back wheel is the workforce. But unlike the private or work sector, in organizations like ours, it is not that straightforward.
As members, we are not only the workforce for the organization (the rear wheel) but also the elected officials, the front wheel that steers the bike. As members, we have expectations of member benefits, but we also have the responsibility to work to make them happen. That means as members we also need to participate when asked. Our educational needs assessment went out this past fall, and I hope that everyone who received it filled it out and sent it in. The information provided by the survey will be used by the NAON Education Committee to make plans for future programs and productions. Not responding to the survey means that your needs may not be reflected in the final plans.
We are lucky, in that NAON is showing consistent membership growth. Our Member Get a Member has brought in more than 200 new members this past year, and the campaign will be continued in 2009. Our challenge is to engage our new members in the organization, finding out what they joined for, and how we can address their needs, as well as identifying their talents and how they can serve NAON. We need to capture the excitement of new membership, on both the local and national levels, to enable us to continue to provide the quality programs and other member benefits we have all come to expect. By engaging the new members, getting them to join with more experienced members in all levels of activity, we can only enhance NAON. We make it a stronger, better organization for all.
So, as we move into the New Year, I challenge you to look for new members in your area and make them welcome. For new members, attend your local chapter meeting or educational offering in your area. Look for ways we can engage each other in the business of NAON. If we do that, we will ensure that NAON is here not only for us but also for future orthopaedic nurses, who will be excited to join with us in promoting excellence in orthopaedic care.